Orchid

Not a lot to say today, but I thought I’d post a couple of orchid photos that I took yesterday.

This was taken inside, using natural lighting. I used a small aperture (f/18) in order to get as much of the flower in focus as possible. With such a small aperture, I needed a long exposure, so this was exposed for 1/2 second (ISO 200).

I used my workhorse telephoto zoom lens (Tamron 28-300 mm VC), set at 135 mm. And with the long exposure, it was necessary that I use my tripod.

The colors are great, but what I really like is the praying mantis look and feel it has to it. Almost like a praying mantis dressed up for the prom.

Petals

This next photo is of a different type of flower, with the petals laying flat and the stamen rising up from the center.

This is a more dramatic close up, with the lens maxed out at 300 mm. Again, natural lighting and a small aperture were used – f/16 for 1/3 second (ISO 200).

What I really like here are the barbs sticking out of the petal, giving it an other-worldly feel to the photo. The green stamen are like a cluster of trees across the landscape.

What do you see in these photos?