James Antrim photography can provide professional photography of bonsai. James Antrim has a personal interest in Bonsai and has been growing bonsai and following the art form for more than 20 years.

Tips and hints for bonsai photography

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Backgrounds

Ideally

1. ensure the background is of an adequate size to suit the largest bonsai you intend to photograph
2. make sure your backgrounds are clean and do not detract from your tree
3. remove unwanted creases and folds in any background material before shooting.
4. ensure the background colour and texture is in keeping with the tree
5. ensure the any background seasonal colours match flower and foliage of the tree
6. Ideally backgrounds should flow from the foreground under the tree and up and back in a graceful curve
7. Otherwise for starters a piece of black card behind smaller bonsais may be enough.

Lighting

1. Straight on flash light from the camera will make Bonsai appear flat and 1 dimensional
2. only use the on camera flash as a last resort unless you can bounce it off something.
3. Natural diffused light works well if you have a large window inside trying shooting with the light on the left or right and a reflective white card on the opposite side 
4. I use a combination of natural light or professional studio flashes for bigger trees
5. You can use hand held flashes, halogen work lamps, professional studio flashes
6. You can look at free lighting resources on the web in video and web pages for more information on this.
7. You can use white card or paper or foam (hidden just out of the shot) to reflect the light back in from the sides thus giving the branches a fuller more 3 dimensional effect.
8. Just remember that the shadows are as important as the light to define structure and shape.
9. Remember to check the important parts of the tree are lit and visible, the trunk or major branches, key exposed roots, rocks or a patch of the soil or ground covering
10. As you get more confident with the lighting you can highlight individual branches or groups of branches and allow them to add extra dimensions to your image.

Tree

1. Make sure your tree has been styled to the owners preference prior to the session
2. check for insects/spiders/webs etc that will show up in the photo under closer inspection
3. be aware of heat from any lights that may be on constantly as they can burn or damage the tree if prolonged
4. always ensure that the tree is placed on a very stable platform for shooting.
5. ensure that nothing can be tripped over or pulled that will pull the tree of its stand, like ropes or leads or background material.
6. if you do water the tree remember that every drop of water will catch the light and sometimes appear as white spots in your photos.
7. Unless you want the wet look, ensure that you allow sufficient time for your trees to dry

Camera

You can achieve some wonderful photos with the modern smaller cameras if you set yourself that challenge.I use professional SLR cameras with very high quality lenses. Quite often when I magnify the photos up I will see details like insects and spiders that I didn't even know were on the tree when I took the photo.

Lens

A short wide angle lens like a 28mm  closeup will tend to distort the image a little, a bit like going up to someone right to their face it will make their nose appear bigger

A medium lens can be the most versatile allowing you to fit the whole bonsai in the picture or a lens with a zoom function say from 35-70mm approx

A larger zoom lens up to 200mm can be good to make the tree appear in the distance especially if you use the sky as the background or a background which is further away from the bonsai.Just remember with a long lense the minimum focus distance or the distance you can get to the bonsai may be around 1-2 metres.

A macro lens can be good for extreme closeups of plant detail but these types of shots tend not to show of the bonsai rather just the beauty of the tree's components.

Tripod

1. Using a tripod is very important for most bonsai photographs
2. This allows you to get shake free photos and make minor adjustments to the tree without moving your camera
3. Ensure the tripod is stable and never leave it unattended if you have expensive cameras or lenses on it.

Services offered

Coaching - private photography lesson

I can give you a private photography lesson with your new SLR on an hourly rate basis covering topics which you would like covered.

Bonsai photography - Collection photography or individual specimens

I can provide professional bonsai photography in your home and provide you with a CD of digital images.

This includes

1. a selection of background colours and textures
2. professional multi flash photography
3. limited post production electronic processing
4. a copy of the images on CD for personal use,facebook,website forums, personal prints or personal photo books

Call or email me for more information and pricing with the quantity of bonsai you wish photographed, the maximum height and width of your largest bonsai you wish to have photographed and your suburb.

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone on 0402 266 016

Images used in this article are copyright James Antrim and are available for purchase from istockphoto.

The opinions given here are general in nature and you should seek professional advice for your own situation.