AusBonsai

Really well ballanced tree Si, good work on the tree and great photography as well. Can you give us a bit of a description on what lighting and settings on your camera etc you used for this?
Thanks for sharing Si.
Regards
Peter

im quite impressed by this tree si van, thank you for posting.
lilly pilly's scrub up quite well

Thanks for the kind comments everybody! This is one of my favorite bonsai and tree species to work with. It is virtually indestructable!
To BB: the last pic is the front, because of the root base.
To Jon: I love this round Tokoname pot! The 3 feets matched up very well with the 3 large roots on the tree too, kind of like how one would match a daiza's feet to the base of the suiseki stone.
To PeterW: I have a very simple and cheap photo setup. I use 3 regular household table lamps with 100w halogen bulbs, 2 on the sides and one tall lamp pointing down on top. The key here is to adjust the WHITE BALANCE to the INCANDESCENT mode on your camera's menu . If you only have flourecent lights, like at most bonsai shows, then just adjust the White Balance to Flourescent. This does not correct the cheap lighting completely but It would improve the color of the picture quite a bit. I use a cheap Nikon digital camera on a tripod.I don't even have a back drop. I just use my living room wall with a light beige color. Every house has such a wall. Any color would be ok, as long as it is flat or not so reflective. The key here is to put the bonsai at least 6 feet away from the wall and partly shade the light sources from shining onto the wall. If the lights are shaded, the back wall would turn out really dark in the picture. All the pics submitted here were taken in front of the same wall. I would put the camera on timer mode then go over to the light and hold up a cardboard to block the light from shining onto the back wall. It's a lot of work taking bonsai pictures by yourself! Carl Bergstrom's write up on bonsai photography that is linked on this site is actually pretty good. That's where I first learned how to take bonsai pictures. Good luck to you!

This competition only has a couple of weeks left, I encourage you all to enter. There are some great prizes on offer.
Regards,
Steven

I have a few natives to show but I will be using almost all of the time allocated Steven because I need it

Hi everyone,
read about your contest and thought I'd take a snap of my one and only Aussie Native(except Figs). I'm a bit out of step with the bonsai fraternity in that I'm not a great fan generally, of natives for bonsai, as I feel their growth habits as a rule don't lend themselves to my perception of Bonsai.
I prefer the more structured form of tree even in a freeform style, if that makes sense. Anyway, maybe after viewing some of these trees, I will be converted.
This tree developed from seedling in 1985 by a friend who only dabbled in bonsai, and got a great result in developing a huge trunk. Never grown in a large tub or the ground, only ever been in a bonsai pot, which is quite remarkable.
I've had the tree for 10 years.
It is a Banksia Serrata ( Old man banksia ), known to me as "Big Bertha" and generally received favourable comment from members, when I used to belong to clubs.
Stephen, if by some fluke you wanted to use this tree in the header, I could take a better photo in more even light as this snap was taken straight off the bench.
cheers
Dave54

Sorry everyone, I forgot to give details about the Banksia.
Stands 50cm tall and 28cm across the nebari.
I rarely repot this tree and when I do, I use a slow release fertilizer in the mix which is AUSSIE NATIVE specific. Other than that, it is the only tree in my collection that I rarely fertilize.
I use the same potting mix as for all my other trees.
It dries out quicker than any other tree in my collection and is my indicator for when to water them.
I continually pinch back th leaves, which keeps it compact and the leaf size has reduced from approx 150mm to 20 mm since I've had the tree.
cheers
Dave 54

Stunning trees.. especially liked the lillipilli. I thought mine was nice. Not outstanding by any means but nice. But it doesn't even get a lookin compared to these. Well done.

Here is a later one of the Babingtonia also it is now flowering so why ny not

How do I lodge an official protest

Coastal Teatree (Leptospermum laevigatum)
The trees were brought as young starter stock from a Nursery 2.5 years ago. They were trimmed, wired and placed
together as the group planting that you see now. All up the trees are about 4 to 5 years old. The tees in the setting are 32cm x 55cm. They have been put together by myself, Jeffrey of Southern Victoria. I have entered this picture not to win but to show that Australian Natives can be wired and structured and placed in a Forrest like any other species.
This compostition is typical of what you would see in the caravan parks and along the coast of where I live. This setting is in an alabasta training pot and is 2 years into a 5 year plan.
Kind regards Jeff (Bonsai by the Coast)

nice setting jeff

well, you've put it into the comp thread so i guess it is in

Very nice Jeff, the rocks work well, I bet that took some time to get the balance just right. The setting is much bigger than it looks, it's a shame that we can't come up with some sort of measure (apart from the bic lighter).

Jon

Jon Chown wrote:(apart from the bic lighter)

Jon

sorry jon, i've checked twice. tell me it's not hiding in the tree...

No Aaron, Jeff isn't using one in his display, it just seems that many do.

Jon