PHOTOGRAPHING BONSAI

Roger Hnatiuk


While professional photographers using specialised lighting and cameras can obtain the best photos, the amateur can achieve adequate photographs if they are aware of a few guidelines and simple techniques. I’ve compiled the following notes from a number of sources and a little experience as a very amateur photographer. Any additions or corrections are welcome!

You can achieve excellent results with simple, automatic cameras. Those who know more about photography and like to make their own adjustments to shutter speed and aperture opening, can build on these guidelines, but they are being presented mostly to those who have not been exposed to ideas on how to improve the quality of their photos.

BACKGROUND

1. To show your plant most clearly, a plain background is best. The colour should contrast well with the foliage and pot. Compare the left photo below, with its patterned background, to the on the right below with a plain background. The plant in the right-hand image is certainly easier to see, even though the exposure needs improving. A large piece of paper, such as can be purchased for a couple dollars at a stationers or art supply shop will do fine for small to medium size bonsai. The most common colour is an off white, either light grey or cream. Some people prefer black backgrounds. These can be achieved by using a large piece of velveteen cloth.

If you use a cloth background, it is best if the cloth is not creased or folded. These markings can prove very distracting to viewing the tree. You can avoid this by using a soft, supple cloth like velveteen, which hangs well. I sewed a loop across the top of the cloth and slid a piece of doweling through it. A piece of string was attached to the ends of the doweling and allows the cloth to be hung up, thus making a very serviceable background that is easily stored as well as set up. I generally drape the cloth so that it goes under the pot then upwards behind it. This avoids some of the awkwardness that results from the juncture of the table and the background.

SHADOWS

2. Try to avoid the situation where your plant casts a shadow onto the background. This commonly occurs when a flash is used that points directly at the tree, or sunlight is coming from the front or slightly left or right of front. The shadow usually then shows on the background as a dark area on one or both sides of the tree and can be seen between the branches. It obscures the view of the tree, especially the trunk and makes it look larger in an unwelcome manner.
You can avoid the shadows by arranging to take the picture with side lighting. That is, let the light come from either the left or the right. If it is from the side, the shadows will not be on the background. Indoors, near a window that provides good side light can work. Some people take their pictures outdoors, but in a place with overhead shade, and with good, strong side or diffuse lighting. This can make your pictures a bit bluish, as it is generally bluish light from the sky that gets into shadows. Direct Australian sunlight in the midday period can be extremely harsh in its brilliance. It casts very dark shadows, even within the canopy, and this may be distracting from the beauty of the tree, or it may cause over exposure or under exposure of key areas.

If you have a detachable flash unit that allows you to point the flash at the ceiling, if working indoors, this will provide diffuse light without needing the elaborate systems that professional photographers use.

Placing your plant on the lawn, or on a table with a garden scene behind provides a very complex background that usually obscures the branches and leaves of the tree. Some fences and walls also are too complex in pattern or close in colour or tone to the tree to allow it to be seen at all clearly and should also be avoided.

A simple way to help reduce stark shadows within the tree canopy is to hold a piece of white reflecting material below and to one side of the tree and angle it until the reflected light shines on the underside of the branches. This is a bit more complex and may require more ‘hands’ or stands to manipulate it and the camera’s shutter release button. You can use a piece of white cardboard or the lid from a styrofoam vegetable box from the green grocers.

Well, give these ideas a try when next you photograph your bonsai and I’m sure you will be pleasantly surprised how much better and useful your photos are. Good luck and good photographing.


(Article written by Roger Hnatiuk in APAB—N: the Newsletter of the Australian Plants as Bonsai Study Group, December 2002, No. 3.)