The photo was taken during the spore release project. It was taken on the mythical mountain of Olympus, in the fall of 2022.
This particular research requires many hours of patience, good knowledge of the subject, and proper technical use of light in order to reveal this “invisible” behavior. The shot was the result of an organized search, not a random moment.
The biggest challenge was the fragile balance itself: the rain of spores constantly changes and dissolves in fractions of a second, until the next gust. I used umbrellas to create apnea conditions (it was also an apnea day, of course). I chose a centered frame, almost geometric, so that the mushroom is equally the protagonist among the flowing, colorful (from the refraction of light when it passes through them) spores. I don't believe in perfection; we always strive for the best, at a given moment, with the given conditions. If you think about how many times I waited to see this subject, with this intensity, you will understand that no, I do not regret anything, when I look at the final result.
The processing aimed to remain faithful to the emotion of the moment: I gently enhanced the contrast and vibrancy of the colours, without "teasing" the texture or character of the mushroom. For me, post-processing is part of the creative process as long as it does not change the truth of the image. I love photography, and I distinguish it from digital creation. So I try to get the result I have in mind as much as possible by achieving it in camera settings!
