I took a trip back to the Fakahatchee Strand in an attempt to capture a ghost orchid shot I was happy with. The first trip produced some good photos, the second not any. I figured the third time would be the charm. I did get a few ghost orchid shots that I was happy with this trip but do not know if they will make the website.
This particular orchid is up high resulting in having to point the camera upward to photograph it. Unfortunately, this also results in getting blowouts from the bright sunlight coming through the dense canopy of trees. The last time I shot it there were so many blowouts behind the orchid it distracted from the orchid and killed the shot. This time I went later in the afternoon when the sun angle was lower. There were still blowouts but not as many and in better controllable areas of the shot.
When I first got there the sun was still higher in the sky and was directly in my shot. I decided to try and create a sunburst in my image with the ghost orchid in the foreground. I accomplished my goal but not sure I like the final product. The sunburst is unique but also distracting.
After shooting the orchid I went over to Turner River Road to shoot a sunset with the same lilies I had used as a foreground subject for the lighting storm I shot there last week. I captured two sunset shots that I was really happy with and will likely make the limited edition everglades gallery on my website. Both sunset lily photos are HDR’s to account for the dramatic differences in exposures needed to capture both the foreground lily and the bright sun.
