The top photo, with its rich deep colors, appears just the way we found it. I lightened up the bottom photo a bit to better show the details, especially the bark.
All the photos in this post are from the 34th Taikan-ten Bonsai Exhibition. Taikan-ten takes place once a year in Kyoto and is considered by most people to be the second most important bonsai exhibition in Japan if not in the world (Kokufu is the king of bonsai exhibitions). I found them on Michael Bonsai’s facebook feed. There are more, but I decided to feature some of the pines first and the rest later (the first three look like Japanese white pines and the last one looks like a Japanese black pine).
One thing you might notice about these photos in that none of them are conventional shots (front shots that simply shown the whole tree, pot, stand and all). Instead, the emphasis is more on features, or sometimes even abstract qualities of each tree. As much about texture, movement and color, as they are about bonsai.
You might recognize some of these trees (two of four shown here are familiar to me). It’s not usual for famous old trees to show up again and again at the big bonsai shows. Often in different pots and sometimes after serious restyling.
All the photos shown here are from Michael Bonsai.
Our Pine book
You’ll find it & a large selection of other bonsai books at Stone Lantern.