Bonsai And Bonsai photoshoot . How to get best photo of your Bonsai. Part 2

In last post we learnt every thing about the Back drop and its colors and how to use that.

Tripod setting for Photo shoot:

Tripod is an important instrument.in photography, if you place your camera on a tripod, , you can easily adjust shutter speed and time with out any jerks. Small jerk also makes your photo shaky without any clear, sharp picture. With Tripod we can adjust of the height the  camera with the same level of the plant with its position and angle. Fix  camera or mobile in tripod and adjust the height of tripod.

camera focus point and should match with pot level. The plant trunk base should and the camera eye will be in the same level. So plant will be visible as it is. we can get true image with out any Parallax error.

If you are looking at plant from an angle the picture you are getting wont be perfect , In out come photo the plant's image will be at an angle  and trunk line can be covered with branches. so its not proper way of getting a good picture.

In the above photograph the focus of camera is going above canopy of the plant. So in out come image of the plant the trunk line looks thin and  young.

camera Angle focus is from the Above the plant

    

Focus of camera in first photo it is on left side, and in second photo it is on right side  

The placement of tripod with camera and plant should be in 180 degrees line. If tripod is on right side or left side the image we are getting is not a actual image.

Tripod helps to take good photos when there is minimum light in the room, that time we need more shutter speed.  When  using camera with hand slight movement also reduces shutter speed, resulting in blur or grainy images.If camera is placed on tripod there wont be any  movement of the hand, On tripod minimum amount of movement resulting  best photos of Bonsai plants. If you dont have tripod there many home made tripod videos are there online, you can check them. you can make your own. The main use of tripod is stability for camera with least motion and best photo shoot..

To be continued in next posts with other tips like tripod placement and exposure etc.....

How to make beautiful bonsai pot Easily at home.

Bonsai is unlimited imagination to your creativity. I tried to create different pot for Premna plant.

A beautiful cement block which is light and can be carved with a chisel, drilling machine, and hexa blade. here everything explained with photos. 

Tools required:

Cement Block before carving

   

                                                                  Started Carving with chisel,and drilling machine removed all the solid materiel from inside 

  

Drainage hole is also made at the bottom of the pot . 

and made some stone like carvings by knife and drilling machine 

If you want you can make drainage holes at the bottom of the pot.

And colors used are acrylic colors, not oil colors.

Video of Bonsai pot making

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdu_OjProeg&feature=youtu.be

 

the final product is this. then it is colored with Fevicryl brown, black and yellow. First put the black color and on brown , then put yellow color

let the color dry out.

Bonsai is a Beautiful Art there is no limit to our creativity.

Then Nursery Plant Premna  is place inside the pot and soil is added. Now  it is looking as a old wood and the plant  coming up nicely. Any one can do this pot. Shaping premna plant. pruning and ramification will be done depending on the development of the plant just started.

How to make a Jin on Buxus Bonsai

JIN is the creation of Dead wood on a Bonsai tree. Usually when natural disaster like lighting or heavy winds or drought happens some of the branches dry off and it shows struggle for survive of the plant. Some of the branches dries off because of  natural calamity and entire branch will be died making that branch  as a Jinned branch. Jin gives a aged personality to the plant. Below is a photo of Naturally formed jin on a plant.

 

Here we would like to show beginners in detail step by step with videos How to make Jin on a Bonsai Plant. 

This Boxus Plant was chosen to make it in to Bonsai because of its trunk line structure and heaviness of the branches, after seeing its beauty thought of making one of the branches in to jin one of the branch selected and made into jin after removing the bark and branch was wired to give a curve shape, Other branches were also wired, given a shape to the plant. For almost One year plant is allowed to grow, only cutting and pruning was done, But due to heavy summer this year plant was effected and most of the branches were dried out. Felt so bad and shifted the plant to another place, it started growing again, but some of the branches dried out. then thought of making dried branches into jin. then the plant totally changed in to another beautiful style , I would like to share my Bonsai plant reformation with all my Bonsai friends.

