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Bubba McCool
@bubbamccool.bsky.social
2.7K followers 2.4K following 910 posts
Father of Five, Husband, Amateur Flower & Nature Photography, Loves Cats, Hotelier
Founder: Artful Commons 501 (c)(3)
www.artfulcommons.org
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bubbamccool.bsky.social
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. I wonder what nature‘s cooking up in that little cauldron?

#Photography #NaturePhotography #Nature #Fungi #FungiFriends #Texas #EastTexas #BigThicket #TexasNature #TylerCounty
A close, low-angle nature photograph taken along the Dogwood Trail in Tyler County, East Texas. The image shows a cluster of golden-orange bracket fungi growing across the surface of a fallen log in a quiet hardwood forest. The main mushroom in the frame has a distinctive vase- or funnel-shaped cap, its ridged texture catching soft filtered light from the forest canopy. Surrounding it are smaller, curled shelf fungi with ruffled, wavy edges and rich earthy tones — yellows, ochres, and warm browns typical of East Texas woodland fungi in early fall. The log they’re growing on is weathered and textured, with pale gray bark, deep cracks, and darker patches of decay. The foreground shows softly blurred orange fungi, contributing depth and a sense of being down on the forest floor at eye level. In the background, the bokeh is smooth and muted: soft greens, gentle browns, and out-of-focus branches that create a dreamy woodland atmosphere without pulling attention away from the mushroom cluster.
November 27, 2025 at 8:32 PM
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Here’s a little different profile perspective of them. At first glance the moss looks like some sort of carnivorous plant, however, upon further research, I have, un-definitively, concluded it is probably moss. Any experts out there who can shine some light?
Macro photo of a cluster of small, pale-yellow and white cap mushrooms with thin stems (possibly Mycena) growing out of dark soil and decaying organic matter. They are intertwined with bright, fuzzy, light-green and grey lichen and moss. The background is soft and blurred.
November 26, 2025 at 8:23 PM
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These #Small guys are perched on a moss covered pinecone. The whole scene is just 2cm - difficult to capture. You can only get so low unless you dig a hole - Life lesson.

#Photography #Photography #Fungi #FungiFriends #Texas #EastTexas #MartinDiesJrStatePark #BigThicket #BlueSkyArtShow
high-resolution macro photograph capturing a cluster of delicate, pale Cone Cap mushrooms (Baeospora myosura or similar wild fungi) growing out of a dark, decaying conifer pine cone. The surrounding substrate is heavily covered in a matted, pale-green, thread-like Fruticose Lichen, identified as Old Man's Beard (Usnea). The composition utilizes a shallow depth of field, with soft natural light illuminating the intricate details of this miniature forest micro-ecosystem. The background is a soft blue sky and blurred dark green trees, emphasizing the natural beauty and biodiversity of the temperate forest floor.
November 26, 2025 at 7:01 PM
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OK, one more for #TextureTuesday. I took this about two hours ago. It may be a little dark but is effing cool.

#MartinDiesJrStatePark #BigThicket #EastTexas #TexasParks #TexasOutdoors #Photography #NaturePhotography #MacroPhotography #Fungi #Mushrooms #Nature #Texas
An extreme close-up macro photograph shows three small, golden-yellow fungi with deep brown stems growing out of a textured, dark mossy bark surface. The larger mushroom's cap is brightly illuminated by directional light, revealing its thin, vertical gills underneath. The background is a very dark, soft blur. This nature scene was photographed at Martin Dies Jr. State Park in Texas.
November 26, 2025 at 12:26 AM
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American beauty Berry for #TextureTuesday. I thought it was very striking and purple. They make a great mosquito repellent and a pretty good jam.

