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Tim Boomer

@wildmacro

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Natural history photographer passionate about California's tiny treasures. No AI.

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Did someone lose their jewelry in the forest? On this #SlimeMoldSunday, I'm pleased to present the most beautifully iridescent Prototrichia I've ever seen! No saturation added - just plenty of light and a bunch of frames stacked together to get the whole subject in focus. Swipe for a crop to get a closer look at this sparkly spectacle, and swipe again for a short behind-the-scenes video.

In the video, you can see the snow nearby, which makes this a nivicolous species. And as I zoom in to one of the frames on my camera, you can see just how little of the subject is in focus at 10x magnification. If you look closely at the little piece of wood that I pick up, there are two fruiting bodies - a larger, typically sized one towards the back, and the tiny one in the middle, which is the subject of this photo. So much beauty in such a small package!

#slimemold #slimemould #prototrichia #prototrichiametallica #prototrichiaschroeteri #nivicolous #iridescent #sporangia #myxomycetes #myxo #notafungus #extrememacro #focusstacking #heliconfocus #nikon200mm #mitutoyo10x by @wildmacro

I'm not sure why I waited so long to share this, but I'm still so excited and grateful to have one of my favorite mushroom photos published on the cover of @fungimagazine! I've been asked many times if this picture was AI-generated or if the mushrooms were actually blown glass or some other version of "fake." Let the record show that these parrot waxcaps were 100% real. I simply happened to catch them in their prime and spent about an hour cleaning them up so they could shine in all their gloopy Gliophorus glory. 😃 Carefully controlled natural light, long exposures, and focus-stacking also helped to show them looking their best.

And while I have your attention, today is the FINAL DAY that The Art of Death exhibit will be on display @thevacavillemuseum (10am-4:30pm). It's free and absolutely worth checking out if you're in the area. At the very least, you can see my parrot waxcap photo printed to 5 feet wide, so you don't have to squint at your phone. 😂 Cheers!

#parrotmushroom #parrotwaxcap #gliophoruspsittacinus #behindthescenes #naturenerd #focusstacking #heliconfocus #mycology #forestfloor #californiamushrooms #fungus #fungi by @wildmacro

Happy #CynipidSaturday everyone! Have you ever seen this bizarre pink structure? It may look like an exotic fungus or perhaps something from the bottom of the ocean, but it is actually a very common gall here in California. It was induced by the spined turban gall wasp (Cynips douglasii) when she laid her egg in this valley oak leaf. This is one of my absolute favorite galls due to the fantastic shape and color, though I admittedly have quite a few "favorites" in the gall world. ☺ Cheers!

#spinedturbangallwasp #cynipsdouglasii #gall #gallwasp #waspgall #plantgall #oakgall #cynipid #cynipidae #gallphotography #cecidology #CecidologySaturday #valleyoak #quercuslobata #sciencephotography #entomology #biology #biodiversity #insectguru #naturalhistory #naturenerd #focusstacking #laowa100mm by @wildmacro

For #CynipidSaturday, please enjoy these delightful domiciles induced by the spined turban gall wasp (Antron douglasii). If you're familiar with this species, you might be thinking that these look a little off...and you'd be right! They're usually bubblegum pink with more of a flattened top (see last slide), opposed to these segmented structures sporting neon coral pink tones with blackened tips. So what gives?

I actually sent some off to biologist Adam Kranz of UNM and here is what he discovered: each gall contains a chalcidoid larva (a parasitic non-inducer) that has disrupted the normal development of the gall by eating its interior. Of course, even the original gall-forming wasp disrupted the oak's nutrients when it laid its egg in the oak leaf. And now I'm disrupting your day with this fascinating information. 😁

#noai #spinedturbangallwasp #Antrondouglasii #Cynipsdouglasii #sciencephotography #focusstacking #heliconfocus #cecidology #entomology #biology #biodiversity #naturalhistory #LaowaAksen by @wildmacro

I'm thrilled to announce that my photography is officially showcased in "Natural History of California" - a solo exhibit @thevacavillemuseum! Several of my favorite pictures are on display in the museum's Community Gallery, putting the spotlight on the overlooked for all to celebrate and enjoy.

This exhibit will be up for the entire month of October, with a reception on Saturday, 10/3, from 2 - 4:30pm. If you can't make it to the reception, my photography may be viewed during the museum's normal business hours: Thursday & Friday 1 - 4:30pm & Saturday 10am - 4:30pm. Admission to the museum is free to the public.

Hope to see some of you there! by @wildmacro

If you've spent much time hiking in the Sierra, you've almost certainly come across the scarlet spectacle known as snowplant (Sarcodes sanguinea). 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 that obtains its nutrients via fungi instead of photosynthesis. But have you ever taken the time to look very closely? Snowplant is adorned with tiny glandular hairs called trichomes, which help to prevent damage from herbivores and pathogens. They also look really cool when magnified at 7.5x! Swipe for a behind-the-scenes video (my flash diffuser has been removed to provide a clearer view of the freshly emerged snowplant). Swipe again for a large cluster of mature plants. Cheers!

