There are many ways to figure out what mushroom you're looking at. Please see the section at the end of this page on how to take effective ID pictures, so we can help you better!
In case of possible mushroom poisoning, contact the 24-hour National Capital Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. Several MAW experts work with them on mushroom poisoning cases and will do their best to assist you. (There is also a good Poisoning ID page on Facebook.)
MAW members participate in two community science projects that can help with ID:
Uploading your mushroom photos to these projects makes them part of a database that can be used by scientists and conservationists studying species distribution and biodiversity -- and it's a great way to keep a "life list" of mushrooms you've seen.
Local Facebook groups are another resource:
MAW's monthly meetings always include an ID table where club experts will help identify the mushrooms you bring in. Right now, we're doing this virtually: send photos to forays@mawdc.org and they might be included in our monthly round-up of the mushrooms people have been finding.
We strongly encourage people to use the public options above so that others can also learn from the identification of your mushroom. But if you're still stumped, and your mushroom is growing in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area, feel free to email identifiers@mawdc.org and we'll see if we can help you out.
We frequently are unable to identify from photos because they don't include enough information. Whatever ID option you choose from above, better pictures will help identifiers help you!
For more on learning how to look at mushrooms for ID, see our video on Mushrooms 101.