Orchids are one of our planet’s most glorious flowers and can be found in almost every habitat apart from glaciers. The scientific journal Nature published a study suggesting that orchids go back as far as 20-30 million years, and possibly even 70 million! My first introduction to orchids was the Showy Lady’s Slipper; it bloomed in the bogs surrounding my family’s home in northern Minnesota where I grew up.
This beautiful orchid was photographed during my recent visit to SW Florida while working with the Boca Grande Camera Club in an impromptu macro workshop. The world’s richest diversity of orchids are found in the tropics, such as Costa Rica, where I’ve used the same photographic technique to capture the beauty of wild orchids. You can read more about the technique I use to photograph orchids on the Natural Exposures Blog: The LUMIX Diaries: Macro Made Easy.