Photographing Terrestrial Orchids

My own love of bulbous plants came about as a result of my fascination with Terrestrial Orchids. In its infancy this bug caught hold of me when I was first living in Spain and my photography was mainly video. I wasn't really even sure which were orchids and which were not but researching to find out what I had managed to photograph made me realise that it was the undeniable appeal and appearance of Orchids that had caught my eye.

How thankful I am that they did for since those early days my pursuit of this oft elusive quarry has taken me to many parts of the globe that I would probably not otherwise have visited and led on to an all consuming interest in bulbous plants in general. The Orchids remain King, however, though the incredible diversity of the rest does take some beating.

Initially I will deal with those species to be found in the UK. There are in excess of 50 species and, in keeping with many other groups of Wildlife, the exact number is debatable and depends on where you fall between the “lumpers” and the “splitters”. At risk of repeating myself the “lumpers” are those who “lump” together similar individuals as one species and accord the, frequently only marginally, different ones subspecific or varietal status. The “splitters” are those who insist on granting full specific status to populations of what, ostensibly, are populations of the same species living in different localities based on what can often seem to be the slenderest of justifications. I have covered this subject more fully in my articles on Narcissi and would refer those who may be interested to check under my article headed “Narcissus Moschatus/Alpestris”.

Essentially, to my Botanically naïve mind, many, if not all, lifeforms are actively evolving. Some to a more noticeable degree than others. If you locate populations of the same species in a number of different habitats it seems, to me, inevitable that over the course of time family relationships and factors beneficial to the particular location will begin to have some bearing on the appearance of the subject concerned. At what stage these differences warrant specific status is, of course, the moot point. I have just completed a long promised trip through the major mountain ranges of Spain and France and have encountered, several times, the “same species” in nearly all locations. There is no way these can come into contact with one another as the populations are often hundreds of miles apart. They are, then, evolving at their own individual paces and developing features that suit their own exact locations and so of course there are going to be differences. Often, it seems, it is decreed that the difference warrants specific status solely for the aggrandisement of he who supposedly “found” this new thing. I would have thought that in this day and age of DNA and other technology that there should be a more definitive method of determining when a species is sufficiently removed from others of its like to warrant a name of its own. That way we may be spared the ongoing onslaught of names of the various wives, daughters, mothers and grandmothers of the so called “discoverers” as happens at present.

In keeping with other groups within the Wildlife network the British Orchids have a finite number of species (give or take a few!) and are well documented both generally and scientifically. The number of species and the wealth of information relating to them is such that, for the diligent, it is possible to bag a “full set”. This always seems to be a tremendous incentive in many walks of life and Orchid photography is no different. Whatever brings you into the interest you will quickly find that Orchid photography is a highly addictive pastime.

Of the fifty odd species available to you between 20 and 30 can be located and photographed relatively easily. The rest will demand varying degrees of effort and expertise in their identification and location before you can add them to your “been there, done that” list. The hardest part for the newcomer is to recognize when he/she is actually looking at an Orchid. Their shape, size, colour and locations are so diverse that it takes time to realise what you are looking for.

Many sites can be identified via the internet under either Wild Orchids in general or by punching in the names of individual species. There are also some very good books available on the subject. I suppose the most definitive of these at the moment are those by Delforge though their content is too Continental for them to be really relevant to the UK per se. Neither do they give specific sites but rather just general areas. When you become more proficient a general area is often good enough because, within it, you will probably become able to pick out likely sites by eye. In your early days, however, it would always help if you knew to turn left at the fourth rock on the right, take five steps forward and then look under the tree straight in front of you. Unfortunately there are not too many books that go into this much detail but there are some that help.

I haven’t, personally, bought Orchid books for some years and so am not truly aware of what is currently out there on the market. However for Hants and Dorset there are two very good ones by Martin Jenkinson and much of the information in them would apply to the various species wherever they be found. These are “Wild Orchids of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight” ISBN 1 873035 04 7 and “Wild Orchids of Dorset” ISBN 1 873 03502 0. There are also a number of general “finding wild flowers” books and the one relevant to my home area in Dorset that comes to mind is “The Wild Flowers of the Isle of Purbeck” by The Rev Ted Pratt ISBN-13: 978 0 9553928 4 9. Of these latter I have no doubt that there are others throughout the UK that are probably more applicable to your home areas. I expect that David Lang’s “Wild Orchids of Britain and Ireland” ISBN 0-19-282599-2 is still one of the best if it is still in print, failing which a check with Amazon will no doubt prove fruitful.

By far and away the best site guide, however, is word of mouth. If you can take the time and trouble to meet other like minded souls you will find that every one of them knows at least one site that you don’t, and many of them will know several. So get talking! Once you start out on the trail you will inadvertently bump into others on a similar quest. Don’t be a “shrinking violet” and don’t go all broody and possessive over sites that you may have discovered and are convinced that no one else knows about. Be prepared to swap information and you’ll be surprised at just how helpful other people can be.

If you are not already a member of your local Wildlife Trust then perhaps you should consider joining. Most of the Area Trusts have several sub groups within them and they publish an Events Diary listing forthcoming events and talks. If you keep your eye on this list you will no doubt find one or two talks that will appeal to you but, in any event, if you make the effort to attend one or two of them you will have the opportunity to meet other enthusiasts and share information. If you are lucky enough to be able to attend a talk on Orchids or Wild Flowers it will not only give you an opportunity to learn something about the subject but also to judge the quality of photography that is currently “doing the circuit”. If, after seeing one or two, you feel that you are still “an aspirant” then get aspiring! If, however, you feel that you are already “up there with them” then get giving talks and sharing your knowledge and expertise. In reality this is not easily achieved and you should not be downhearted if you find that you are still “on the ladder” provided that you are moving in an upward direction. This is not just about Photography but fieldcraft and a feel for the subject as well. Some of the best photographers in the world would not be at home on their knees in a muddy field surrounded by cowpats and with the Orchid, of which they need a closeup, nodding in the breeze that has been blowing continuously for the last two weeks and doesn’t seem to be about to give up.

So - - you are now genned up on what you are looking for and have a reasonable idea of where to find it. Now the problems begin. The primary one is that it is not only a case of “what” and “where” but also of “when”. Most wild flowers, compared to their garden counterparts, have a fairly short flowering period of only two to three weeks. This season varies from year to year by up to as much as 3 or 4 weeks one way or the other. Take it from me there is nothing more frustrating to a plant photographer than to arrive on a long searched for site and find that all the subjects are, in fact, there but you are two or three days too late and they are all in the “seedhead” stage. At least you’ll know where to go next year! Always check the state of the current year’s season as to whether it is early or late and be guided accordingly.

However, assuming that all prevailing factors have conspired to smile in your direction for once and there, in front of you, is the object of your desires, how do you set about photographing it? I think closeups are the stuff of every plant photographers dreams but a succession of only these quickly becomes boring. I usually work to a three point principle. Firstly you need an “in habitat” shot showing the whole plant and enough of its surroundings to conjure up a mental image of the “where” of it. Secondly I try to take an “in between” shot showing the Orchid head, a bit of stem and, hopefully, the rest of it out of focus and not intruding in any way. This takes care of those that just want to see the plant for what it is. Thirdly, and finally, there is the closeup. In days of slide this often took at least two different shots. One of the complete flowerhead, as large as you could get it in the frame, and the second of just one or two parts of the flower or florets depending on the species concerned. In these days of digital, if you are careful, one shot will fulfil both these latter requirements. If your full frame headshot has been carefully composed and taken you should be able to crop it with your software programme to show any parts of the flower that you choose whilst still maintaining subject sharpness.

