the power of photography

[craigw60]

One of the great things this forum has done for me is encourage me to photograph my trees which shows them in a whole new light .I have been growing this banksia for about 17 years. I found it in a sand and soil yard. I always thought it was an ok tree not a star but not bad either. A couple of days ago I took some pics of it and when I opened them up on the screen my reaction was to literally recoil. It looks really bad. All those years of work and this is what I end up with. The foliage is not the best but that can be fixed next summer. The tree was repotted and defoliated in feb so next year it won't be root pruned so it can have an uninterrupted growing season, it was put in a deep pot to try and encourage the bark to start cracking, once that happens with banksia they thicken very quickly. The main problem that I can see is the tree is too tall (80cm) with no movement in the top and no taper either. I obviously need to make some hard decisions with this tree next growing season. Any ideas would be great.
Craig

[Mojo Moyogi]

Hi Craig, the camera lens is always going to be harsh on a tree. Having seen this tree in real life, I know that this tree has more depth and presence than can be seen here. The photo has de-tapered the tree a little bit and removed some of it's balance.

Design wise, have you given any thought to adjusting the length of the branches to allow some variation between major and minor branches? Just a thought.

Cheers
Mojo Moyogi

[Grant Bowie]

Hi Craig,

It sort of has a light, interesting trunk but the branching is too regular and heavy. Sort of Bunjin/Literati but with too much foliage.

It will be fun to work on as it is a nice tree.

Grant

[Bretts]

Hi Craig
I tend to agree with Grant and yourself. It does seem too much foliage for the trunk but I also think it doesn't have enough depth which would show up in a 2 dimensional picture. I would love to see this from different angles. It would be excellent if you could do a 360 video

[Mitchell]

A photograph is onyl a small portion of what the human eye can register. That is why HDR images have becomes so popular. I am woking on a method atm of utilising HDR in Bonsai Photography, to enahance the 3D characteristics.

I wouldn't worry too much even the best trees can look bad in a photograph. The horizontal lines behind the tree are probably not helping it either.

I can remove the background and enhance the shot if you would like.

[craigw60]

Hi Mitchell, That would be great. My photography skills are pretty rudimentary which is obvious. The general consensus seems to be to thin the branching which is easy theres plenty to choose from. What about taking the height down a bit ?
Brett I can easily take some pics of different angles but a 3d video sounds way to complex.
Craig

[kvan64]

I agree that the photo looks 2-D. If your camera has the option, play around with the aperture settings (F number) to increase/decrease the Depth of Field until it provides a close image to the real tree's. When the camera lens allows, some people often use the lowest F number to blur the background and make the tree stand out.

I think that the lowest branch is a bit too hanging. If it is extended a little bit further to the left, it will create better triangle (balancing of the folliage). Anyway, it's just my 2 cents. The experts here will have their comments to help out.
Cheers

[craigw60]

Heres some shots from different angles

[Bretts]

It was once said to me that Bonsai is about the trunk of a tree. A beautiful woman is not made by her hair but it is the crown on top that compliments her in every way. A bonsai is the same it is in the trunk that we see the beauty of the tree and the foliage is just a crown on top that compliments the tree in every way.

I bet this tree looks amazing in real life but I believe when it does not come out in a picture then the real bonsai is not yet found. I think I mentioned it before when you mentioned this Craig. Robert Stevens trick is to close one eye when working out the line of a tree so you can simplify the image down to two dimensional.

What troubled me about the original image was mainly depth. I found the first branch taking to much of the staring roll and the great trunk left behind to give depth which it can't really do .
It is very possible that in branch/foliage reduction that this branch would be removed. Not sure yet but what I do find most interesting,and what I was betting on, is when we look at the back of the tree although not perfect I find it more appealing as the trunk now has the lime lite and the main branch is to the back giving depth to the composition.

[NBPCA]

Hi Mitchell, That would be great. My photography skills are pretty rudimentary which is obvious. The general consensus seems to be to thin the branching which is easy theres plenty to choose from. What about taking the height down a bit ?
Brett I can easily take some pics of different angles but a 3d video sounds way to complex.
Craig

I like the height of the tree so show off the trunk more, and yes the lowest hanging branch doesn't seem to work. Some judicious thinning and pruning will go a long way.

You could probably do without the lowest branch and leave only about 5 or 6 branches up the full height of the existing trunk. An elegant, thin, tall literati B integrifolia.

IMHO.

(Oh by the way, I don't know if people have yet realised that Banksia, and in particular B integrifolia, are my favorite material for bonsai.. Ha, Ha)

Grant

[Mitchell]

Hi Mitchell, That would be great. My photography skills are pretty rudimentary which is obvious. The general consensus seems to be to thin the branching which is easy theres plenty to choose from. What about taking the height down a bit ?
Brett I can easily take some pics of different angles but a 3d video sounds way to complex.
Craig

Hey mate, just spent half an hour attempting it, I don't think it's going to be worth me continuing, the shot just doesn't hold up.
If you were to hang a white or black sheet behind it, the definition would be increased and we would have much more luck.

A 3d vid is not much more than taking a few shots. Stick the plant on a stand, mount the camera on a tripod / bench, click, turn, click, turn, click, turn. Then dump the images into Windows Movie Maker and you are done...

Here's my first attempt, plant is shocking, but worked alright. Should have taken more shots per degree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdIKSf_P6qE

[craigw60]

Thanks for all the great advice guys. You have got me really fired up with this one and I am going to hop into it pretty soon. Brett you are so right if the tree doesn't photograph well there is a problem.
When you look at your trees every day its easy to become complacent and not look for positive change. This forum is great in that respect. Being able to get advice from the lounge room sofa is very handy.
Grant I would never have thought of a bujin I was always waiting for the trunk to thicken into its design. Your idea is a really good one.
Thanks for trying Mitchell, I am going to have to get myself a more sophisticated set up to photograph my trees.
Craig

[Ron]

.....I am going to have to get myself a more sophisticated set up to photograph my trees.
Craig

On another bonsai forum, one of the members (Jerry Norbery, I think) uses his stovetop which has a splashback and overhead lighting from the rangehood. He adds a sidelight and varies the background and cover on the stovetop with cardboard or material.

Looks quite good.

[Bretts]

Somehow my stove top has never looked as good as his

[craigw60]

Hi Ron, Thats a good idea except for my tardy house keeping.
I have taken 12 branches off the tree and it looks so much better. There is one more to go I think ? Will post pics of it tomorrow and see what you guys have to say.
Craig