This is the coolest mushroom I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it’s actually a toadstool or not, but it sure looks like a toadstool straight out of a fairy tale!

This toadstool was right in my campsite in Newport, Oregon. I love the way the red top stands out against the green background. I played with lots of different camera positions until I found one that highlighted the interesting detail on the top while still showing some of the underneath parts. I used a simple flashlight to fill in the shadows.
Beautiful photo of a deadly poisonous mushroom! Beware!
Anne the mushroom is called the Death Cap or Destroying Angel along with a few other deathly monikers. The factual name is that it is a Amanita mushroom. always wash your hands after touching or handlind fungi as the spores can be poisonous.
What a stunning photograph! I love that you found an angle that highlights so many different parts of the little beauty. How you managed to get the top, stem, bottom, AND underside is a real feat!
Hi Anne, mushroom and toadstool are interchangeable terms, they both refer to the same thing. The mushroom is actually an Amanita Muscaria, commonly known as the Fly Agaric (Not the Death cap – Amanita Phalloides, nor the Destroying Angel – Amanita Virosa. Three totally different mushrooms). The Fly Agaric is a hallucinogenic, hence the depiction of it in fairy tales, but hey, what’s in a name, it’s still a cracking photo.