Paph on 2 diff. backrounds
 

Light or dark? Which one do you prefer? (Assume the photos are identical, even though they are not.)

Paph. Supersuk 'Eureka' AM/AOS x Paph. Raisin Pie 'Hsinying' x Sib

I favor the lighter background.

Increasing the exposure on the one on the black one can make it "pop".

I've attached a post-processing version...

Yes, more detail in Ray's picture. If I had to choose one over the other of the OP's two choices, I'd choose the lighter background. Having said that, I'd prefer, since the orchid coloration is dark, a lighter background that's not so "busy," i.e., perhaps a charcoal gray overall with a hint of color to it.

Thanks for the input. Good stuff for next time. i was shooting in manual, and didn't get enough exp. dialed in during PP.

Looks great Ray.

I prefer the black background; though I wonder if you might consider the trick aquarists use for presenting specimen fish--a blue background?

I have played with backgrounds myself, especially with the really dark flowers. The light background just doesn't have the "pop". Possibly with better lighting on the Paph (it is dull and brownish) the light one would work. I have also played with blue, but always end up going back to black. If the plant has good light on the side (or even back) even a dark plant shows up well against the black.

When I still had my "studio" set up, the black velvet background was typically about 3'-4' behind the flowers, I had reflective umbrellas set up at about 45° angles on either side, and a small, white reflector positioned slightly behind the flower to give a very small amount of backlight.

Here's a few examples....maybe not the best.

Paph. Annabellchen
Phal. Mituo King
Paph. Margie Goward

Ray, Was the one slightly in back just passive, reflecting a little light from the forward lights? Or were you shooting with 3 lights.

My Paph shot was with an off camera flash. I tried my LED through an umbrella, but I only had 1 on one side, and that is BAD!