Still learning about lighting

[JaneEyre]

I'm playing around with my new mini studio set up. I think I am having trouble with lighting, not sure.

I set up on my desk a "black 4 sided box" that I made out of poster board (I didn't have velvet fabric on hand so the background is a little reflective). I used two desk lamps on each side of the object shining away from it. I used a white poster board (hand held) to reflect that light onto the subject. I thought I would give this a try before I invest in real light/reflector set up.

I thought this method worked pretty good on geometrical objects, like wooden puzzle toys, nested dolls, etc. However, as soon as I started playing with orchids, I got mixed results. The shadows seem distracting, and the flower looks flat...

This picture was taken with tripod at f/10, 1/5, ISO 200, -2/3 stop