Russell Brown | The Brown Stuff

It’s taken me a while to get to this point. Delighted it’s up and running.

Close-up of pale blossom on a thin branch, sharply focused against a dark, softly blurred background of woodland undergrowth. A second out of focus bloom sits low in the frame, adding depth.

Blossom in shade, February
#photooftheday #year3 #photography #blossom #woodland #naturephotography

Close-up of orange velvet shank fungi growing in layered shelves from a dead elder trunk, with ivy leaves and textured bark in soft, shaded light.

Velvet shank on elder, a quiet burst of orange against bark and ivy in flat winter light.

#photooftheday #year3 #photography #fungi #woodland

Close-up of a female hazel flower with fine magenta filaments emerging from a green bud, a small droplet clinging to one filament, set against a softly blurred winter woodland background.

Female hazel flower, just opening in winter woodland. A near-macro study of scale, stillness, and restraint.

#photooftheday #year3 #macrophotography #botanicalstudy #woodland

Backlit silhouette of a teasel seed head seen from below against a blue winter sky, with sharp spines, fine spider silk, and softly blurred trees at the horizon.

Teasel, back lit and unambiguous. Knowing where to stand matters.
#photooftheday #year3 #photography #rule1inaction #naturephotography #silhouette #backlit

Female blackcap partially hidden among dense green ivy leaves and dark berries in shaded winter garden light.

Female blackcap, almost lost in the ivy.

#photooftheday #year3 #photography #wildlife #gardenbirds

A useful learning image for me. First successful focus stack, but close inspection revealed edge artefacts from alignment and blend boundaries, now cropped in the master file. Part of learning the tools rather than chasing perfection.

Close-up macro of a pink cyclamen flower on a thin stem against a soft green woodland background. Most of the flower is sharp from front to back due to focus stacking, with subtle softness along some petal edges.

First focus-stacked macro. Cleaner depth than a single frame, but still showing the limits of overlap and start point. A practice image, but a useful one.

#photooftheday #year3 #photography #closeup #learningthetools

Square image framed by the inside of a circular concrete opening. An empty black folding chair stands on wet concrete in front of a pebble-stone sea wall, with the calm grey-green sea and faint offshore wind turbines on the horizon under an overcast sky.

After They Left.

The view remains.

#photooftheday #year3 #photography #minimalism #coast #foundcomposition

Black and white image of a brick civic building in East Grinstead on a wet January day, viewed from across an empty forecourt with puddles reflecting the facade and overcast sky.

Between meetings.
Parked outside a meeting venue in East Grinstead. Taken from the car between calls, rain, and another long stretch of driving.

#photooftheday #year3 #photography #blackandwhite #documentary #january

A small vinyl figurine of a curly-haired swordsman with a moustache, holding a rapier and standing on a dark round base, photographed indoors in warm light.

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

#photooftheday #year3 #photography #minimal #foundobject #humour #princessbride

Thank you, much appreciated!

Backlit leaf fragment glowing with warm winter light against a dark woodland background, showing fine internal structure and texture.

Light through a window
#photooftheday #year3 #photography #abstract #lightandshadow #winterlight

Close-up of honey fungus growing in a woodland setting, the orange-brown caps covered in fine frost crystals, with shallow depth of field and soft winter light.

Honey fungus on a cold winter morning. Frost on the caps, soft light, and a reminder that standing (or in this instance squatting) in the right place matters more than anything else.

Rule 1: knowing where to stand — The Brown Stuff - photography by Russell Brown Many photographers talk about rules. I only have one: knowing where to stand. This is the first in an occasional series of posts about the importance of this principle. What do I mean by knowing whe...

A short introduction to Rule 1 in Action, a new occasional series about the one principle that underpins all my photography: knowing where to stand.

Three recent images, each made possible by position rather than settings.

www.thebrownstuff.co.uk/rule-1-in-action/rule-1-knowing-where-to-stand

An explainer

Close-up of layered turkey tail fungus growing on a fallen log, showing curved shelves and fine surface texture.

A layered turkey tail cluster catching soft winter light on a fallen log. Quiet textures, calm colours, and a nice reminder of how sculptural woodland fungi can be.

A family photo.

Birthday boy’s meal out!

A customer stands at a pizza-shop window lit by bright red neon while another person serves them inside.

Neon, shadows and a smile at a late-night pizza window.

(By jove, I actually took a decent street photo!)

Top-down photo of a round mushroom surrounded by brown autumn leaves on the woodland floor.

A quiet top-down study of a woodland mushroom among autumn leaves.

Close-up of a pale green hellebore flower with layered petals, surrounded by dark textured leaves.

Hellebore in winter light, captured as a handheld in-camera focus stack.

City street framed by dark buildings leading to a brightly lit glass tower at night.

A quiet street between tall brick walls, the tower ahead washed in cold light. No neon, no hologram - just rain-dark stone and a hum in the air. Blade Runner without the future.

Photograph of a full Moon with visible craters and bright ray patterns against a black night sky.

Tonight I tried Luna photography for the first time. Bearing in mind the OM1 mk2 is a MFT sensor, I was astonished at the level of detail. Taken at 400mm.

Driftwood lying on Brighton’s shingle beach, pale sun-bleached end and dark bark detail balanced through HDR merge under soft morning light.

A driftwood study from this morning’s walk along Brighton beach: testing exposure bracketing to balance shadow and sun-bleached detail.

Warm afternoon sunlight falling across weathered fence panels, soft shadows creating a calm, abstract pattern.

Sometimes the simplest subjects ask the most of your eye. This fence caught the late-day sun in a way that turned its surface into a study of shadow and texture, a reminder that stillness is often where light does its best work.

(Shadows on Weathered Fence – 28 Oct 2025, OM-1 Mk II)

Most of my favourite frames come from that kind of detail — the ones you almost step over before you see them.

Close-up of an orange-yellow leaf resting below a rusted bolt on moss-covered timber.

A fallen leaf and a rusted bolt. I liked how the colours leaned into each other — nature and neglect finding the same palette.

Black silhouette of cherry blossom against a pale sky, minimalist square crop.

Coming soon…
#thebrownstuffphotography #sussexphotography #landscapephotography #abstractphotography #mindfulphotography