Military Orchid

Military Orchid; one of the trophies I have had my eye on for a year now. Why it is named this I really can't tell, no sign of the army anywhere, no little guns or grenades indeed just a plain rip off of the lady orchid in my book, but smaller. Apparently there are dots down the center of the flower, buttons on a uniform, couldn't see them myself.

This striking and beautifully coloured plant is a gem in my book. Standing between 20-60cm high it grows on chalky rich grassland, boasting a variety of differing shades, some more pink coloured and others even richer magenta than this. They occur on only a few sites in the UK and are well managed and protected by forestry commissions. This orchid was assumed extinct in the 1930s, thankfully this was not the case.

Well it was more trials and tribulations trying photograph these. The site in particular has well marked paths which I used in order not to disturb habitat. Some plants had not flowered this year due to a dry April so leaves were often hidden in rich grass, but thankfully all plants were marked out to avoid accidental trampling. I selected this one individual to photograph which seemed the most vibrant and interesting or the crop. With a working distance of about 4m it was extremely testing to get the plant to sit against a darker background, provided from the trees at the edge of the clearing. It required no end of repositioning to get the softness and shades right. I have cloned out some bright blades of grass in an attempt to hold focus on the plant alone, leaving some texture at the base of the plant to provide an anchor point for the stem.

EOS 5D 300mm +2xII f8 1/30th ISO 400