Dancing Ladies

Taken at Cleveland Botanical Garden - Cleveland OH - For Orchid Mania 2012, This Side of Paradise

This was the beginning of my second trip up to the Garden, this time with a fellow photographer in tow. I came in knowing what was in store for me and was able to focus myself a lot more this time around, which just punctuates how helpful a pre-visit to a place can help you as a photographer. This year I wanted to obviously get photos of flowers, but I also challenged myself to get more depth of color into the shot. Orchid Mania is just layers after layers of orchids in a room and my goal was to capture those layers when I could. This is one of those photos where I felt successful. I particularly liked the stark contrast of colors from the yellow to the purple and was extremely pleased that, hand held, the spots on the orchids came out so well.

These moth orchids, part of the Phalaenopsis family, are some of the most common--these are the sorts that you can find at most places to buy for your home and they were growing out of pots that were suspended by wire from the ceiling, floating above the ground. Behind them are sprays of vibrant Dancing Lady orchids of the Oncidium family, called such as they look like ladies all decked out in frilly dresses dancing.