#Texas #EastTexas #Photography #NaturePhotography #MartinDiesJrStatePark #BigThicket #TXStateParks #AmericanBeautyberry #NativePlants #Bloomscrolling
A macro shot for Texture Tuesday showing a tight, bumpy cluster of spherical American Beautyberries. The berries are glossy and smooth individually, but packed together they look like vivid purple caviar or beads. The background is a soft, creamy blur of green leaves.
November 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM
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More Rust Gills (Gymnopilus) for you. I think the contrast of the orange fungi against the dark wood and green moss is pretty. 🍄🌲

#Photography #NaturePhotography #Texas #EastTexas #FungiFriends #Fungi #BigThicket #Mosstodon
A close-up, eye-level shot of three golden-orange Gymnopilus mushrooms (Laughing Gyms) growing out of a dark, mossy log. The scene was taken on the Dogwood Trail in Tyler County, East Texas, part of the Big Thicket National Preserve. The mushrooms have smooth convex caps and fibrous stems, contrasting against the charred wood and vibrant green moss.
November 23, 2025 at 4:13 PM
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A cool little cluster of Rust Gill mushrooms (most likely). There is a very #Small one between the pine needle and the largest mushroom.

#BlueSkyArtShow #Photography #NaturePhotography #Nature #Texas #EastTexas #Fungi #FungiFriends #BigThicket
November 22, 2025 at 10:49 PM
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Here is my #Small submission to the #BlueSkyArtShow. This little guy (honey mushroom ) was perched on top of a log, and I thought it looked pretty cool.

#Fungi #FungiFriends #Photography #NaturePhotography #Texas #EastTexas #BigTicket
November 22, 2025 at 3:17 PM
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I believe these are velvet foot mushrooms, although a bit bedraggled. I think they pair nicely with the moss; creating a rich forest bouquet. What do you think?

#FungiFriday #FungiFriends #Photography #NaturePhotography #Texas #EastTexas #BigThicket
A dense cluster of small orange-brown mushrooms growing on a damp, decaying hardwood log along the Dogwood Trail in Tyler County, East Texas. The mushrooms are packed tightly together in layered tiers, almost like tiny overlapping umbrellas or shingles. Each cap is a warm tan to cinnamon color, slightly convex with gently curved edges, and the undersides show fine, delicate radial gills that catch the soft forest light. The slender stems are a deeper reddish-orange, with darker bases where they anchor into the rotting wood. Bright green, spiky Gulf Coast moss coats the bark to the left, adding cool contrast against the warm colors of the fungi. Scattered pine needles, dark soil, and a curled brown leaf rest below the cluster, showing the typical mixed forest floor of the Big Thicket region. This mushroom cluster most closely resembles Flammulina velutipes, also known as the Velvet Foot or Winter Mushroom. This species often grows in tight groups on dead hardwood, has warm orange-brown caps, pale gills, and thin stems just like the ones in the photo. It is common in East Texas during cooler seasons. A possible but less likely lookalike is Galerina marginata, a deadly poisonous species which can appear similar but typically has darker, smoother caps, gills that turn brown with age, and does not usually form such large, densely layered clusters. The mushrooms shown here have pale gills, warm cap tones, and the classic “stacked shelf” structure associated with Flammulina velutipes. The photo highlights natural forest texture and ecological detail: the contrast between soft moss and the firm mushroom caps, the vertical rise of the fungal colony up the decaying log, and the interplay of browns, oranges, and greens typical of an East Texas woodland. This close-up nature photograph emphasizes decomposition, forest biodiversity, and the micro-ecosystems of the Big Thicket area, showing the quiet complexity of fungi, moss, and wood in a shaded, humid coastal plain habitat.
November 21, 2025 at 11:59 PM
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I thought this looked really interesting. If you zoom in, the under sides of the fungi are really cool- they look like little stalactites.

