FrogLord

@MrGrowthSpurt, not the author of the photos, but you can get pitch black backgrounds by simply having a darker background and lighting just the plant. Basically there should be a big difference between how well lit the object (plant) is, and how dark the background is. Then you set your exposure for the plant, not the whole scene (or just underexpose if you're winging it) and after simple editing you should have a similar photo.

@growbie, Ouch! :wink::yum: We put a lot of effort into our submission for this contest and thought we came up with some great photos... but we do understand the sentiment and we respect your opinion. Congrats to the other winners and a big shout out to everyone who submitted photos. We really enjoyed seeing the creativity and diversity of everyone's entries. Best Wishes!

@FrogLord, Thanks! I think the stress that was causing the hermed calixes was the reluctance of the trichomes to mature to mostly cloudy. What's also odd about this plant is that it didn't start the new calix growth until it's tent mate was harvested...as if it was devastated that it's lifelong partner was killed. :crying_cat_face: :mask: