Photo Essay
Orchid Odyssey
In his quest to depict all of northeastern Minnesota’s orchids, Ken Hupila has found floral wonders from subtle to showy.
Ken Hupila (photography)
Around 2006, in a conversation with another photographer, Ken Hupila got the idea to capture images of all 33 native orchid species in northeastern Minnesota. His journey has taken him from prairies to woodlands to bogs, and now, two decades later, he’s just two species away from his goal.
“Over the years, I just kept adding and adding, trying to find one that I didn’t have or getting some intel as to where I might find it,” he says.
He learned about orchids’ habitats and blooming seasons and consulted the guidebooks Native Orchids of Minnesota by DNR botanist Welby Smith and Orchids of the North Woods by Kim and Cindy Risen. Over time, Hupila developed an eye for orchids in the wild, sometimes recognizing their forms or seedpods out of blooming season and returning at the right time to catch their fleeting flowers, which can be as tiny as 1/16 of an inch across.
“I’m no expert by any means, but I’ve learned an awful lot,” he says.
This page displays a few of the alluring blooms that lured Hupila into the field, camera in hand, hoping for orchids but always finding adventure.
