I use a piece of black cardboard or black felt as the background. If a sunny day, I place the orchid in the sun and the black material behind on a slight angle so the surface of the black material is in its own shadow...that prevents the background from being grey rather than black. If cloudy, I often use a tripod as the shutter speed will be low. Again, I try to angle the material so it looks the blackest through the lens. Oftentimes, if is not as black as I like then I have to resort to iphotoplus (something like photoshop but easier to use)..that can make the image more shadowed, which makes the background very black. However, the image is also dark then, so next I use Ulead Photo express to 'spotlight' the orchid. That brightens up the orchid and makes the background even blacker! A lot of work at times, but worth it. I don't use fancy blackboxes or side lighting. I only use natural light. In summer, doing this outside is far easier and then I often do not need to resort to any editing of the image.