During  workshop plant is given a shape.

   

 
For one year plant is kept at one place , then we shocked to see the dry branches on the plant. all most all the branches were dead , only main trunk line is healthy. taking the advantage of dry branches, started jinning . Jin and shari are dry branches on Bonsai. jinning is removing the bark of the branch and it will be given a shape. When bark of main trunk of Bonsai is removed is it called shari. Shari and Jin give a different matured look to Bonsai. Artistic creation of Jin and Shari makes the plant more aged look and it makes the Bonsai more beautiful. to make Jin we need some tools like sharp knife, jinning scissors , sand paper , concave cutter or knob cutter.

First clean the main trunk line of the plant and decision to be taken which branches are to be made into Jin. once you decide start removing the bark of the dried breaches. and branches are are exposed , one can see the smooth surface of the branch.

                                                                                                       

  Here main trunk line is cleaned by removing the unwanted branches. It gives a great look to the trunk line.

Clean the branch by removing dried secondary branches. then remove the bark with sharp knife.

Most of the branches were made into Jin branches

Plant is having good surface roots , some of the roots selected and other roots were trimmed down.

            
       Finished Bonsai with Jin                         Natural Jin formation on a tree
   
Then the plant is placed in Bonsai pot with having a new style.
Each step of jinning is expalined in the below link.

Making Jin Of Bonsai Plant explained step by step in the following Link
Jinning on Boxus Bonsai

How to Fertilize a Bonsai plant

Fertilizers for Tropical Bonsai plants
Information of fertilizers for our Bonsai plants,

Generally all plants needs fertilizer when they are growing in pots. Potted plants have confined soil with limited nutrients. It is advisable for proper growth of a plant. Plant needs organic and inorganic fertilizers for overall growth of the plant.

Organic fertilizers like completely dried cow dung , sheng kath means excreta of animals like sheep , goat, bonemeal , kitchen waste made in to fertilizer, neem cake, neem seed cake it also acts as fertilizer and pesticide .Organic fertilizers are without any chemicals and are natural. These organic fertilizers are used in once in three months.Organic fertilizers take a little more time to mix it into the soil., the best way is to fertilize is in the morning or in the evening, first water the plant and take out top soil, put the fertilizer,cover the fertilizer with soil and  water the plant again. Fertilize the plant on regularly, maintain a calendar, and you can see the difference.

Dont fertilize a freshly re potted plant, wait for two months let the plant settle and start fertilizing the plant.

Liquid fertilizers are chemical fertilizers which can be absorbed by the plant instantly. they contain micro nutrients. Plants  require minor elements which are also called as micro elements such as calcium, sulphor, magnesium, along with trace elements such as zinc, copper, manganese, iron, chlorine etc. All these nutrients are available in liquid fertilizers. Regular course of feeding the plants with micro nutrients is once in a month. these liquid fertilizers are mixed 1 ml in one liter of water  and will be sprayed it on the plant. 

One more chemical in - organic fertilizer is to be used in powder form is super mix it is the combination of potassium and other micro nutrients, these elements are to be provided to the soil regularly for proper yield.. Potassium mainly contributes to the plant for  proper growth of fruits and flowers.This super mix to be used once in a month to the soil in very little quantities like half tea spoon. First give a shower to the plant. feeding of fertilizer depends on the size of the pot. if the pot is small with 6 to 14 inches half tea spoon is enough. if the pot is big more than tree feet then it needs one teaspoon.

Ficus  plants grow well in  sunlight but not as much as Bougainvillea,the hot summer sun burns the leaves of the plant . They need fertilizers like nitrogen which are water soluble, Example Ujjala or  suphala can be used . Suphala  ( start with little doses ) and neem cake are the best combination for ficus plant because neem cake avoids loosing of nitrogen in the soil and it improves its efficiency. Suphala and  neem cake can be used alternatively, watering the plant before and  after fertilizing is very important.