#snowplant #sarcodessanguinea #mycoheterotroph #nativeplants #californianativeplants #botany #micromonday #mitutoyo 🔬 by @wildmacro

For #SlimeMoldSunday, please enjoy this delightful Didymium squamulosum that I found while gardening back in January. It's just been patiently waiting in my garage until I finally found the time and motivation to photograph it a few days ago. What it lacks in color, it makes up for in texture with a coating of stellate lime crystals and a deeply wrinkled stalk.

As is the case with most myxos, it's very tiny - about ¾ of a millimeter tall. Be sure to swipe for a better understanding of what that figure means. Oh, and you can also see the drastic difference in the amount of detail that can be captured with a standard 1x macro lens versus a 20x microscope objective. It always cracks me up in movies when people can endlessly "enhance" a blurry or pixelated photo. 😆

Cheers!

#slimemold #slimemould #Didymiumsqualulosum #myxomycetes #myxo #heliconfocus #nikon200mm #mitutoyo by @wildmacro

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, but in this case, each section is comprised of hundreds of focus-stacked exposures using a microscope objective. It takes a lot of time, hard drive space, and processing power, but I think the result is worth it (at least it is when it's viewed on something larger than a cellphone screen 😆).

If you have been following me for a while, or if you happen to be a fan of plant galls, then you might recognize the subject as the striped volcano gall. It was induced by a cynipid wasp named Feron atrimentum. This little wasp 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. Swipe to see some of those microscope details, and again for scale. Cheers!

#CynipidSaturday #stripedvolcanogallwasp #feronatrimentum #andricusatrimentus #oakgall #sciencephotography #focusstacking #heliconfocus #cecidology #entomology #biology #biodiversity #naturalhistory by @wildmacro

Happy #FungiFriday, friends! I haven't been very active here (or with photography in general), as I have been focusing on family, health, and various projects. However, I did make a trip to the woods after our last storm and found this lovely candlesnuff fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon).

I especially like the guttation droplets, as they magnify some of the details of the fruiting body and also reflect the forest canopy above. Focus stack of 32 three-second exposures under natural light. Cheers!

#candlesnufffungus #xylariahypoxylon #mycology #mushrooms #forestfinds #fungus #fungi #focusstacking #heliconfocus by @wildmacro

I'm often envious of the exotic fungi and orchids found on the other side of the globe, but when it comes to plant galls, I'm convinced that California is home to the most beautiful, bizarre, and fascinating species in the world. The case in point for this #CynipidSaturday is the urchin gall induced by a tiny wasp named Cynips quercusechinus.

This gall is smaller than usual since it's still developing, but that's what microscope objectives are made for, right? 😃 It was actually a little too big to fit in the frame at 7.5x, so I made a stack-and-stitch panorama, and voila! Swipe for scale, and swipe again for a crop tour to see some details from the 1732 exposures that nearly broke my computer and IG will compress into mush anyway. 🥲

#urchingallwasp #cynipsquercusechinus #gall #gallwasp #waspgall #plantgall #oakgall #cynipid #cynipidae #cecidology #blueoak #quercusdouglasii #sciencephotography #entomology #biology #biodiversity #naturalhistory #naturenerd #focusstacking by @wildmacro

I hope it comes as no surprise that the miniature world is amazing, but c'mon, sparkly blue lollipops!? These myxos are among the most gorgeous organisms I've ever seen, and I found them fruiting by the hundreds right in my own yard. I don't live in a tropical rainforest or some exotic location. We don't even get very much rain, but clearly we got enough last month to make these Lamproderma scintillans happy.

Speaking of making things happy, I miiiiight have acquired a 20x microscope objective. 🤫 Oops! But it couldn't have arrived at a better time, because these slime molds are TINY - about 0.75mm tall. If that number doesn't mean much to you, swipe for scale. #smol 🔎✏️🔬

#slimemoldsunday #slimemold #slimemould #lamproderma #lamprodermascintillans #iridescent #shiny #sparkly #blue #myxomycetes #myxo #heliconfocus #nikon200mm #mitutoyo20x by @wildmacro

If you've followed me for a while, then you know that longhorn steer's head (Dicentra uniflora) is one of my absolute favorite wildflowers. Tiny, adorable, and bovine? Cownt me in! It's a high-elevation species that blooms shortly after snowmelt when there are usually no udder flowers around. Bullieve it or not, steer's head is in the poppy family. It can be difficult to find due to its diminutive stature, so I usually look for the distinctive leaves and let them steer me in the right direction. Despite having seen this plant many times before, I always enjoy adding new photos of it to my cattlelog. Like most flowers, this species is very delicate and mooves around in the slightest breeze. Photographing it requires a lot of patience and a calm day, but I'm guessing you've herd enough.

#punsintended #naturepuns #longhornsteershead #steershead #dicentrauniflora #sierrawildflowers #botany #nativeplants #wildflowerwednesday #californianativeplants #wildflowers by @wildmacro