Some Japanese Black Pines

Glad to see the site is back up again even if only temporary. I thought I would post some JBPs of mine after doing the Fall work back in November. I'll just post them all in this one post.

Looking good...nice pics too. I really like the semi-cascade.

Thomas J: Great pines and great photography! You're welcome to participate in our exhibits any time!

Fantastic trees John Thomas!
I love the semi cascade.
Irene

Hi they are all wonderful black pines there's not one I don't like
Bill

Thomas,
As usual you have posted some beautiful Japanese black pines. Some have found fault with what they wrongly consider "cookie-cutter" trees.

At this level, however, bonsai is an art of nuance. Because a formal upright Japanese black pine has been done, does that mean we can't try to do it ourselves? Or try to perfect it?

Those with eyes to see will understand that the subtle differences in trees at this level can speak volumes.

Great work!
Chris

Excellent looking trees, what type of lens are you using?

Greg Matthews wrote:Excellent looking trees, what type of lens are you using?

It's not so much the lens as the photographer. Thomas J. is a particularly good photographer. I'm pretty sure he uses good equipment, but he also has chosen a good focal length to get the just right depth of field and has used a tripod to eliminate any camera shake which, be it ever so slight, is probably the number one distinction between a clear photo and an average or poor photo.
It's easy to blame (or credit) the camera, but it's the photographer's technique which makes the real difference.

Well thanks for all the positive comments on the trees and especially the photography. Right now both photography and bonsai are running neck and neck in my personal interests or what some might refer to as hobbies. I for sure don't have time for both so I have to give equal time to both whenever possible. My photo equipment consists of Olympus cameras and lenses. Any of the ones with blurred backgrounds were shot with a 70-300 tele lens as close to 300mm as possible. The others were shot with a 14 - 45 3.8 lens. For those not in the know, a 2.8 lens is a faster lens than a 3.8 therefore making it a bit more sharp, but it is also more expensive. I've just recently bought a 2.8 lens but I didn't have it in time for these shots. I also didn't use a tripod as Alan was referring to because the Oly cameras have vibration reduction in their bodies and not their lens which also keeps the price of the lens down. Actually I should use a tripod more often than I do, or even a monopod, both of which I have, but laziness sometimes gets the better of me .A lot of factors to consider when doing photography, but then the same is true for many aspects of bonsai also.

Thomas J.

I know what you mean about having time for all of these hobbies. I love the blurred background as your eyes are focused on the tree alone. I just received my 70-300mm yesterday so I will have to try this technique.

Absoluty great pines,.. and beautiful Pics.

Congrats. ! ! !

Gabriel

[quote]I just received my 70-300mm yesterday so I will have to try this technique.[quote]

With that lens you shouldn't have any problem. Just one thing to mention and that is to keep your tree as far away from the background as possible, and keep the lens all the way down to 300mm and get as close as you can to the tree. Now this will work really good with a small tree as you can get in close, but with a large tree you will have to stand back farther making the possibility of the background also focusing in if it's too close.