Slime mould – a hidden wonderland dropped at life in pictures

Welcome to the world of slime mould.

These photos, captured by photographer Barry Webb, present a close-up view of single-celled slime mould organisms. A view that might not be potential with the bare eye.

Using a high-powered macro lens, and a composite of stills, Barry is ready to reveal the tiny buildings, which might develop wherever from forests to deserts.

Barry has gained awards for his work, which is principally targeted west of London, together with the latest individuals’s selection award within the macro part of the British photography awards.

Barry stated he “didn’t know they existed” earlier than he was launched to the world of slime mould in 2019.

A gardener by commerce, however a eager interest photographer – the Covid lockdown noticed Barry spend extra time outdoors trying to find these organisms.

“It’s not fungi, it’s not a plant, it’s not animal. It’s more closely related to an amoeba,” Barry explains.

His pictures focuses on the fruiting our bodies of the slime mould, the place the color and drama are most intense, and from the place spores are launched.

Barry explains how the slime mould feed off micro organism, algae and varieties of fungi and are an vital a part of the ecosystem.

The RHS says slime mould has been utilized in some “incredible practical applications”, together with urban transport mapping simulations and within the search for dark matter.

Taking pictures of slime mould just isn’t a easy course of, though know-how has made it a lot simpler in recent times.

Barry explains that because of the measurement of the topic, “one picture would not do them justice, you can get virtually nothing in focus”.

He describes how he makes use of a method known as focus bracketing, the place dozens of pictures are taken.

“You take multiple pictures, sometimes over 100 and it takes tiny little slithers of focus, and then you put all those into software, and that creates your final image.”

Years in the past Barry must modify the main focus for every of these 100 pictures, however now it does it for him.

“It’s all clever stuff,” he tells me.