Brassavola nodosa question and PHOTO

I have a Brassavola nodosa 'Mendenhall' x self and according to the grower, the flowers are supposed to have larger lips than the usual nodosa.

I personally don't like the shape of the flowers on my plant. The petals and sepals are too straight and stiff looking. I'm not a Brassavola expert, so is it normal for a nodosa to have such straight and stiff looking petals and sepals? Could it be a hybrid and not the full species?

The others I have seen have longer slender droopy petals and sepals which I really like and prefer, those to me appear more elegant and graceful. I wish I had purchased the var grandiflora instead. Here is a picture of mine in bloom.

http://www.rainbowcomputers.net/images/nod.jpg

I've never seen one with petals and sepals that erect. The nodosa we have here is mounted on cork and the petals are much droopier. Yours may very well be a hybrid.

Still, as always, gorgeous photography.....

Thanks, lja!

I have also been told that judges actually like the straight petals and sepals. I don't know much about Brassavolas. I grow mostly Paphs and Phrags.

I've never taken ours to a show for judging, so can't speak intelligently about that. Also, the color of the sepals/ petals on yours is a lot whiter than on ours. I don't know if that's because of the light or processing on your photo, or what. The petals on ours are somewhat yellower, like fresh butter rather than fresh cream.

What camera / lights / equipment are you using to get those kinds of pics? (Not to put it all on the machinery: I'm completely aware of and impressed by the photographer...) Seriously, you could enter those photographs / plants in *any* orchid show as far as I'm concerned and you'd get ribbons if not trophies.....

Thanks for the nice compliment!

I use an older 3 MP Kodak digital camera with natural lighting. I'm red/green color deficient, so I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I do like the looks of droopy longer petals and sepals instead of straight stiff ones.

What about background? How do you get that pitch black background? Do you change it in image processing software?

For the dark black background, I use a black poster board and sometimes a sheet of black velvet.

I'm definitely going to have to try that. Your photos are incredibly dramatic.

Thanks!