Early-Purple & Green-Winged Orchid Photography Workshops, Dorset
April 2023

Dorset Flower Photography Workshops

Why choose me as your teacher?

I have many years’ experience in flower and botanical photography and two RHS medals (Silver-Gilt and Bronze). In 2021, a portfolio of my work was on display in the Saatchi Gallery. You can read about this HERE.

I am passionate about flowers, plants and trees and love to capture images that will last forever, which is especially important in these days of climate change. You can see a portfolio of my botanical photographs HERE.

I often return to the same photo locations each year, just to check that ‘my’ plants are still there. There are already some that have disappeared, either due to being dug up and stolen by humans (yes, unfortunately that happens) or the changing weather conditions.

If I can pass on my enthusiasm for flowers, plants and trees to others, then my job is done.

Read more about Dorset orchids here.

Early-purple and green-winged orchids (Orchis mascula) in Dorset

Early-purples

These wonderful orchids start popping up in April and flower through to June. It’s only early spider-orchids that flower earlier.

Early-purple orchids can occur with interesting colour variations: anything from the classic magenta through to pale pink and white.

Although we will be photographing these lovely orchids, there may be other flower photo opportunities, albeit we are primarily there for the early purples and green-winged orchids.

Green-winged orchids

Green-winged orchids (Anacamptis morio) also start appearing in Dorset meadows in April, around the same time as the early-purples.

Like early-purple orchids, they can also occur in interesting colour variations, including white.

Green-winged orchids are classified as Near Threatened on the Vascular Plant Red Data List for Great Britain.

Please note: I can’t guarantee that during your workshop we will see both early-purple orchids and green-winged orchids at the same time. It may be one or the other.

How many students are in a class?

These will be small classes, with no more than three students at a time, or on a 1-1 basis.

Please note that if there are not enough students to run a class then I reserve the right to cancel. Should that happen then you will receive a full refund.

What photographic equipment do I need?

To participate you will need to have a DSLR camera that is capable of being used in manual mode (i.e. not set to automatic). You don’t necessarily need to know how to use it in manual mode before the class but it would be helpful if you did, even if it’s just the basics.

Compact and more simple digital cameras would probably not be suitable as they are quite restrictive in the way they work.

It’s also a good idea to bring your camera manual along, as sometimes we might need to change some settings.

You will also ideally need a macro lens or extension tubes, and a tripod, or at the very least something solid and flat to rest your camera on, such as a sturdy camera bag.

I will have a few bits of photographic equipment to lend you on the day, but not cameras. If you have a Nikon DSLR I may, however, be able to lend you a lens to try, but please note that this is not guaranteed.