Yep you read that right. You know how you can stand at a bus stop for ages and not see a single one and then suddenly three come along together? Well orchids are like that. I’ve been walking the same patch of woodland looking for the Curly Locks Orchid for years without seeing a single one and then the other day low and behold there were three of them just standing there.
Curly Locks, Thelymitra spiralis. Wandoo National Park, Western Australia.
Curly Locks, Thelymitra spiralis. Wandoo National Park, Western Australia.
Curly Locks, Thelymitra spiralis. Wandoo National Park, Western Australia.
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks walking the Wandoo forest looking for various orchids. I’ve bumped into a male emus and his brood (too quick to photograph), met bob tailed lizards and countless Western Grey Kangaroos (again too quick to photograph). So even if I’ve not found the particular flower I’m looking for it has still been quite an experience.
Speaking of finding orchids well I’ve seen plenty. On Thursdays outing to Wambyn Reserve I saw eleven different species and was amazed by how early some of them were.
A very early flowering Clubbed Spider Orchid, Caladenia longiclavata. Wambyn Reserve, Western Australia.
Little Pink Fairy Orchid or dwarf pink fairy orchid, Caladenia reptans subspecies reptans. Wandoo National Park, Western Australia.
Sugar Orchid, Ericksonella saccharata. Wambyn Reserve, Western Australia.
Frog Greenhood, Pterostylis sargentii. Wambyn Reserve, Western Australia.
Jug orchid or recurved shell orchid, Pterostylis recurva. Wandoo National Park, Western Australia.
Common Donkey Orchid or wallflower orchid, Diuris corymbosa. Wambyn Reserve, Western Australia.
Stark White Spider Orchid, Caladenia longicauda subsp eminens. Wambyn Reserve, Western Australia.
Photographically I’ve been on a bit of a full frame kick preferring to either use the Sony A7r ii and sigma 105mm macro lens or the Canon EOS6d with Canon 100mm macro lens. All the shots are lit with a flash being used as the key light and natural light as the fill. I’ve enjoyed the change but my back doesn’t. There’s a huge weight difference between the full frame cameras, lenses and flash equipment compared to the usual Olympus micro four thirds system I usually use. But to be honest shooting at base ISO using artificial lighting and only printing at A3+ I can’t see any real advantage to shooting full frame so this next week I’ll go back to using the Olympus kit.
paulamyes 
You must be logged in to post a comment.