Experience with editing pictures for my blog

I’m running my blog for more than a decade now. As it is common with bonsai blogs, most of the content is visual. Mainly photography so far, but it could change in the future though. But I didn’t want to write about the future of bonsai blogging today.

Let me talk just a little about picture editing. When I was starting I was not editing pictures at all, I saw no reason to do that. Later on, I was looking for a good, easy and cheap way of doing that and I have discovered Google Picasa. It is free has many good tools and I found out it is doing the job.

Few months ago I was discussing this topic with one of my bonsai buddies and he suggested I should try to use something better. He told me about Zoner Photo Studio and I decided to give it a try. I’m using it for quite some time and I can tell you I’m satisfied. It is a much stronger tool than my previous Picasa. It has a lot of options for picture editing and processing. I’m not familiar with all the tools by far yet. Let me show you on few screenshots how I’m going through the process from original photography to picture I post on my blog or social media.

Pictures as taken in my garden, the background is not perfect and the distance from the object is not ideal but I’m limited by available space so I have to work with what I have. Also natural light is the issue due to the orientation of my space. Usually my pictures are a bit brighter or darker then I would like to have.

I’m starting editor on the left. With a crop tool, I make the desired size of the picture with the tree on the place I would like to have. Sometimes when I fail to put my tripod with a camera into exact position I have to tilt the picture few degrees to either side. 

My next step is turning on colour editing tools. I usually play with brightness, and try to do correction of colours, contrast. Most of the time it is enough.

At that moment I'm finished. Obviously, you have a much wider range of options and time to time I use some of its arsenals. At this point, I insert my watermark tag on the picture and then I export it in whatever quality I would like to have it. Then it is ready to go to the blog. It can take up to 15 minutes of editing for 4-8 pictures I usually post per tree. The good thing is that after editing one picture, after clicking on edit colour option, all sliders stay at last positions and pictures is edited automatically with the same properties. It is a fast and convenient way of editing.  

If you are interested you can try out Zoner Photo Studio X free for a month on the linked page. I make photos in JPG and even though I know the RAW format is the better way to go, this is a workflow that works for me. Anyway, I'm taking more pictures in the RAW format now and I definitely will try Develop module of the Zoner with much stronger editing tools. I will report on progress. If you decide to give it a try let me know how it works for you. 

Ester trip

Hawthorn flowers

Malus flowers

Carpinus "The Yossarian" with new foliage

New foliage is emerging after defoliation performed on beginning of June. We are expecting extremely high temperatures during next week, so it was time for pictures with undamaged foliage. 

Carpinus "The Yossarian"

This bonsai tree was wired back in January 2015 and during the weekend it was just about the time to remove wires. It would be too complicated with full canopy so defoliation was on agenda first. All long shoots were reduced to desired length and majority of leaves were removed. After that access to wires was much better so all wires were taken down. Now tree will enjoy full sun and new flush of leaves will emerge in few days. Sunlight will reach all spaces inside the crown and it will promote back-budding and help to create finer ramification. 

This is picture just before the work. If you compare it to January pictures you will see it grow very vigorously. 

Few minutes later all overgrown shoots are removed. Tree now looks nice and eventually it could be left like this and provide nice view. But much stronger reduction must be done to allow removal of wires and to improve ramification. So this is only short stop for picture and we go further. 

Branch by branch leaves are cut off.

And when all excess leaves are gone it is time for wire cutters.

And this is result after few hours of work. Bit messy but it will improve in next few days. 

And from another side.

April 2015

January 2015

March 2010

Hungry birds

Last week I found black bird nest in my Pyracantha hedge, just next to my bonsai benches. Little guys are small, vulnerable and hungry. Thorny plants are protecting them well from the enemies. Now they are my little friends, my kids love them. But, when they grow up, they become enemy of my moss in bonsai pots. That's the circle of life.

Pictures from trip

Today I made short trip with my kids to woods. Just to bring few flowers for mum and enjoy form spring. I took few shoots on our journey. 

Iphiclides podalirius

Story of my bonsai tree: Hornbeam No.11 - "The Yossarian"

It was one of the cold days in March 2010 when I went to forest with my backpack filled with diggers tools. When I came on spot there was last patches of snow here and there, but it was clear that spring is inevitably arriving. So I started searching around, and on seep hill side I found this tree which was prepared last year. Actually, I did found two on one spot, approximately 5 meters apart, next to hornbeam No.11 was his bigger brother hornbeam “Wild Boar”.

