The hyacinth orchid is a recalcitrant subject for a portrait, as I may have mentioned before. It has a mass of flowers on a tall stem, which woggles madly in the slightest breeze. And the the flowers have a deep trumpet that defies clarity. As if that doesn’t pose enough photographic problems, there’s the backlight, and the marauding wallabies who chew the top off just as the inflorescence is readying itself for splendour.
However, my weekend companion managed to get a few shots this morning, armed with knowledge about ISO, white balance and P. I am envious, but I lack his patience and technical instincts. The photos aren’t perfect (at least in his opinion), but they’re a darned sight better than anything I’ve taken.
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snippetsandsnaps 
A beautiful orchid..another first for me. I think you did a fine job Meg 🙂
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I merely posted. I avoid these beauties photographically because they always defeat me.
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Wow – great shots of a lovely delicate flower. What a visual treat to come across in the bush.
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They certainly don’t hide, but I tend to avoid them because they frustrate me-the-photographer so much. My friend has more determination and he passes them twice a day on his twice-daily walk.
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I haven’t spent a lot of time in the bush on the south coast of NSW. Just the occasional holiday. There seems to be a lot of wild flowers that we just don’t see down here on the coast.
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That second photo looks so good with the out of focus back ground, it has a 3D effect and it throws all the attention on that beautiful dainty flower.
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I’ll pass on this praise to the photographer. He deserves it!
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Yes these are nice photos but yours ARE good too, just go back and look at your paper daisies and many others here and stop being negative about your skills! 🙂
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Only negative about my photographic relationship with hyacinth orchids. They’ve been my nemesis for years!
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I just hate woggly plants, Meg! Have they no manners? 🙂 You did a good job.
I had some very shocking news about a close friend in Portugal last night and I’m still finding it hard to smile this morning. He haemorrhaged after a gastric ulcer op and died. 60 years old and living his dream over there- the grandkids coming to play on the beach. Heartbreaking for his lovely wife. Life sucks sometimes, doesn’t it?
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Jo what sad news, we must live every moment mustn’t we? Big hugs.
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Yes, Gilly. Thanks for your kind thoughts. 🙂
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That is such sad news for you Jo, yes 60 is way too young.
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They are our neighbours and have been so kind and helpful over the Algarve years, Pauline. I’m still in shock. What can anyone do or say?
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A difficult time Jo but just being there for your friends will be a consolation.
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Where was this photographed? I’m wondering whether it was in an area which has recovered from clearing (mechanical or fire), as I know you have been rather upset about those events from time to time in terms of the effect on the orchids. The area does look unburned and uncleared in recent times. This specimen looks magnificent.
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In Bodalla State Forest, just up from Waincourt, where I don’t walk because it was slashed and burned closer to the house. There have been heaps of hyacinths, but there’s also a resident wallaby. They are quite near where the first snake orchids were. There haven’t been any spotted on the block, or on the block opposite, where they usually appear. Macropods have bred up, so maybe they’re to blame closer to home too.
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What an EXTRAORDINARY plant !! – I didn’t even know it existed … If the blossoms didn’t have that undeniably ‘orchidy’ look, I’d say someone made it up !
{grin}
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I’d love to claim creation, but I’d lie.
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