Bird of Paradise is one of my favorite flowers and we are fortunate to have two mature plants in our garden. These plants often live five or six years before they begin to produce flowers so much patience with them is required. This particular bloom was the second from this plant which flowered for the first time this year. Once a bud appears it usually takes about four to six weeks for it to grow and open. I had been watching this bud closely for many days as it slowly expanded. On the morning of this shot I had taken a few images of the bud to document its progress and then went on to shooting other things. I was just about to shut down when I glanced back at the bud and saw some barely perceptible movement. I quickly set up again and within a few minutes the first orange "feather" popped out! Eleven minutes later the second emerged and gave me this comp. I've been fortunate to observe flowers open on a few occasions but none so dramatic as this one and I hope the image does it justicebr/br/br/20 x 25" print on archival fine art paper.br/Edition 1/5br/Artist: Bill Fach