Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula)

Well after the trials and tribulations of yesterday you can imagine my frustration when I woke up early and found that the Internet connection had come back on. I also managed to recover some of the images from the compact flash card. Now can I trust that card again?

Early sunshine had me scurrying towards another bluebell wood and I managed to get some images to make up for yesterday's problems. A chance conversation with a dog walker led me to take today's image when he told me that there were cow slip and orchids on some open land nearby, called Red Bank. Well it was worth a quick drive to check it out.

When I got there the area was covered in various wild plants. In fact you had to be careful picking your way through the site. It's hard to believe it was a former waste tip!

To get down to the level of the plant I had to open the tripod legs to 90 degrees and flip the head over as well. An undignified squat confirmed composition but my back wouldn't allow me to stay down long enough to carry out the series of shots needed for a focus stack. I decided to wing it and hope for the best. 8 images make up the final picture.