The Oh So Elusive Orchid

I am making the invitations for one of my daughter's wedding showers. Shouldn't be a problem...I make cards all the time for my etsy shop. Making the card isn't the problem. See, my daughter has allergies, and one of the only flowers she isn't allergic to is the orchid. So, she has chosen the orchid as her wedding flower.

Well, I got the bright idea to use a photograph of an orchid on the front of the invitations. I have been so excited about it, that I just couldn't wait to buy a pretty little white orchid to photograph. They sell orchids all the time at all of the big home improvement stores for about $14.99. My husband and I have looked at them many times in the past, however now that I needed one and wanted to buy one....no one had any!

We looked at all of the places we remembered seeing them at, without any luck. I called some florists and they would be more than happy to order one for me for about $60.00. One said she could get me a "stem" for $18.00.

Just before I had given up, I called one of our local grocery stores and lo and behold they had a white orchid plant!! My husband was going right by there on his way home, so he stopped and purchased it....for $12.99!! What a deal! I was so excited. I ran out this morning and got some green satin fabric to use as a backdrop since that is her wedding color and I was ready to go. Keep in mind....I am NOT a photographer. Most of the photos I use on my cards are taken by my son, but I was ready to give it a try.

I think I took about 60 pictures of all different kinds, some of them with the poor little plant lying on it's side so I could cover the stem and some of the flowers and just photograph one or two of the blooms together. What a project it turned out to be. I only found one out of the first set I liked and decided to try again. I think if the poor little orchid had legs, it would have taken off running when it saw me coming!

I realized that in order to get the shot I wanted....one of the little blooms was going to have to make the ultimate sacrifice. Now trust me, I felt awful. I stood there with the scissor contemplating what I was about to do for quite some time and then SNIP, I did it. I cut the little bloom right off the plant. I just kept telling myself it was okay, but I really felt sad.

Then my husband comes in and says, "You cut the flower off?????" I said, "Remember, we bought the plant so I could make the invitations. I had to do it". Now I know that professional photographers don't go cutting the blooms off of the flowers every time they want to take a picture, but I am not a professional and I really just wanted to get this done.

So, I took the next set of pictures and it was a heck of a lot easier moving around one little bloom than it was a potted plant, and I think I got some nice shots. Now, I have never played with the different little options in Picasa before, but I tried some of the effects to see what would happen and fell in love with the soft focus one.

Tomorrow I am going to have all of the shots I like printed and then I will pick the one I am going to use for the invites. I have the little bloom in a dish of water, and I still feel really bad....but I'll get over it. The invtiations are going to be great!