Orchids up close

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Orchids up close

February 27, 2013 by Mike Powell

My challenge this weekend was to capture the delicate beauty of a wide variety of orchids and I decided that the best way to do so was to look at them closely, very closely and to use my macro lens.

I took these photos at an orchid exhibition at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, VA, about 90 minutes from where I live. The orchids were displayed in a glassed-in conservatory at varying heights in many different ways at varying heights—sometimes as single plants and sometimes in groups. It would have been amusing to make a video of my body’s contorted positions as I struggled to frame the photos and to look through the viewfinder of my camera, which was on a tripod most of the time.

In some of these images, like the first one, I tried to increase the depth of field to show more details and in other cases, like the last image, I intentionally limited the depth of field to capture one element. In some photos, I was most interested in the lines and colors.

If forced to choose a favorite, I’d probably select the first image, because of the interesting shapes, which are set off by the white petals. Do you have a preference?

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Photography | Tagged Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon Rebel XT, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, orchid, orchids, Richmond VA | 12 Comments

12 Responses

on February 27, 2013 at 5:16 am | Reply Mjollnir

Wonderful photos and subjects 🙂
on February 27, 2013 at 6:51 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

You couldn’t have chosen a more beautiful subject. The challenge is in finding our native orchids, which I’ll spend all summer trying to do.
- on February 27, 2013 at 6:55 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I’m not sure that I am up to that challenge–I am not even sure if we have wild orchids in Virginia. I guess that I’ll need to do a bit of research on the topic and see if I can join you on your quest.
on February 27, 2013 at 7:38 am | Reply Ed

Beautiful! 🙂
on February 27, 2013 at 9:15 am | Reply Vicki

they are all lovely, but my preference is the first one.
on February 27, 2013 at 12:17 pm | Reply naturesnippets

Beautiful and amazing. Contorted positions would make you memorable.
on February 27, 2013 at 6:02 pm | Reply margosnotebook

they are all lovely but my favourite is the fourth one .. i love the linear line and the soft velvety texture.. and the colour!
- on February 27, 2013 at 6:52 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks for jumping in with your preference. The nice thing with shooting flowers is that I can take my time and think about what I want to achieve, With birds and insects, that’s rarely the case–I’m happy if I have the time to get the subject in focus.
on February 27, 2013 at 7:07 pm | Reply Sue

Beautiful photos — you got some great depth of field. Love them all.
- on February 27, 2013 at 7:19 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Sue. The depth of field was a function of using a tripod and choosing thoughtfully my f-stop. It is a totally different thought process for me from trying to snap off photos of birds before they fly away. I’m happy if the images are in focus!
on February 28, 2013 at 10:15 am | Reply elizz

so pretty.. i love orchids 😉
- on February 28, 2013 at 7:04 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. This was a first for me, seeing so many different orchids in one place.