golden elm.

[hugh grant]

Stella mike !!

[treeman]

Beano,Mel

It's a Panasonic but getting a bit old now (or more likely I'm not using it well) My wife's phone takes much better pics than this thing!
I used a stand but nothing more than the ''I don't know anything about this camera and I don't want to know anything about this camera'' setting.

[melbrackstone]

lol, good on ya Mike. I suspect you might not be able to choose the focal length on the camera. ("They" say that the eye sees things at around 50mm focal length, which is why I suggested you try that.)

Fair enough not wanting to know about camera settings, you don't want to have to shove out good bonsai knowledge from your brain to make room for camera settings.

All I can suggest is that you stand back a bit, zoom in, and keep the camera down around the level of the nebari..... If you're not looking at the tree at that level, mebbe that's why you're not seeing the same thing? I know I'm constantly disappointed by what I see in the photos compared to what I'm seeing in real life..

[Beano]

Beano,Mel

It's a Panasonic but getting a bit old now (or more likely I'm not using it well) My wife's phone takes much better pics than this thing!
I used a stand but nothing more than the ''I don't know anything about this camera and I don't want to know anything about this camera'' setting.

Lol! I’m an amateur photographer but have sadly lost interest due to competing hobbies and lack of creativity. I have a very nice dSLR but it’s just easier to default to the smartphone. The issue I have with my trees is I think when they are starting to look a little like bonsai, I take a photo and the photo just makes the tree look terrible then I’m too embarrassed to show my efforts. I think it’s partially the smart phone camera distortion and partially me wearing rose coloured glasses about how good they really are when they’re not as good as I think, haha!

Your tree is fantastic. I wish I had created anything remotely like it. One day!

[Ryceman3]

If the posted image of this tree is only mediocre, I can only imagine how it looks in real life!?!
Cracking tree, I already love the ramification - look forward to further development of it.

[SuperBonSaiyan]

The golden elm is what got me into bonsai. I didn't know if it could be made into a bonsai due to the larger leaves but I guess it definitely can.

May I ask how old the tree is and how you started it? (Cutting, air layer, other?)

I took a few cuttings from the neighbourhood roundabout tree but they don't look promising.

Considering buying an established (grafted) tree and air layering it (if it is a species that air layers well).

[treeman]

The golden elm is what got me into bonsai. I didn't know if it could be made into a bonsai due to the larger leaves but I guess it definitely can.

May I ask how old the tree is and how you started it? (Cutting, air layer, other?)

I took a few cuttings from the neighbourhood roundabout tree but they don't look promising.

Considering buying an established (grafted) tree and air layering it (if it is a species that air layers well).

I started it as a cutting ( I think ) in about 1990. They should air layer easily. If you get yourself a grafted one take a few layers with multi trunks.

[SuperBonSaiyan]

Been searching around for one and this was the most advanced I could find.

No taper whatsoever, but I'm up for a project.

Where would you suggest taking the layer? I'm thinking at all three points over the next three years, but I was also thinking to only take the blue and yellow (leaving the yellow layer with a sacrifice branch to gain some thickness whilst I grow some branches down lower).

Will it backbud lower if I keep the sacrifice branch pruned back hard?