Fairy Slipper Time

As with many people, orchids have always fascinated me. And for the past several years, I have been endeavoring to capture some quality images of some Montana orchid species. On Tuesday of this week, I began hiking a mountain foothill trail in the Rimini Drainage west of Helena to look for a few bird species I had not yet observed for the year. Not very far along the trail, I noticed a few Fairy Slipper Orchids - one of my favorites and probably the most abundant species in Montana. Farther along, they became more obvious, with some clumps of a dozen or more flowers. While I had obtained some some pretty good images last June, I could not resist the opportunity to change to my macro lens and take more! Here are a few of the results.