When it comes to the actual taking of your shots you will find that your subjects are split into two main groups. One group will consist of those species that grow in amongst other vegetation in a field or hedgerow or similar setting and will need a degree of “gardening” to show off the whole plant. This “gardening” can be something of a controversial issue with the opposing camps taking varying views as to whether you should take the shot “as is” regardless, or whether, to make the shot more aesthetically pleasing, and certainly to show the subject off to full advantage, you should engage in a little of what is euphemistically called “gardening”.

I subscribe to the latter though you do have to be careful. First and foremost take care not to destroy any vegetation that may have been sheltering or supporting your subject and may actually be partly responsible for the pristine condition that presumably prompted you to select it in the first place. Most offending vegetation can be temporarily pinned down with small stones or sticks and some of the heavier and stronger stuff can be tied back with spare bootlaces. Do not uproot anything since roots can travel with a mind of their own and often a plant some distance away can actually have its roots entwined with those of your subject. I carry a pair of surgical scissors to carefully snip off grass stems and the like that may be in between lens and subject and some of those long seeding grasses that, though not directly in the way, nevertheless deliberately lean over and ruin your view every time the slightest breeze blows. Make sure you do not get cut ends in your final image otherwise you will have further enhancement to do. Finally return things to as near normal as possible when you have finished so that not only your subject, but the surroundings also, can continue to thrive to whatever extent the weather and local herd of cows permit.

The most persistent problem with the above group will be coping with the wind. In reality, and provided that you have the patience, most winds do have occasional lulls. You just have to wait! Sometimes this can take some time and you have to remain focussed with your finger on the shutter release ready to seize the moment. Digital cameras give you a greater range of shutter speeds at the twitch of your ISO settings than did the film cameras of old. However, I always prefer to wait until the subject is quite still, even if I have a square eye by the end of it. The effect of wind causing subject movement is more easily overcome with your “in habitat” shots due to various factors such as your choice of lens and the increased shutter speeds you can obtain from the increased amount of light if using a “short”lens. Additionally there is the unarguable fact that a quarter inch wobble at fifty feet is going to be far less noticeable than the same wobble at eighteen inches.

When you come to your flower headshots there are a couple of support systems that you can use to reduce the movement somewhat. Many Orchids consist of a flower/s on the end of a fairly long stem. I look for three lightweight forked twigs of a suitable length and lay them up against the stem, just below the part you are photographing, in the form of a tripod. You do not normally need to fix them either to themselves or the plant as the forks usually bind them together. This has the effect of stilling the stem movement whilst leaving the head free to be photographed without any supports showing up in your shot. The wind will still affect those parts of the plant above your “tripod” but the movements will be greatly reduced and the periods of complete stillness will be increased. You can also try sticking a twig of suitable length in the ground (some way from your plant so that you don’t damage its underground parts) in such a way that your subject is, in effect, just “leaning” against it. This is not as effective as the “tripod” but it is very quick and often serves the purpose.

I also carry a folded up length of plastic sheeting about 18ins high, and some lightweight tentpegs for support, to provide a bit of a windbreak. In practice it’s not very efficient as most winds seem to enjoy going round corners or even over the top. There is also a danger that you may convert the gentle, elegant, swaying in the breeze motion of your subject into a movement more reminiscent of a bad case of the DTs. It is far harder for the eye to judge when this latter movement has ceased than it is the former and so you stand a very good chance of taking your shots in mid-shiver and ending up with a blurred image.

The other group will be growing in either a woodland or open setting where other vegetation is not a major problem. Often, however, they will be in the shade or, even worse, dappled light filtering through branches overhead. This group poses slightly different problems. Wind is not quite so critical though it does still find its way in. Gardening is probably not a problem either as many woodland understories can be relatively bare. By far the biggest problem in the woods will be the light especially if conditions are such that it is dappled. You will be surprised at how fast the sun and its associated shadows can move. Often an Orchid, perfectly outlined in a ray of sunshine, can have faded into insignificance by the time you have unslung your gear and set up your tripod. Sometimes you can tie back branches to create more light but all too often the offenders are many feet off the ground and out of effective reach. Better to wait until your subject is either fully lit or fully in the shade before taking your shots. Unless you are very lucky most shots in dappled light pose an exposure and enhancement nightmare at the end of which you may well wish that you hadn’t bothered or that you had waited a little longer. Before someone points out to me that dappled and filtered light can produce some dramatic and stunning effects I would agree, but repeat that, far more often than not, it is just an exposure nightmare and a mess – But hey!- you’re the photographer and it’s your decision how and what you take and not up to anyone else to make the choice for you – so go for it!

