Calypso Orchid, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

The Calypso Orchid grows up from the detritus of the evergreen forest. This beautiful, small flower can be found poking its way up from piles of brown leaves and twigs. If you don’t know where to look, you are likely to miss it.

I photographed this Calypso last Saturday on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais, at the southern end of the range for the orchid in California. I used my 105mm macro lens with a 36mm extension tube and a +4 diopter close-up filter.

At best, depth of field in this close is very shallow, so I needed all the depth of field I could get. To get maximum depth of field, I exposed at f/36. Even on a bright, sunny day on the forest floor the small aperture meant opening the shutter for a second.

I was lucky to have the flower hold still for me for a full second.

Close up, I love the iridescence of the orchid, and the way the “slipper” part of the flower is almost transparent.