Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 35th annual show

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I’d like to share photos from some recent exhibits over the next few posts beginning with the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 35th annual event held last month in Santa Rosa, California.

As always, the show featured demonstrations by Kathy Shaner, a large vendor area, and a variety of coast redwood bonsai.

Coast redwood, pot by Jan Rentenaar

Coast redwood

Coast redwood

This year’s show also featured an exhibit of viewing stones provided by the San Francisco Suiseki Kai.

Suiseki and stand by Mas Nakajima

The show featured a good mix of trees that have been developed over a long time as well as more recently created specimens.

Boxwood

Old San Jose juniper

California juniper

The California juniper above has great deadwood – it’s the kind of tree that could look good in a number of different styles.

I brought a Korean hornbeam to the exhibit – a tree I more often display in winter.

Korean hornbeam

Shimpaku grafted on Sierra juniper

Chinese elm

Procumbens juniper

If you look carefully, you’ll notice that the trident maple below is growing on a rock.

Root over rock trident maple

Coast redwood

Trident maple

I’ve been visiting the REBS exhibit since the blog started. To see photos from past exhibits, click here.

Up next, bonsai from the Portland Bonsai Rendezvous.

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Comments

  1. Thank you so much for sharing your amazing photos. For those of us who are relatively new to the art…….it allows us to visualize what you are explaining.

  2. I have always appreciated the clarity of your blog pics. But i was at the REBS show and took these same photos, and it struck me as to how they look much less impressive. Do you have a blog (or can you comment) on how you take the pics and make them look so great?

    • Thanks, Michael – great question! I have yet to write a post on the topic but I might going forward. Here’s the super brief version:
      1) Hold the camera at the proper height, usually about 1/3 the way up from the bottom of the trunk. If the camera is centered left to right and at the right height, that’s 80% of it.
      2) Take multiple shots of each tree. This can help with getting the focus and exposure right.
      3) Edit the photo with your editor of choice (Lightroom, Photos app, Luminar, Capture One, etc.). I typically crop the photo to make the tree level, dial the exposure up or down, and adjust the shadows/highlights/saturation/etc.
      Those are likely the most important bits – the rest is practice, trial, and error.