#Texas #EastTexas #BigThicket #TylerCounty #Photography #NaturePhotography #FungiFriends #Fungi
Most likely the Milk-white Toothed Polypore (Irpex lacteus), a common East Texas bracket fungus found on decaying hardwood. Photographed along the Dogwood Trail in Tyler County, within the Big Thicket’s mixed hardwood–pine forest ecosystem. The fungus is a pale, milky-white shelf with a distinctly textured underside covered in tiny tooth-like spines that resemble miniature stalactites. The cap edges curve outward in soft layered tiers. The surface is matte and slightly rough, growing from a dark, weathered log scattered with pine needles. Surrounding the fungus is the natural forest floor of East Texas — soft greens, muted browns, diffused woodland light, and blurred background foliage. The scene shows classic Big Thicket decay-cycle textures: moss, bark, leaf litter, and decomposing wood.
November 21, 2025 at 2:57 AM
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I really love the colors and the textures in this picture. The blue lichen, the bright green moss, the orange-brown fungi, and the gray-brown of the fallen log — Mother Nature’s palette.

#Photography #NaturePhotography
#Fungi #Moss #Lichen #Mushrooms #BigThicket #TylerCounty #EastTexas #Texas
Bracket fungi growing along a fallen log on the Dogwood Trail in Tyler County, East Texas. These wild polypore mushrooms form layered white and tan shelves across the weathered bark, beside a patch of bright green moss and pale lichens. Natural woodland textures fill the frame — pine needles, leaf litter, forest shadows, and the soft gray tones of an aging hardwood trunk. Captured in the East Texas Big Thicket region, this close-up nature photograph highlights the detail of wild fungi, forest-floor decay, and the rich colors of the Tyler County woods in autumn.
November 20, 2025 at 1:36 PM
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Finally, I found a couple mushrooms on my forest foray that I’ll be posting over the next couple of days. Here’s a nice Artist’s Conk for you.

#Photography #NaturePhotography #EastTexas #Texas #TylerCounty #DogwoodTrail #BigThicket #Fungi #Mushrooms #Forest #Mycology #MartinDiesJrStatePark #Nature
A Ganoderma shelf fungus—likely Ganoderma applanatum (Artist’s Conk) or Ganoderma curtisii—growing on a fallen hardwood log along the Dogwood Trail in Tyler County, East Texas. The fungus shows a dark, cracked top surface with a pale white rim and thick, smooth underside. Surrounding details include dried autumn leaves, pine needles, textured bark, moss, and subtle lichen patterns from the Big Thicket and Pineywoods ecosystem. Nature photography capturing woodland decay, East Texas forest-floor textures, fungal growth, natural decomposition, and the quiet colors of the big sick
November 19, 2025 at 5:48 PM
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I had forgotten today was Tuesday so I guess its texture Tuesday. I actually have something for that that I took today on Tuesday 😁. It’s actually pretty cool - Soo Fuffy.

#Photography #EastTexas #TylerCounty #NaturePhotography #MacroNature #ForestDetails #Pineywoods #BigThicket #TextureTuesday
Delicate dried seed fluff clusters photographed along the Dogwood Trail in Tyler County, East Texas, glowing softly against a warm, blurred forest background. Fine white filaments, brittle seed pods, and late-fall plant textures catch the gentle East Texas light, showcasing the quiet details of native woodland plants in the Pineywoods region. The shallow depth of field isolates the seed head against smooth brown and gold bokeh, capturing the natural patterns, lines, and organic forms found in this East Texas forest trail. An intimate nature close-up emphasizing texture, season change, and the subtle beauty of Dogwood Trail understory plants in Tyler County’s woodland landscape.
November 19, 2025 at 3:45 AM
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I posted a similar picture to this about a month ago from a different landscape perspective. I thought this one captured nature’s cathedral better.

