Earth Day 2026 - Where Fungi Meet Water
Raindrops, guttation, and a water-themed extract from Planet Fungi: A Photographer’s Foray.
After rain, the forest floor erupts in fungal spore bodies.
In the subtle, almost invisible, sometimes microscopic, exchanges between water and fungus, a bead of water is caught by a mushroom cap, and liquid droplets appear like glass beads on the surface.
Suspended worlds are held inside droplets.
This Earth Day, we’re celebrating that delicate and essential relationship between fungi and water as we explore Stephen’s recent fungal imagery, introduce you to our next rising star of European fungi photography and show you how a raindrop on a mushroom inspired Stephen’s first focus-bracketed fungi photograph.
Stephen’s Raindrop Worlds
In recent weeks, Stephen has been exploring what happens when fungi catch an Autumn shower.
Tiny mushrooms, barely centimetres tall, tell big stories when they capture a raindrop. Light bends. Worlds invert. A forest is captured in miniature and held, trembling, on a mushroom cap.
They are fleeting moments where physics and biology intersect.
Surface tension, defiance of gravity, the mushroom becomes the stage for an exquisite reflection on nature.
“You start off photographing the mushroom, but when the rain comes, it becomes about something else entirely—the drop, the light, the reflection. Suddenly you’re looking at a whole forest in something no bigger than a pinhead.” Stephen Axford
This image of Wrinkled Peach (Rhodotus palmatus) and all the photographs in this section of the blog are by Mato Madaras.
RISING STARS - EPISODE 2: MATO MADARAS (Slovakia)
One of the unexpected pleasures of our trip to Europe last year — as guests of PilzFestSpiele in Austria — was meeting a new generation of photographers lifting the standard of fungi photography.
Meet Mato Madaras. He is a jack of all trades, turning his hand to many things to earn a living over the years—including film photography—but today it’s his cleaning business that supports a growing obsession with fungi.
What stands out immediately is how well Mato knows the woods.
That comes from time spent walking every chance he can—moving slowly and attentively through the landscape, scanning and finding mushrooms others would walk straight past.
And then there’s his eye for water.
His striking image of the Wrinkled Peach (Rhodotus palmatus), beaded with amber droplets, captures guttation—a process in which fungi exude a liquid rich in sugars and other compounds.
Mato documents it beautifully, transforming the surface into something quite sculptural.
Mato is modest about his photography—but he shouldn’t be because he’s actually very good. Check out his Facebook page.
Like our friend Almir in Austria featured in our last blog, Mato has developed a real feel for working in the challenging natural light of European forests.
Across his work—from the vivid purples of the Amethyst Deceiver (Laccaria amethystina) to the bold autumn tones of Amanita caesarea—his use of light is consistently subtle and controlled—just enough to reveal form without losing the atmosphere of the forest.
And when morel season arrives in Europe, Mato heads to the mountains in the north of Slovakia, photographing, collecting and sharing these delicious edibles by the barrow full.
When we visited Slovakia, Mato guided us through the forests of Záhorie in the final days of the autumn season. It was a connected and joyous time as we shared a curiosity and awe, for the kingdom of fungi, despite not sharing a language.
Mato is part of a new wave - quietly redefining how we see fungi through superb imagery.
NB: The photographs in this section were all taken by Almir Mato Madaras.
Mycena interrupta
EXTRACT FROM THE BOOK:
PLANET FUNGI - A PHOTOGRAPHER’S FORAY
A First Encounter with Water & Light
Today, in-camera and post-production software can merge hundreds of images into one frame in minutes, but in the early 2000s, it had to be done manually.
Each image took Stephen hours to post-produce.
“The first image Stephen focus stacked was of a tiny mushroom with two air bubbles in a drop of water. It was just 15 mm high and 4 mm across the cap.”
The species was Mycena interrupta—the Pixie’s Parasol—glowing blue against the damp forests of Tasmania.
“I had carried an unusual lens in with me, the Canon MP-E 65 mm… It doesn’t have a focus ring, so the only way to get the image sharp is to change the distance between the camera and the subject.”
What followed was an act of patience and improvisation. Three handheld frames. Subtle shifts. Later, carefully aligned and composited.
“The result is an ethereal portrait… It also reveals a visual narrative—a moment of interaction between fungus and the gentle raindrops of a winter shower.”
That image marked a beginning—not just technically, but conceptually.
A recognition that water doesn’t just sit on fungi.
It transforms the way we see them.
Cruentomycena viscidocruenta with guttation
The North American release of Planet Fungi: A Photographer’s Foray is scheduled for the second half of 2026.
FOLLOW THE RAIN
Follow the Rain is travelling in North America, with hosted screenings and recent packed houses in San Francisco, Montreal, Minnesota, Oregon, Toronto and Idaho.
It is also streaming on:
Australia and New Zealand - NETFLIX, Germany - RTL, Thailand - TRUEVISIONS
Marasmius sp.
🌏 This Earth Day
Step into a forest, a park, or even your backyard.
Find a mushroom. Then look again.
There could be a whole world suspended in a droplet.
SUPPORT FUNGAL RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION
If you would like to support more research into and conservation of this fascinating, important, but understudied area of science, there are three organisations we partner with that work tirelessly in these areas.
AUSTRALIA
Big Scrub Conservancy Foundation
INTERNATIONAL
Every little bit helps.
Fistulina sp. with guttation