Orchids Are Like Buses

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 by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

Curly Locks, Thelymitra spiralis. Wandoo National Park, Western Australia.

 

Curly Locks by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

Curly Locks, Thelymitra spiralis. Wandoo National Park, Western Australia.

 

Curly Locks by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

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.

Bobtailed Lizard by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
The slower bob tailed lizards are easier to photograph than fleeing emus and kangaroos.

 

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.

 

Clubbed Spider Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

A very early flowering Clubbed Spider Orchid, Caladenia longiclavata. Wambyn Reserve, Western Australia.

 

Little Pink Fairy Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

Little Pink Fairy Orchid or dwarf pink fairy orchid, Caladenia reptans subspecies reptans. Wandoo National Park, Western Australia.

 

Sugar Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

Sugar Orchid, Ericksonella saccharata. Wambyn Reserve, Western Australia.

 

Frog Greenhood by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

Frog Greenhood, Pterostylis sargentii. Wambyn Reserve, Western Australia.

 

Jug Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

Jug orchid or recurved shell orchid, Pterostylis recurva. Wandoo National Park, Western Australia.

 

Common Donkey Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

Common Donkey Orchid or wallflower orchid, Diuris corymbosa. Wambyn Reserve, Western Australia.

 

Stark White Spider Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com

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.

Wandering the Winter Wandoo Woodland

As me Uncle Ted would have said it’s been “reeet parky” hereabouts. Or to translate it to English it’s been freezing. It has been very hard to leave a nice warm bed in the mornings. Anyways yesterday I made the effort to go up to Mount Ronan Nature Reserve and take a look to see what’s out. Wasn’t a bad haul.

 

Winter Donkey Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Winter donkey orchid (Diuris brumalis), Mount Ronan, Western Australia.

 

 Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Dwarf Pink Fairy orchid or Little Pink Fairy Orchid (caladenia reptans subspecies reptans), Mount Ronan, Western Australia.

 

 Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Dwarf Pink Fairy orchid or little pink fairy orchid (caladenia reptans subspecies reptans), Mount Ronan, Western Australia.

 

Dark Banded Greenhood Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Dark banded greenhood orchid (Pterostylis sanguinea), Mount Ronan, Western Australia.

 

Jug Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Jug orchid or recurved shell orchid (Pterostylis recurva), Mount Ronan, Western australia.

 

Jug Orchid by Paul Amyes on 500px.com
Jug orchid or recurved shell orchid (Pterostylis recurva), Mount Ronan, Western australia.

 

 

The Spring Flush Continues

Jug Orchid, Pterostylis recurva, Mount Observation, Western Australia. Canon EOS 550d, Sigma 105mm macro, I/125 sec at f8, ISO 1600 with fill flash.

My shoulder has recovered well from the recent surgery and I’ve been able to get out and about round York. The other day I took a speculative drive out looking for dancing spider orchids when I found this solitary little jug orchid. Normally not seen up in the wandoo forest and when found they are usually in largish colonies. So it was a nice little find and compensated for not finding the others.

Parts of Mount Brown, in York Western Australia, are covered in a carpet of pink everlastings ( Rhodanthe chlorocephala ssp rosea ). Panasonic Lumix LX-5. Exposure: AE priority 1/250 s at f/8.0, ISO 80 with -1 stop exposure compensation and -1 stop flash exposure compensation. Focal length the equivalent of 24mm lens on full frame

Every other day I’m walking up on Mount Brown, which is in York, with the dog and it is now covered with a carpet of flowers that are a riot of pinks and yellows. Even the weeds are looking fantastic!

Non-native yellow daisy Arctotheca calendulae. Mount Brown, York, Western Australia. Panasonic Lumix LX-5. Exposure – aperture priority 1/640 s at f/8.0, ISO 80, with -1 stop exposure compensation with fill flash with -1 stop flash exposure compensation.

Of course me on my hands and knees crawling among the flowers created a lot of amusement for Frida, my bull terrier. It took ages to clean the dog slobber from off the front element of my lens.

Frida running through a meddow of pink everlastings on Mount Brown in York, Western Australia.

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