What an interesting shroom with magnificant clarity and wonderful color. Great post...keep exploring. Thanks for sharing this one.

Hmm, interesting mushroom, but it's a little blurry around the edges. Maybe a smaller aperture to get more DOF would work well? Another thing you could do next time is to clean the subject before taking the photo, unless there's a specific reason for leaving it covered with dead grass, leaves, dirt, etc.

This is the answer to a little riddle I once learned when we were stationed in Germany. It's a song:

Ein Maennlein steht im Wald
Ganz still und stumm,
Er hat ein roten-purpur Maentlein um.
Sag, was soll das Maennlein sein,
Der da steht im Wald alein,
Mit dem purpur-roten Maentlein?

A small man stands in the wood
Quite still and mute.
He's wearing a reddish purple cloak.
Tell me who that man should be,
Who stands alone in the forest,
Wearing the reddish purple cloak?

Anastasia