Ornamental Orchids

Today's challenge was to make a photograph with soft light and to try to almost totally eliminate shadows on the subject.

I recently travelled to Costa Rica where I fell in love with the lush vegetation. Costa Rica has an astonishing number of plants, and people are drawn from all over the world to see the beautiful flowers that grow there. Of special interest to many are the numerous variety of Orchids. In fact, the National flower, Cattleya Skinneri (known locally as the "guaria morada" ), is a species of Orchid. 

The best time of the year for orchids in Costa Rica in the wild is just as the rainy season is starting up with the first scant rains. Many of the orchids in nature are triggered into their blooming cycle at that time. There are more than 1300 recognized species of orchids in Costa Rica. Some are small, some large, many are quite showy. Many have amazing scents or perfumes, along with a few that smell truly unpleasant. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Costa Rica, bring your nose along. You will be intrigued at the variety of odors the various orchid species can emit.

I purchased this unique hand-carved vase made of Mango wood in the small town of Lafortuna. Sadly, I couldn't bring a REAL orchid back with me so I just placed a "faux" one in the vase until a nice real one can be found.

Mags.