#Texas #EastTexas #Wetlands #MartinDiesJrStatePark #LakeSteinhagen #BigThicket #NaturePhotography #LandscapePhotography #Photography
East Texas cypress swamp scene photographed at Martin Dies Jr. State Park near Lake Steinhagen, showing dense stands of bald cypress trees, moss-covered trunks, scattered cypress knees, shallow wetland water with algae and duckweed, and filtered golden light coming through the Big Thicket–style forest canopy. Tall vertical tree lines, swamp texture, natural wetland ecosystem, Southeast Texas landscape photography, woodland details, native swamp habitat, quiet morning forest atmosphere, soft highlights, nature photography, East Texas wetlands.
November 18, 2025 at 3:21 PM
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Trying my hand with the leaves on the water thing. I thought this was a strong contender. Kind of a little whirlpool with cool leaves and a surreal background.

#Texas #EastTexas #BigThicket #MartinDiesJrStatePark #Photography #NaturePhotography
Floating leaves and cypress needles drift across a dark blue forest pool at Martin Dies Jr. State Park in East Texas, near Lake Steinhagen. A single bright green maple leaf stands out among the brown cedar strands, yellow leaves, and soft reflections from the Big Thicket woods around it. The mix of autumn debris, deep water color, and subtle sky reflections creates an abstract nature scene with rich texture, quiet mood, and fine-detail woodland photography character.
November 15, 2025 at 12:25 PM
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A little something for fungi Friday. It’s interesting if nothing else.

#Photography #NaturePhotography #Mushrooms #FungiFriday #TurkeyTail #ForestPhotography #Texas #EastTexas #TexasNature #MartinDiesJrStatePark #LakeSteinhagen #BigThicket
Bracket fungi cluster along the curved trunk of a fallen tree in the East Texas woods, photographed near Martin Dies Jr. State Park at Lake Steinhagen. Layers of turkey tail–like shelves (Trametes versicolor or false turkey tail) create rippled patterns of tan, cream, and brown across the bark, each one showing the delicate banding and texture that come with slow forest decay. The mossy bark and overlapping fungi catch the soft light of the Big Thicket ecosystem, while the background fades into gentle woodland bokeh of logs, leaves, and muted fall tones. The scene captures East Texas nature photography at its most detailed — forest floor textures, woodland fungi, natural decomposition, and the quiet architecture of life returning to the earth.
November 14, 2025 at 2:59 PM
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Just a cool looking stump, I saw the other day. Taken in the waning afternoon light.

#EastTexas #Texas #Nature
#MartinDiesJrStatePark #LakeSteinhagen
#NaturePhotography #ForestPhotography #Photography #BigThicket
Weathered tree stump in the East Texas woods, photographed at Martin Dies Jr. State Park near Lake Steinhagen. The decaying wood shows deep textures, splintered bark, natural forest decomposition, and rich detail from years of rot, fungus activity, and forest life. Soft green background bokeh of the Big Thicket ecosystem, early fall forest colors, and natural woodland textures. Nature photography, East Texas landscape, forest floor details, woodland decay, texture photography.
November 14, 2025 at 12:27 PM
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Not really sure about this picture but decided to post it anyway. Sometimes I like it and others not so much.

#Photography #NaturePhotography #Texas #EastTexas #MartinDiesJrStatePark #LakeSteinhagen #Nature #Fall #Bokeh #PlantPhotography
November 13, 2025 at 6:32 PM
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I like this turkey tail because it looked like a flower. I thought it was very pretty striking colors and light.

#Texas #EastTexas #TylerCounty #FungiFriends #Mushrooms #Photography #NaturePhotography #Mycology
Clusters of wild turkey tail mushrooms (Trametes versicolor), or possibly false turkey tails (Stereum ostrea), growing on a decaying log in the piney woods of Tyler County, Texas. The layered bands of brown, tan, and ivory create striking textures across the forest floor, showcasing natural patterns of decay and renewal in the East Texas woods. Detailed macro nature photography capturing the quiet beauty of forest fungi and woodland life in Southeast Texas.
November 12, 2025 at 3:54 PM
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Yeah, I didn’t know about that caption. I’m both somewhat happy and sympathetic to your plight. Happy because at least it was somewhat memorable and sympathetic because I feel sorry that wiggling earworm. And since you long for cuddly swamp puppies,here are a couple more pictures for you.😂
November 12, 2025 at 2:08 PM
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I thought this was pretty and cool. A golden grass seed head catching the last light of fall at Martin Dies Jr. State Park, Lake Steinhagen, Southeast Texas.

