I understand everything that's being said. Dana is correct on the difficulty photographing ABs, not just the variation in color, but the form generally has a progression over a 3 day life span. Yes, colors vary according to growing conditions and light. Certainly a photo captures a single moment. Nonetheless I think some effort should be made for accuracy as they grow in my environment. Photos are for my use in the off season and a blue lavender bloom that's only represented as true blue doesn't cut it. I want an 8x10 glossy. Hail damage and wind distortion (my worst enemy taking photos) are not part of the genetic makeup, so I want the bloom at its best and the most accurate for I see. Odd thing about wind distortion. Often impossible to avoid taking a photo, the actual impression is usually not that of the windblown version, but closer to the ideal of no wind. Some colors tend to be harder. I'm usually happy with yellows, pinks and oranges and mostly of the browns . Many reds aren't satisfactory but with a lot of patience and a lot of photos you can make them work. Blue lavenders and blue purples are worse. A few cultivars work, but most are really hard to impossible. Worst of all are blooms with near white standards in any color. They tend to photograph white even though the falls look correct. Very aggravating because it really gives an incorrect impression.

Lowell, if you saved one of those layers of the cut-out bloom, I'd like to see it posted with different colors for the background. Sort of a test of my theory that you can trick the eye into seeing a different color in the bloom by use of background color.

Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7b, USA