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Didymium squamulosum with ice crown. All images © Barry Webb, licensed

In Macro Photos, Barry Webb Captures the Fleeting, Otherworldly Characteristics of Slime Molds and Fungi

Photographer Barry Webb (previously) continues his hunt for the speckled, glimmering, and ice-crested organisms that pop up near his home in South Buckinghamshire, U.K. Armed with a 90-millimeter macro lens, Webb ventures into woodlands and other natural areas where slime molds and fungi thrive. There, he zeroes in on their microscopic features, documenting their wildly diverse characteristics that often last for just a brief moment in time. Recent shots include a tuft of Muppet-like fuzz topping Metatrichia floriformis, a water droplet suspended between two cup-like Craterium minutum, and a cluster of Pink stemonitis filaments propped on spindly black legs.

Webb has won several awards in recent months, including from the Royal Photographic Society and Close-Up Photographer of the Year. Four of his photos will be featured at the Vienna Mushroom Festival next month, prints are available on his site, and you can find more of his work on Instagram.

A fluffy orange growth rests on top of smaller, white-speckled globs
Metatrichia floriformis and physarum
Five small green globules grow from yellow matter
Cribraria
A pink growth with a cluster of tiny, individual filaments
Pink stemonitis
A drop of water is suspended between two cup-like growths
Craterium minutum
Three orange bulbs descend from the edge of a twig
Leocarpus fragilis
Two small growths covered in tiny red spines grow from the left and right of a branch
Holly parachute fungus, Marasmius hudsonii

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