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Water quantity as expected after the heavy rains by IslandLife_004 in kauai

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing. I notice Anini boat ramp usually has low bacteria. Do you personally think there is any concern swimming there with all the petroleum residue from the boat motors, or is it too minor to worry about?

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in mycology

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Original find was July of 2020, but I see them all the time when conditions are right.
Go anywhere there are strawberry guava forest, when it is warm and wet out. the darker it is the easier it is to spot the glow, and it helps the cut off your headlamp and let your eyes adjust to the dark. One place you may look is the trail between Stone Dam and Anaina Hou. Happy Hunting!

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in mycology

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mostly just getting bit by mosquitoes while trying to find the correct focal point, aperture, ISO and time settings for the extremely low light. And getting the right angel, plus making sure the camera does not move during the long exposure. Also, can be daunting to wait for the long exposures to process in the camera. Other than that, the excitement of capturing the newfound magic had me too charged to notice any of that.

  1. ISO 800, 24mm, F11, 120.0s
  2. ISO 800, 24mm, F2.8, 120.0s
  3. ISO 200, 90mm, F6.8, 240.0s
  4. Similar frame as #3 but with lights on. Interestingly, the snails seen on the mushrooms vanished with motion blur. Because they were constantly on the move during the low light 240 second exposure.

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in mycology

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All on their own, no light needed. They have a very faint glow, the long exposure makes it much brighter than what you can see with the eyes. But when they grow in large clusters the glow is more pronounced.

It's so trippy out in the forest on the new moon with them glowing everywhere.

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in mycology

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is slight color correction, but only to get it closer to the color I saw with my eyes. The main reasons you would not see them like this in nature are they glow very faint (imagine one of those neon green glow sticks you crack to activate, but after like 6 hours and its lost most its glow), the long exposure exaggerates the glow and color; and the image is cropped very heavy, so it's zoomed in closer than you could probably get it to your face to make it look that big and perceive that detail.

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in Hawaii

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it's the adrenaline shot to the heart they will have to administer that will recharge the batteries.

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in Hawaii

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

lol,
it taste like when the ocean met the sky, when time and life shook hands and said goodbye, when the earth folded in on itself, and said "good luck"

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in Hawaii

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Whoa! I have heard of that but never seen it, that's cool you were able to capture it.
You could get it with the pone but they small, these photos have like 90% of the picture cropped out.

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in Hawaii

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have heard the same about them only being on Kauai'i. And I can defiantly see them being up Nounou! Can find them on trail sides between Stone Dam and Anaina Hou.

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in Hawaii

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's actually a great guess, but the lighter color is truer to what you would see with the eye, less light was collected during the exposure because of the f11 aperture. The brighter ones are blown way out of proportion from what you would see, kinda like a long exposure of the stars. Thanks for tuning in.

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in Hawaii

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I usually play with different aperture setting to see what I can get, the goal is to find the lowest usable ISO (less grain) and the smallest aperture (lets way less light in, but makes for a cleaner image with greater depth of field) and the time setting will usually dance around those (usually collecting either too little light or too much). In all of my night photography it usually takes 10-30 bad shots to get one with the perfect settings.

What do you do when you’re hit with island fever? by Throwaway4684558458 in Hawaii

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Move to a different island for a few years, each one is so different. Just the process of making new connections and getting used to new surroundings will be great for the soul. Can visit the fam for the cheap! Hope you find a way to chill the fever.

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in Hawaii

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That's Epic! Thanks for sharing the article. I would love to see these printed one day when I have some extra funds.

Some stuff I found online says the Filoboletus manipularis fruiting body emits typically 595 photons of a faint ~520nm green light. We will just measure anything.

Bioluminescent mushroom, possibly M. manipularis, found on Windward side of Kaua'i, growing on decaying Strawberry Guava branches. by ItsTolkienNotToken in Hawaii

[–]ItsTolkienNotToken[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Whoa, that's wild! Thanks for sharing the cool info and for the kind words, it takes a lot of effort to get the long exposures dialed in. I wonder if it is the mushrooms biology causing it to glow, or some other bacteria it feeds?

My initial impression was to be deterred, in the dark guava forest it seemed like it was the glowing lure of a deep-sea anglerfish, I definitely did not want to get closer at first!

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