#TextureTuesday #Photography #NaturePhotography #FallPhotography #TexasPhotography #EastTexas #MartinDiesStatePark #LakeSteinhagen
A single golden seed head of native East Texas grass bends gently in the warm autumn light, its delicate strands glowing against a blurred field of bronze and amber tones. Captured at Martin Dies Jr. State Park near Lake Steinhagen, this fall photograph highlights texture, depth, and the quiet beauty of nature photography in Southeast Texas. The photo evokes the feeling of late-season calm—golden hour warmth, natural texture, and the transition from summer to fall in Southeast Texas
November 11, 2025 at 12:43 PM
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Relative Reflection - I just thought it was cool. It’s so nice to just walk around in nature, experience its beauty while partaking in its serene gifts.

#BlueSkyArtShow #Evening #Reflection #LakeSteinhagen #MartinDiesJrStatePark #EastTexas #NaturePhotography #Texas #LandscapePhotography
A mirrored reflection of cypress and hardwood trees over still blackwater at Lake Steinhagen in Martin Dies Jr. State Park, East Texas. The water’s surface blurs the line between forest and sky — trees, grass, and floating leaves merge into a painterly illusion where reflection and reality trade places. This nature photograph captures the quiet mystery of the East Texas wetlands, where light, texture, and perception twist together in golden evening calm.
November 8, 2025 at 9:22 PM
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This is the little path and bridge I was on when I took the previously posted picture. It reminds me of a little hobbit path or something. If you turn around to the left you would see beautiful cypress trees, and their reflections upon the dark water

#BlueSkyArtShow #Evening #Photography
A narrow wooden footbridge winds through the cypress and hardwood forest of Lake Steinhagen at Martin Dies Jr. State Park in East Texas. Dappled evening light filters through the canopy, illuminating fallen leaves scattered along the boardwalk. The scene captures the peaceful rhythm of a Southeast Texas wetland, where the path, framed in soft gold and green, invites quiet reflection. A serene glimpse into the Big Thicket region, blending nature, texture, and the warmth of fading daylight.
November 8, 2025 at 8:53 PM
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I took this picture the other day off a little trail in the swamp. I thought it was very pretty.

#BlueSkyArtShow #Evening #NaturePhotography #LakeSteinhagen #MartinDiesStatePark #EastTexas #LandscapePhotography #CypressSwamp #Reflection #TexasNature #Texas #Photography
Soft evening light settles over Lake Steinhagen at Martin Dies Jr. State Park in East Texas, where cypress and tupelo trees rise from still blackwater reflecting the forest in perfect symmetry. The warm golden tones capture that fleeting calm before dusk — a tranquil scene of fading sunlight, mirror-like reflections, and the quiet rhythm of a Southeast Texas wetland. This landscape photograph blends light, texture, and mood in the heart of East Texas nature, where the day ends in peaceful reflection.
November 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM
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Another picture I took the other day after being stuck in traffic. I thought it was very pretty and serene. Perfect spot for afternoon relaxation & meditation. The colors.

#Photography #LandscapePhotography #Nature #Texas #EastTexas
A late afternoon landscape photograph taken at Lake Steinhagen in Martin Dies Jr. State Park, East Texas, showing a tranquil lakeside scene. A rustic wooden dock extends into the calm, reflective waters of the lake, surrounded by vibrant autumn cypress trees in shades of orange and green. The scene captures the natural beauty of East Texas in the fall, with the lake reflecting the clear blue sky and the warm afternoon sunlight. This image highlights the serene atmosphere of a popular Texas state park during the fall season, ideal for nature photography and landscape enthusiasts.
November 6, 2025 at 10:28 PM