101213 Calypso Orchid
This is one of the last shots I ever made on film, during a 1-day photo workshop I held in 2006. I had already crossed over to a DSLR, but still had 20 or 30 rolls of prepaid Velvia in the freezer.
This widespread native orchid, Calypso bulbosa, always captivates, yet I've rarely been able to get a really pleasing photo of it. It grows low to the ground; that is the major problem. When I found this small cluster at the edge of a forest clearing, where the land drops off sharply to the beach below, on a calm day with perfect soft bright light, I knew it was special. My students therefore got to enjoy seeing me hang my butt out over the great void, tripod legs splayed and planted, my own legs splayed and planted, one arm wrapped around a tree root and one hand on the cable release. It must have been quite a sight.
Photographed in East Sooke Regional Park, Vancouver Island, BC (Canada); scanned from the original Fujichrome Velvia slide (ISO 50). The camera was a Nikon F100, the lens a manual focus Nikon 105mm macro with an added extension tube. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2006 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
101213 Calypso Orchid
This is one of the last shots I ever made on film, during a 1-day photo workshop I held in 2006. I had already crossed over to a DSLR, but still had 20 or 30 rolls of prepaid Velvia in the freezer.
This widespread native orchid, Calypso bulbosa, always captivates, yet I've rarely been able to get a really pleasing photo of it. It grows low to the ground; that is the major problem. When I found this small cluster at the edge of a forest clearing, where the land drops off sharply to the beach below, on a calm day with perfect soft bright light, I knew it was special. My students therefore got to enjoy seeing me hang my butt out over the great void, tripod legs splayed and planted, my own legs splayed and planted, one arm wrapped around a tree root and one hand on the cable release. It must have been quite a sight.
Photographed in East Sooke Regional Park, Vancouver Island, BC (Canada); scanned from the original Fujichrome Velvia slide (ISO 50). The camera was a Nikon F100, the lens a manual focus Nikon 105mm macro with an added extension tube. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2006 James R. Page - all rights reserved.