With the photographing of both the above groups a flash unit can be an invaluable aid. There is, in my mind anyway, no question but that flash brings out a degree of detail, in many situations, that would not be portrayed in a non-flashed shot. How important this lack of detail is to you is, of course, a very individual consideration and will probably be determined by what you have as an end requirement for your image. If all you want is a 6 x 4 print or a screen image then you can probably get away without flash and brighten your image with your software programme. If, however, you want to substantially crop your image, or go for a larger print, then the extra detail provided by flash may assume a greater significance. You may feel there is no need for flash in an open field with sun shining fit to burst but this is not necessarily so. I normally set my flash unit on a “fill-flash” setting as this just lifts heavy shadows caused by bright light and “reaches parts of the flower that other photographers may have missed!” I seldom, if ever, use full flash as, though it can admittedly freeze movement, it creates black backgrounds and provides a fairly harsh image which my eye does not find pleasing.

There is, however, no such thing as a free lunch and so the extra detail from flash comes at a price. I have been “doing this thing” for many years now and I still find it impossible to accurately predict the varying degrees of reflectivity of all the background vegetation some of which, rather than being nicely blurred, can become quite intrusive. Additionally, with many plants, and some Orchids in particular, there can be a fairly mega problem caused by reflections from dust and pollen particles. When illuminated by any kind of flash these have the propensity to become mini searchlights since they can be highly reflective and can, sometimes, spoil your shot completely. Many Orchids, especially those of the Ophrys or Insect Orchid group, seem to act as a magnet for dust and pollen due to their frequently sticky and “hairy” flower parts. The problem is that not every particle or water droplet will reflect to the same extent, nor do so in a direction that will show up in your image. It is all but impossible to predict the extent to which your image will be affected and you will not truly know the position until you get home and display the image through your computer as your naked eye, and most camera playback systems, are not detailed enough, especially in bright light, to show the true scale of the problem. The upside is that these mini-highlights are normally easily removable with your healing tools but it can be yet another tedious process, particularly with heavily affected images. It is not necessarily an answer to the problem, as each set of circumstances will be different, but if you take some shots with, and some without, your flash then you will give yourself the widest possible choice of images to work with.

Because of the varying conditions under which you will be working it is often impossible to accurately predict exactly which camera settings will provide the most pleasing images. It pays, therefore, to take numbers of shots using different settings. This is known as “bracketing” and allows you to cover all your options. I bracket as much as circumstances and prevailing conditions permit. Bear in mind that the most pleasing shots do not always come from the smallest apertures. Do not fall in love with high F Stops just to be able to claim that you normally work at F22 and above since, although this type of setting gives you the greatest depth of field, this is not necessarily a plus if you want your subject to stand out from its background. BRACKET !! At the end of the day it is all about what you want and so you are the best one to make the necessary decisions but, in the meantime, if you are not very experienced, then do yourself a favour and bracket like hell! Not only for your speed, aperture and flash settings but also for shot angles. Remember that many of these plants flower for a very short period and it is far better to have to discard the majority of your shots than it is to spend a whole year champing at the bit whilst waiting for another crack at it because you goofed. A wise man once said that when he came to be lying, dying, he wanted to be able to regret things that he had done rather than things that he hadn’t done, and your Orchid Photography might well follow these lines.