Bougainvilleas are the beautiful among flowering bonsais , they need lees or dont need wiring , they love lots of hot sun and well drained soil,These plants need some dryness in between watering , they bloom  twice in a year during march and September because they bloom well when the night and day lengths are equal. they need lots of fertilizers like micronutrients and organic fertilizers like completly dried cow dung , sheng kath means excreta of animals like sheep , goat, bonemeal , kitchen waste made in to fertalizer, neem cake, neem seed cake it also acts as fertilizer and pesticide , as bougainvillea plant prefers little acidic soil. The best way is you can buy a bio fertilizer from a shop or neem cake or neem seed cake are best. once in a month provide the plant with fertalizer, you can choose two types of organic fertilizers and alternative you can use them.

for example this month if you are using neem cake , next month you can use other like bone meal or any other fertilizer  like cowdung etc...

Schefflera doesn't need that much ferlalizer, once in 3 to 4 months is enough for the plant. This plant needs only morning or evening sun light and right amount of water .

Learn About Bonsai Art ...... 

More About Bonsai

https://www.youtube.com/user/kapilaas

Easy and Fast Growing Bonsai

What plant is good for growing easy and fast Bonsai trees?

This  question asked in Quora.com by a bonsai artist. 

The hard, fast and easy growing plant is Ficus benjamina. There are more than 150 varieties of Ficus trees are available in nature.  Most of the varieties are hard and easy growing. Most of the Ficus plants can grow up to 100 ft and these trees have life span more than 100 yrs.

Ficus is a Ficus plant can be shaped into any style and this plant responds well for styling by developing new branches and giving the plant a fully developed  tree like appearance. It can be grown from cuttings. that gives ficus bonsai a aged old look in a short time.The trunk line of this plant becomes thick in short time when compared to other plants. 

For beginners, who are new to Bonsai art Ficus is good variety to grow as a Bonsai tree, some varieties of Ficus plants can give falls or aerial roots which gives a mature look to the Bonsai plant, Ficus is a hard plant stands well for cutting, pruning and root cutting. 

It can tolerate little dryness in between watering.  Small size leaf plants like Ficus nuda, Ficus retusa, Ficus microcarpa are good for growing them in to mame or shohin ( small )Bonsai. One main character is size of the leaf reduces fast when ficus made in to a Bonsai plant. Ficus plant can be grown in fast draining with good garden soil mixture. This plant doesn't need high nutrient organic soil. 

Ficus plants can be grown from seeds, cuttings. 

They can be grown as indoor and out door plants also. When they are growing as indoor plants  proper lighting  arrangement is most important to plant to grow healthy.  Regular fertilizing helps the plant to grow properly and quickly. Well drained soil is important for its healthy growth of ficus plant.

Having Umbrella shaped Ficus Bonsai with lots of aerial roots with good  root system showing over the soil with a sitting Budha underneath the tree is a dream for Bonsai artist. 
Any time Bonsai art needs Lots of patience and interest towards the plants. It is not an one day art, It is a live art. Days, months and years of rapport with the plant makes that plant into a Beautiful Bonsai tree. As Great Grand Bonsai master John Naka Says "The Object of Making Bonsai not to look like a Bonsai, but to make Bonsai look like a tree".
Another link for Ficus growing from cuttings  :  Ficus from cuttings

More About Bonsai

www.kapilaas.com

Selection of Branches for styling Bonsai Plant - Part Two

Selection of Branches for styling Bonsai Plant - Part Two

Styling Bonsai branches is very important because it gives a good look to the plant . Here in this video it is clearly shown how to select  branches, draw a  future plant, and how to give a shape to the Bonsai plant. Re potting of Plant and selection of pot was shown clearly in this video.
Same plant after Six months of training

                                                               Plant with full flowers

Link of Part one Blog of Bonsai Styling
http://www.kapilaas.com/2018/01/selection-of-branches-for-styling.html