Don't know anything about this kind of orchid but this one makes me want to try.

Cool temperatures and clean water is what it takes to make them happy. When it's 91F at 8PM in your backyard that is a little difficult. And expensive.

Nick

Wow! It's huge and rather nice looking.

Nick, you have an amazing collection and are obviously a great grower, but you are a lousy photographer. Quite a lot of your pics are out of focus.

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude. Tell me what camera you are using and I'll see if I can help. - Ian.

Criticism well taken. It was a giant step forward for me to use my cell phone which is my camera. The other camera is a non digital one with macro lens etc which tales great photos but they end up on paper. The other problem is probably my eyesight. To me the Dracula shown above is in perfect focus. Obviously it is not as you chose this thread to make the comment.

I only post less than half of the photos I take because I can't get the phone camera to focus. I have a gorgeous 17" Bulbo echinolabium in bloom right now which earned my first award ever. Haven't been able to get a focused picture yet, Oh well.

It's 94F in the backyard right now, hard to stay in focused on anything with the heatwave we are having. The only football on TV is a CFL game in Toronto. At least the living room is air conditioned.

Nick

It's not easy to take consistently good photos with a cellphone. There are two main problems. 1.They have a fixed depth of field which only usually goes down to 1.5 meters or so and are not good for close-ups and 2. Camera movement. I have looked at your pics and I don't think it's the former. Most of your pics are fine and it is not a case of the foreground being out of focus and the background good. I think it's simply a case of camera movement. Because they are so small and light it's difficult sometimes to press the shutter without twisting the camera slightly. You would not be aware you are doing it. Try holding it with one hand and pressing the shutter with the other. Good luck. Ian.

You could also try using the self-timer to take pictures. That would eliminate the need to press the shutter and allow for better stability of the phone.

Whatever you do, keep sharing your pictures!

Here are other tips for taking good phone pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Camera Phone Pics