Inspired by the actual blooming of one of my orchids, Angraecum magdalenae, the flower was modeled (using splines and patches) and rendered in LightWave 3d.  Custom vein maps were painted and applied to the bump and translucency channels of the petal textures.  For some added coloration, my Surface Effectors plug-in was used in the throat, on the ends of the spur and at the tips of the sepals.  Rendered with full radiosity on in LW 7.0, it took roughly four hours to render.   The final flower was composited (and a bit of specular bloom added) in Corel PhotoPAINT over a photo of the actual plant.