Portfolio of Best Macro Photography by Timothy Boomer

Wild Macro | Natural History Fine Art Photography by Timothy Boomer

Natural History Photography Portfolio by Timothy Boomer

In a sense, this entire website is my portfolio. Not a single picture makes it to WildMacro that I did not personally photograph, edit, research, caption, and ultimately decide was worth sharing with the world. This page showcases my absolute favorites, along with some details and musings of how each photo was captured. Enjoy!

Parrot mushroom (Gliophorus psittacinus)
This beautiful species had been on my wish list for many years. When I finally found it in 2020, I was delighted to come across over a dozen fruiting bodies, including the immaculate trio you see above. I thought I might never find such a perfect group of parrot mushrooms again (and I haven't!), so I spent well over an hour carefully preparing the scene using tweezers and a fine-point paintbrush to clear away debris. I then experimented with light and composition to help these emerald beauties look their absolute best. I combined 21 three-second exposures with different focal points to get the entire group of mushrooms in sharp focus. This is a technique known as focus-stacking, which you can read more about here.

Kellogg's lily (Lilium kelloggii)
With its gorgeous pink and yellow color scheme, bespeckled and recurved petals, and red-orange anthers, Kellogg's lily is easily one of the most beautiful wildflowers in the world. It's a shame that photos can't capture smell because its aroma was absolutely heavenly! I balanced natural light with diffused flash and then focus-stacked 21 frames to get the whole flower in focus.

Mushroom gall induced by the cynipid wasp, Heteroecus sanctaeclarae
You need not bother scouring your fungal field guide in search of this peculiar "mushroom." Instead, allow me to introduce you to the fascinating world of plant galls! A gall is a growth that forms in response to an outside stimulus. There are many organisms that induce plant galls, but this particular gall was caused by a tiny insect known as a cynipid wasp or gall wasp. These are not the large, stinging wasps that most people envision; they don't bother humans, and some are only as large as the dot at the bottom of this exclamation point!

When an adult gall wasp lays its egg in a plant, the plant responds by forming special new tissues around the egg. The process is accelerated once the egg hatches and the larva begins chewing, and before long, a gall begins to form from the plant's hijacked nutrients. The gall serves as both protection and nourishment for the developing cynipid within (and of course provides fantastic photographic opportunities for nature nerds such as myself). The larva will mature as it chews its way to the periphery of the gall, and eventually, it will emerge as an adult. The hole near the bottom indicates that this has already occurred.

Slime mold (Comatricha nigra)
Slime molds are another group of organisms that can be mistaken for mushrooms. They tend to grow in similar habitats as fungi, and they were even once classified as such. If we look beyond superficial similarities, however, it turns out that slime molds start out as single-celled organisms, like amoebas, and are more accurately placed in the Protista kingdom. Slime molds are formally known as Myxomycetes, though some enthusiasts (including yours truly) lovingly refer to them as "myxos" for short.

Most slime mold fruiting bodies are very small, only about 1.5mm tall. If millimeters aren't your thing, that's about the thickness (not length) of a grain of rice! Filling the frame with such small subjects requires high-magnification optics. In this case, I used a 10x microscope objective adapted to my camera. The depth of field is miniscule at this magnification, so I combined 179 exposures to get the whole subject in focus. I'm pleased to announce that my efforts paid off, as this photo was awarded sixth place in the 2023 Nikon Small World photomicrography competition!

Dung cannon (Pilobolus sp.)
I live in Vacaville, which translates to "cow town." And while most folks try to avoid the landmines that our bovine friends leave behind, I occasionally inspect these droppings just in case there is something of interest to be found and photographed. What on Earth could possibly be interesting enough to justify inspecting cow dung? The dung cannon fungus, of course! I'll leave it to the curious reader to learn more on the species page, but I think everyone can appreciate the beauty of this miniature marvel (so long as the substrate is overlooked).

The dung cannon is often bejeweled with lovely guttation droplets while growing, but they promptly evaporate with changes in temperature and humidity. I had to work quickly to capture this scene before conditions changed. I used my 10x microscope objective and combined 402 exposures to get the whole fruiting body in focus.

Snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea)
If you've spent much time hiking in the Sierra, then you've almost certainly come across the scarlet spectacle known as snow plant. With its bright red color, this botanical beauty is nearly impossible to miss. My fellow nature nerds might also know that it's a mycoheterotroph, which means that it obtains its nutrients via fungi instead of photosynthesis. But have you ever taken the time to look closely (and I mean very closely) at this unique species? Snow plant is adorned with tiny glandular hairs called trichomes, which help to prevent damage from herbivores and pathogens. They also look really cool when magnified through a 7.5x microscope objective! The finished picture is a focus-stacked composite of 143 exposures photographed in situ.