Trees were on spot where they get hits from bigger and smaller rocks from nearby quarry. And some big rocks were sitting right on the trunk of this tree, as you can see on pictures. Mother nature with help from mining industry formed this yamadori. Digging was relatively easy and tree was out in about an hour. And from first moment I loved this tree. I had a feeling it can be nice bonsai one day.

Hornbeam in September 2014

So the tree is Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus).As quite common with this species it has good nebari. Since it was growing inclined, in hard terrain, and sitting directly on large rock buried below the tree roots are curved downwards.

When brought home it was potted into plastic bowl into mixture of zeolit and rough peat. For this tree I used zeolit in fraction 4-8mm which proved to be good decision retrospectively. Personally I favor this fractions for bigger trees and have better results as with finer mixtures. 

3-2010

...buried under large rocks oh hill side

rocks are partially gone and tree is emerging. Fiskars on the picture is my best purchase related with collecting trees, cuts roots up to 40mm...

So we were safe home and there were only few things which could have been done. Do not move to much, fertilize from first day with combination of organic and chemical fertilizer and water a lot. I tried to place the tree on sunny spot in the garden. I believe it is much better to promote its growth.

first day in new home, in zeolit

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When I was thinking about its future structure I was not sure where shorten original branches. Since at that time I was in bonsai for first year it is no big surprise. With such approach I was trying to be on safe side and not to reduce tree to much, knowing I will have to reduce it later, after season or two. It obviously slowed down development of the tree a bit. 

and with Dominika month after collection

and 2 years later, April 2012, same Dominika and same tree ...

...in April 2014, Dominika and Maros Jr., who was born later than tree came to my garden :)

March 2013 just before repotting

new pot ready for the tree, mixture of zeolit and Keramzit with Osmocote feed

...and potted, finally.

3-2014

General structure of the tree was discussed with Walter Pall when he was on our workshop, back in 2011. So branches were reduced and later carved to somehow more natural shapes. Last year I let grow long branch which you can see on the picture fixed with wire to the big root. I wanted to increase its thickness. Since it was partially achieved I cut branch off now. New branches, one from top and second from bottom of the original branch are wired and pointed in right direction now. I will let them grow for few seasons undisturbed. This way branch will have much better taper and structure. 

4-2011 with me, branches shortened and carved, basic structure remained till today. Only one branch died back on main trunk.

4-2012

4-2013

Earlier pictures were made with compact camera and therefore they are of lower quality. Newer pictures are made with camera Nikon D90. With D90 I use lenses Nikon35mm f/1.8G, mostly. This lenses are relatively cheap and they are making fantastic pictures, even in bad light conditions. 

4-2014, unfortunatelly moss from this picture died, new one used since summer 2014

5-2011

6-2012

6-2013

The tree was several times wired. On the beginning it was easy and fun. Last wiring was done this week, and it was still fun, but not easy task anymore. It was not wired last year and it made whole stuff this week more complicated.

It took me few evenings to do wiring, seen The Godfather 2 and The Matrix Revolutions during the work – pretty long movies, ha?

Personally, I do not expect any extensive wiring in the future, just minor correction maybe. So I will watch much shorter movie (movies?) next time? 

7-2010

7-2011

10-2013

January 2015, before wiring

As I wrote already in some of my previous posts I would like to name some of my better trees. For this one I was using name which no longer fits this bonsai anymore. Now I think I will name it “The Yossarian”. Because bonsai hobby must be also fun, and Catch-22 is on of my favourite books.

...and after wiring, final result

I like how much change this bonsai made during last 2 years, and generally from its collection from the wild. Looking on finished tree recently I was more than happy, I have to say. I like how it looks now, even if it looks too much like bonsai and not so much like the natural tree. Or it is only my actual feeling?

I will see how it will look like with leaves on, and than later in next season. But I can imagine, it will look even better after few more seasons, when branch structure will be much more refined and the tree will have better 'mochikomi'. 

my favorite nebari detial, connected roots, stone, scars...

When working with it this week, I was thinking about scars on the branches and I think about drill them and connect holes together, may be this way the tree will look older and more natural. I will think about it during the season and may be start to work on it. 

stump from die back branch, my mistake, cut it too short. And problematic trunk spot with bark peeled off, fortunately not growing, hopefully slowly healing.

When potting this bonsai into pot last year there was problem of getting all roots below ground level. Mainly, because of larger roots are curved and their shape did not allow to do it. So, one of the major roots must have stayed over the ground level. After some time I took Dremel and worked it a bit. Edited it with flame torch and steel brush, and so on. Now it looks good to me. We will see how it will look like after few more years of natural ageing process. 

Detail of root which must have stayed above ground level...

...carved...

...burned...

...weathered this week.