Most of the Orchis and Dactylorhiza species which, between them, comprise by far the largest part of the British range of species, have a fairly cylindrical shape when in full flower. As a result lighting and focussing are fairly straightforward – just make sure that you get the best angle. Some species have basal leaves on opposing sides of the stem and it gives a nice balanced image if you can get at right angles to these when taking your fullbody shots even if that is not necessarily the best angle for the flowerhead. Super closeups, however, of head and/or individual florets will have to be taken so as to show them off to best advantage, and this may involve a completely different angle of approach.

My own personal favourites, the Ophrys or Insect Orchids, pose a slightly different problem. They tend to be far more diminutive in size and so, whilst the full plant shots are fairly straightforward and normally lend themselves to portrait format, the closeups are more difficult. It is not easy to make a full length Ophrys shot look exciting since the plant comprises little more than a relatively long, spindly stem with up to a dozen or so very small flowers sprouting from it. The whole thing from a distance is relatively uninspiring but it is in the intricate design of the individual flowers that the beauty of these plants lies and your objective will be to portray these to their best advantage. You may be forgiven for thinking that a full frontal approach is best for this purpose but, in practice, this is often not the case. Fly, and some Early Spider Orchids, can show well from this angle but others such as Bee and Late Spider are arranged in such a way that, with lifesize images, the flower is too deep from front to back to get it all in focus at one time. With Bee, for example, it is not possible to focus on the front of the labellum and the sepals, which normally curve backwards, in the same shot. With these I find that a half sideways shot probably does the best possible job and if you look at one or two of my Bee Orchid shots under the Orchids of Europe heading on this website you will see what I mean.

Mainland Europe is home to all the species that we have here, though often in far greater density of numbers, plus a range of species that we do not have despite our being only a short distance away. Many of the European islands host the more common species plus an often significant number that are specific or “endemic” to that particular island only. This is brought about by the fact that in island, and some mountain, settings many species of plants and animals have evolved over the millennia cut off from, and unaffected by, other populations. The longer the island has been isolated then, normally, the greater will be the diversity and significance of the evolutionary changes effected.

In the case of our own “island” it is only a very few thousand years since the thawing of the most recent ice age and the consequent rise in sea levels cut us off from Europe. At that point in time we were stuck with the limited number of species that were already present here and able to survive in the conditions prevailing at the time. The difference between Europe and the UK, however, is that as this part of the planet warmed up species which had formerly existed only in the Southern parts of Europe were able to spread Northwards, often fairly quickly and in significant numbers. In our own case, though only separated by a short distance across the Channel, many of the more sedentary species unable to cross water have been unable to establish here. We are, therefore, limited to those species that were already here before the landbridge disappeared and the odd few that have resulted from either accidental or, sometimes, deliberate introduction since.

The net effect of this is that for the Orchid Photographer a short trip across the Channel can seem like coming out of the dessert into an oasis where all manner of good things abound. Often species which in the UK can be counted by individual plants such as Man, Monkey, Military, Lady, Ladies Slipper, Red Helleborine and others can be found just across the water in huge numbers and throughout vast ranges of distribution. There are, of course, for the reasons outlined above, a much greater number of species and subspecies and, if there is a downside to this, it is that it is far more difficult to locate and photograph a “full set”. This is particularly so in view of the current spate of reclassification that is taking place at present.

I also wonder if, perhaps, it is as much fun as the search can often be over here. There is much truth in the old saying that “the thrill of the hunt is in the chase”. Certainly for me, and no doubt others who, like me, are dedicated to the subject to an often all consuming degree, the excitement is definitely still there in Europe – but we have served our apprenticeships and moved on. I suspect that for many newcomers Europe could be too much too soon. My advice would be to cover the UK fully before looking abroad so that by the time that you do, eventually, get there you know what you are doing and what you expect to get from it.

But - - Hey Ho! Hey Ho! – all life is a compromise so I suppose there is no reason why Wildlife Photography should be any different. Bracket like crazy, cover all your options and above all -- Enjoy!

Any help I can offer that you may require is freely available via the “contact us” button on this website. I ask only that you be somewhat patient in the Spring/Summer months as I am often out of civilised contact for varying periods at this time.

Have Fun!

Brian Pettit