Urchin galls induced by the cynipid wasp, Antron quercusechinus
These extraordinary "urchins" are not found in the deep blue sea, but rather on the leaves of the majestic blue oak. I am fortunate to have many oaks right in my neighborhood, and I've spent numerous summer days exploring their leaves in search of new and exciting galls. I almost always find something, but the Seussian structures showcased in the photo above are among the most spectacular I've yet discovered. 51 exposures were combined in order to keep the whole cluster sharp.

Slime mold (Prototrichia metallica)
Slime molds need moisture to thrive, but I photographed this one in the summer, long after the rainy season had ended. That's because Prototrichia metallica is a nivicolous species - that is, one that occurs near snowmelt. Each summer, I head up to the mountains in search of tiny treasures on damp wood near patches of melting snow. This species usually exhibits some degree of iridescence, but this particular specimen was over-the-top gorgeous! I photographed it on location using a 10x microscope objective with diffused flash and combined 337 exposures to get sufficient depth of field to cover the scene. No saturation needed!

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)
Despite its reputation as the most iconic mushroom in the world, I have only had the pleasure of seeing this beautiful species a handful of times. It always makes my heart race with excitement, but never as much as the time I found this pristine specimen. I got on hands and knees and examined it from all sides until I was sure I had found its most flattering angle. I then carefully rearranged some surrounding redwood debris and set up my camera. I used a wide aperture to keep the background soft and combined 124 exposures to ensure the whole mushroom was in focus.

Heartleaf twayblade (Neottia cordata)
This native orchid is named for the shape of its leaves, though it's really the gorgeous little flowers that won my heart over. And they really are little - only half of a centimeter wide. You would need to put your face to the ground with a magnifying glass to get a good look, but I highly recommend this awkward acrobatic feat, as the reward is a glimpse of a sparkly spectacle that is even more beautiful than the finest stained glass.

It was approaching sunset in a densely shaded forest when I began working on this photo, so there wasn't much natural light available. I used diffused flash to illuminate the flower and balanced it with three- and four-second exposures to keep the background bright. It required 50 frames to get the entire flower in focus at 3x magnification.

Striped volcano gall induced by Feron atrimentum
I must admit I'm often envious of the exotic mushrooms and orchids found in far off lands, but when it comes to plant galls, I'm convinced California has the best in the world. Take, for instance, this delightful domicile. It really doesn't take much imagination to see it as a miniature volcano with hot lava flowing down the sides. The wasp that induces these galls is very picky about where she lays her eggs - only on blue oak (Quercus douglasii). Blue oak is endemic to California, so you won't find these galls anywhere else in the world.

Now you might have noticed that many of my photos were made using microscope objectives; I just love working with precision optics. So what do you do when you want to capture microscopic details, but the subject won't fit in the frame? Stack and stitch! It's the same concept as making a panorama, except that each section is comprised of hundreds of focus-stacked exposures. It takes a lot of time, hard drive space, and processing power, but I think the result is worth it. This photo was made from over 1300 exposures with my 7.5x microscope objective.

Coral slime mold (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa)
This bizarre formation may resemble a miniature ice sculpture, but it is actually another myxo commonly known as coral slime. The individual branches are only a couple of millimeters tall, so I got nice and close with a 5x ultra macro lens to showcase the intricate details. The frosty white patches in the background are additional fruiting bodies that are just barely behind the main subject but thrown completely out of focus due to the shallow depth of field at this magnification. It is because of that shallow depth of field that I needed to stack 239 exposures.

Waxcap (Hygrocybe sp.)
After spending about an hour photographing this tiny waxcap mushroom from the side, I was about to pack up my gear and move on. Then I figured I should get a quick shot of the gills just to help with identification. My cell phone was not able to resolve any useful details, so I set up my Nikon D810 from a very low position and angled it upward. And I'm so thankful I did because THIS shot is much more interesting.

I placed a flash below the mushroom to illuminate its gills, and a large diffuser overhead to soften the dappled sunlight filtering through the forest canopy. I then combined 64 exposures at lifesize magnification to create the final image. Alas, I still don't have a definite species ID, but I do have a photo that really makes me smile.

Western fairy slipper (Calypso bulbosa)
Also known as the Calypso orchid, this is easily one of California's most beautiful wildflowers. And if you read any of the previous descriptions, then I'm sure you can guess that I stacked a bunch of frames together to get the whole flower in focus.

However, that's much more easily said than done. Yes, focus-stacking is a great technique for achieving greater depth of field, but it also means "nailing the shot" over and over again. A blurry photo in the middle of a stack ruins the whole thing. Here is a behind-the-scenes picture and a somewhat snarky (but pretty dang accurate) description of how my flower shots usually go. ;)

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