Instant gratification (seven-dollar shohin)

Carl_Bergstrom

Well thanks, Earl!

I've been playing with "overpotting" potential shohin material in bonsai pots rather than leaving them in growing boxes (because I'm more concerned with root development, foliage density, and bark texture than with caliper), and I agree with you - sometimes young material actually looks better in a larger pot, so long as it is a very shallow pot.

Here's another example - again, just untrained cutting material. This one is a 4" tall shimpaku juniper. Obviously it requires substantial shaping, and I probably should have potted it slightly further from center.

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In love with trees

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GaryS

The secret of the mysterious blue backround has been revealed! I was going to ask the same question.

I like that look.

I like the shohins too.I think they should go to the Show thread!

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GaryS

TreeBay

What kind of camera are you using there OMC? I have found that the color varies all over the place from brand to brand.

It's probably all in the software, since probably 95% are using Sony sensors. Kodak seemed to have very good color. Sony was good. Oly was better than Nikon, but the reds were off. Nikon skin tone didn't match reality, but I think they have improved recently. Maybe it looked good on the average Japanese face, but anglos became beetfaced, and beetfaced people looked like ebola victims.

But you have very good color here. It looks saturated but not inaccurate.

Regards,

Matt

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Brian

I have a Sony Fd-91 here with all the bells and wistles,, i paid a ton off money for and it wont do a picture as nice as you have with your cheapo

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Brian
Zone 4
Michigan USA

Carl_Bergstrom

I'm using an Olympus D460 - it's one of their older model 1.3 megapixel cameras. Probably going for well under $200 on ebay these days. The pictures I have posted have probably all been tweeked slightly for saturation, color balance, etc. I typically do that by hand for each photo in The Gimp (http://www.gimp.org), a free alternative to Photoshop that runs in Linux. Just for fun, I've attached the unaltered version of the image for comparison, so you can see what it looks like right out of the camera.

You'll notice that the image is slightly over-exposed. This is a consequence of my biggest complaint about the camera, the absence of exposure controls or any sort of sensible metering system. All you can do is change exposure by +2,+1.5,+1,+0.5,-0.5,-1, etc. Consequently, exposure is guesswork, period. I guessed +1 on this particular image. Should have been +0.5. My other big complaint lies in the autofocus. Since you don't view the image through the lens, you don't get a sense of the focus through the viewfinder, nor is the resolution on the digital display sufficient to give you a good idea of what precisely the thing has chosen to focus on. Give me a manual-focus, manual exposure SLR any day! Now if only there was a digital that behaved like one, somewhere near my price range...

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In love with trees

deadgecko

OMC,

I have an Epson 850PCZ (at least that's what I think the model is). It has a full manual mode with f-stop control, etc. It even has one of those little light "thingies" that tells when the settings you have selected are "correct". I have learned that this is a bit off, but you learn to compensate.
You still have to tweak things in Photoshop (insert your favorite program here, tho the GIMP is good).

This model was about $600, two or three years ago, so it should have come down quite a bit.

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Deadgecko
Cincinnati, Ohio
USDA Zone 6, Sunset Zone 35
"Who says nothing is impossible? Some people do it everyday"
Alfred E. Neuman

jimmygreen

If any of you are considering a major investment in photography, check out Nikon's Coolpix series of cameras. I've had mine for a little over 5 months and i'm still learning how to do new things with it. It cost more than 1400$ can. so when I say major investment, i mean it.

i'll get some photos of my trees in here soon. i'm a shy person and i dont take criticism very well.. though i appreciate it and require it even more so.

j.g