CJ you are welcome! it made miss my time in Florida - where at different times I was house sitting and decompressing. Just got into orchids in june - I was in Jamaica for a week and there were all these tillandsias on the electricity wires. i rode a bicycle up the mountain road to the great morass swamps on a rainy day [early june/rainy season] and there were all these trees with epiphytes growing everywhere. i rode 20 miles away - a huge mango tree on the top of a mountain next to a church. they gave me some fruit to eat and saved the seeds. anyway i kept going and i saw some beautiful gardens with tradescantia pallida hedges. and then by the rocky coast i saw tobacco fields in the rocky bush. I wish i would have looked for orchids then - but anyway - i now feel i love all that tropical vegetation and in brooklyn you see for the most part boring gardens [with exceptions]. I find West Indian and Mexican neighborhoods have the most beautiful plants on teh block. Anyway I liked the BBG more than the NYBG [i found it clean / large / sterile]. The Brooklyn museum got really renovated!

The purple markings really add pizzaz! Sharon

Were I to do a photo of an oncidium with a lot of bright yellow flowers, I would take the pot or mount and place it against a dark background that does not reflect light. Examples of this material are black felt or velvet paper. Another advantage is that no shadows would show up. Compose the photo in your mind. It would help if your camera has an LCD screen like mine so you can see what is going on. Using various settings, click away. Usually I vary the light that enters the lens. If your camera doesnt have a ring flash with it then you have to light up those areas that you want to emphasize. I use ordinary study lamps with daylight or cool white bulbs. I like to play around with the texture and substance of the blooms so usually I backlight a little bit. I find that the colors show up more, and this also brings out the glitter in white blooms. In general, the less light in the photo, the more brilliant the colours are and the brighter lights wash out the colours. PM me if you have more specific questions. I shall try to answer them as my schedule allows.

Sultry it's not fragrant. Vandas usually are not.