Images > Nature, Flora, Fauna & Landscapes

Rare Michigan Orchids

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Michael Erlewine:
A project this spring here in northern Michigan has been to photograph some of the rare Michigan orchids. Here are three Michigan orchids in order of their rarity. They are:

Pink Lady Slipper
Showy Orchid
Yellow Orchid

They were shot with the Nikon D810 with the Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 APO. The showy orchid was photographed just this morning, the rest earlier.

Bjørn Rørslett:
The genus Cypripedium certainly comprises some beautiful species. Your last one looks a bit like the European C. calceolus.

These flower portraits convey delicate detail combined with excellent crispness and nice colours. Well done.

Michael Erlewine:
As mentioned, one project this spring has been to photograph as many of the rare Michigan orchids as I can find. This morning it was the rare Showy Orchid (Cypripedium reginae), which occurs in our county, but is quite rare. This particular group of Showy Orchids is found in a very small micro-climate, a patch no larger than a 20 x 40 feet rectangle. There is abundant moisture, a little stream, and while not actually a bog, the area is almost bog-like.

In the early morning fog, driving to the area was difficult, and once I arrived, many mosquitoes were waiting for me. Crossing a slick makeshift bridge above a creek, I then walked on a ladder-like walkway which itself was very slippery. I had to be careful because I was carrying quite a lot of equipment: tripod, camera, three large lenses, messenger bag, and what-not.

These are magnificent flowers and all stages of the plant are strikingly beautiful.

armando_m:
Delightful details in all the images

nice to see the little bug under the snowy

(to see them large - right click, view image, mouse becomes a magnifying lens, click again ... enjoy the details, go back , repeat on the next image)

Thanks for sharing Michael!

Lance B:
Fantastic detail with 3D quality and wonderful compositions.

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