The Tiger Orchid is putting on a great display right now. I have visited Waverley Flora Park a few times over the past couple of weeks and there are quite a lot. Funnily enough I’m not really finding any other orchids, I might try some other locations in the weeks ahead…

Tiger orchid at Waverley Flora Park. Shot in TAv mode (ie ISO variable). F11, 1/250 seconds, ISO 1600

A very still day – F8 and 1/13 seconds. ISO 125.

A tiger in the drizzle at Waverley Flora Park in Mornington

Tigers in the rain 🙂

The weather was perfect. Small raindrops and no wind at all. F8, 1/200 seconds. ISO640.

Backlit against the grey sky. F8, 1/200 seconds, ISO320.

F8, 1/400 seconds, ISO1600.

Closer view.

There are currently many stems with multiple flowers.

This was a nice capture against a fairly dark and non-distracting background. F6.3, 1/320 seconds, ISO320.

Possibly my favourite of the day – a little arty with the blurred background. F6.3, 1/640 seconds, ISO320.

I shot most – if not all – of these in TAv mode, which is similar to shooting in M mode with auto ISO but differs in one important regard. Because it is a “priority” mode – in this case, both aperture and shutter speed priority – you can also use exposure compensation to under or over expose as required, and it is the ISO which becomes the variable.

So if your composition is in lowish light the ISO will go higher, if you are in a well lit spot it will be lower, and you can also utilise exposure compensation meaning you can control the highlights/shadows just as you can in Av or Tv mode, which is something you can’t do in M mode with auto ISO. It is a very unique and smart feature of the Pentax system 🙂