Focal Point, Balance, Scale, Age & That Elusive Quality… 3/26/14

I stumbled across the European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) by Walter Pall on his Bonsai Adventures blog . The shot looks like spring with some trees lagging behind others.

Without the dominant tree this forest planting by Walter Pall would be a whole lot less interesting. With the dominant tree the planting has a focal point, balance, scale, a feeling of age and that more elusive quality we call interest, or beauty.

Focal point. Everything organizes around the dominant tree. In other words, your eye goes there first and from that point the rest of the planting falls into place.

Balance. If you look at the silhouette of the whole planting you’ll immediately see and feel how everything flows from the dominant tree, creating an overall sense of balance and harmony. This has a lot to do with the natural strength and dynamism of scalene triangles and something called The Golden Mean or Golden Ratio (aka Magic Thirds).

Scale. Notice how the large tree is in the front. Not only does this show off its size and power, it also highlights a sense of depth when contrasted with the medium sized trees in the center axis (left to right) of the planting and the smaller trees in the back. Rather than seeing these trees as smaller as they go back, we tend to see them as further away.

Age. When it comes to age, there are two types of natural forests: ones where all the trees are more or less the same age and size (for example a stand of trees that grew up after a forest fire or some other disaster) and the more interesting and common old forest with trees that show a mix of ages and sizes. This planting is a good example of the latter, with the main tree emphasizing and even exaggerating the contrast. To carry this a little farther, you might even imagine that at one time the dominant tree stood alone and gradually seeded the others.

Walter Pall often takes and shows several photos of the the same bonsai over time and with different backdrops. I think this is a good idea, especially given that no single photo will ever completely capture the power and dynamism of a good bonsai. Not to say that several photos will do that either, but they might help.