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

Photographing A Bonsai : Once we finished shaping Bonsai Plant, we feel like capture the beauty of our creation in a frame. Here I am sharing some important points of Photography . These I learnt with experience, I would like to share with you all. We can start our photography shoot with our mobile. we don't need any expensive camera, Simple camera is also makes lots of difference. Then a normal simple tripod of for stable photos. For taking  good photos one need not to be a great photographer just follow some easy steps and your Bonsai photos will be marvelous. 

Back drop for photo shoot : First to show your Bonsai clearly with depth we should have a solid back ground with out any distractions. If you have plain wall that also makes a good back ground. Otherwise next step we can use Black or White colour or any other colour of plain cloth is makes a superior back ground.  when you selecting a cloth it should not be a shiny cloth, because it reflects the light.  

 

The cloth can be a velvet or 100% cotton cloth or Lekera cloth is gives a best back ground. Some times if your Bonsai is small then our coloured chart paper is perfect as a back drop. Back drop should be hang from a stand or with some support . please try to hang the cloth  straight down with out any folds.. The folds distracts the view of  main image. Our Bonsai plant can be placed in front of the backdrop on a table. We can put same cloth on table and place the plant on table. Then complete back ground will be full black and entire viewers concentration will be on Bonsai plant. Some times we can place turntable on the this table, that also gives a elegant look.

 In this photo table is covered with the same backdrop cloth

A turn table is place on the first table to place Bonsai plant

Chart paper also can be used as back drop in photography.

One more option is we can place glass sheet below Bonsai plant with black or white back drop, the reflection of the plant in the glass gives a beautiful look.

Here below we can see a detail view of White and Black drop . Both of them are good . according to our interest we can use any back ground. So always one back drop without any interruption is compulsory to show your beauty of the Bonsai  plant. 

 

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

How select a perfect gauge wire for Bonsai

Selection of proper wires for wiring  gives Bonsai plant a perfect look. Bonsai is an art of making Plants look like natural trees in shallow pots. To make it possible as natural as it is growing in Mother Nature we will some shaping and cutting, pruning and wiring. By Wiring we are giving a shape to the plant. The plant collected or brought from nursery or growing from seed will have primary branch,secondary branches. 

Bonsai masters use two types of wires. 

1) Anodized Aluminium wire

2) Anneal copper wire 

Both the wires good for shaping Bonsai plants

Anodized Aluminium wire is Aluminium is heated up to some temperature, by heating wire becomes movable , soft to make moves around the branch. 

Anneal copper wire heated to certain temperature and they cool it down to release stress inside the wire , otherwise copper wire will be brittle.

Now we will see how to select a wire.

Below link shows you before buying a aluminium or copper wire, how to text the wire is shown in detailed. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tnF_dCAnNA 

Take one end of the wire  in to your hand and move around your finger , when you are doing it it should move freely around your finger just like a ring . it should not bend in 90 degrees angle. The smooth movement of wire around the branch makes the branch move any direction you want to give a style to the plant.

usually copper wire is used for wiring coniferous plants because, in coniferous plants the branch and leaf development is different from deciduous tropical plants. There in coniferous plants there are demonstrative and delicate bends for which copper wire is needed and also color matches with the trunk line of the coniferous plants. dont use any time naked copper wire , because when copper comes in contact with water oxide formation takes place and it there will be rusting on wire which can damage the trunk or branch of the plant.

One more wire is aluminium wire coated with copper or brown color is also available . it is inside aluminium and outer coating is brown color. 

For most of the tropical plants like ficus we are using aluminium wire. Aluminium gives a nice bend to the ficus plants.

we can use any wire depending on availability in your area. 

Below one more link of wiring will show in detail about wires and gauges. usually we use 1mm to 6 millimetre gauge wire for Bonsai. 1 to 2 mm is for thin young branches. for thick branches heavier gauge wire is used for drastic bending. it is difficult to measure at home the gauge of wire , So our great Bonsai masters given a the thumb rule is that when we are wiring one branch usually we take one third thickness of wire compared with that branch thickness, take the wire near the branch and see the thickness ,if wire thickness is one third we can use for bending the branch, 

One more easy method is just take the wire near the branch which you want to wire it and push the branch with wire, if wire is bending its not a proper gauge, if the branch is moving away with wire that is perfect gauge for wiring that branch. Some times we have only thin wire , we need not worry, take double strands of that wire and wire around the branch it gives strength and we can bent the branch.

wiring should be always in 45 degrees angle. how wire a plant we see it in next blog . 

now I will give one more link , it gives explains everything about wires.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x65XPdml990&t=57s

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.