Looking for advice to start on a juniper.

[Pants404]

I am relatively new to bonsai and have a few deciduous trees in the early stages of trunk growth. Being impatient I wanted to play with something like a juniper so I picked one up out of impulse last night. Looking at the thing this morning I realised I have a hard time picturing a goal for it or if it is even a good subject. I am well aware of the rule about seeing potential before getting something, but I'm hopeless.
I have a bad phone picture below of the procumbens, which I am thinking has a poor 's' shape which opens way too much as it goes up. Could the shape be tightened or should it be cut, or can it be pulled out and eventually become a cascade?
It stands roughly 50cm from the pot and the trunk is about thumb thickness. The first branch is from the inside of the bend, which seems no good, so the actual first branch doesn't start until the lower left which seems too far from the base. Maybe I am just indecisive with inexperience or I am annoyed that I can't do much with it.
Thanks in advance for any pointers.

Corey.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[LLK]

It's hard to see the whole potential of this juniper, because of all the foliage. One thing is evident: the trunk base is narrow and you have an inverse taper higher up, which makes it less suitable for the informal upright style. If that juniper were mine, I'd train it as a cascade and hide that inverse taper.
I see you are in Adelaide. Many South Australian bonsai growers train olive trees as bonsai.
Join a bonsai club if you can, you'd save time and money and enjoy yourself. See the website bonsai4me http://bonsai4me.com/ for help in the meantime.

Lisa

[shibui]

Hi Corey,
I agree with Lisa that it seems that the tree has inverse taper which will be a bit of an issue whether this ends up as an upright or cascading tree. Junipers often feature dead wood as part of the design and it is possible to disguise inverse taper with appropriate shari (dead wood parts of the trunk)
Junipers are often styled with falling branches so it does not matter if there are few low branches. Many famous Japanese junipers have all the branches growing from the top of the trunk but they are wired down, sometimes hidden behind the trunk, to make branch pads in desirable locations.That first branch could easily be wired behind the trunk and down to appear to be coming out of the first, lower curve if you think that's the best place for a primary branch.
It is certainly possible to bend junipers quite dramatically so you should still be able to bend and twist the trunk to make a cascade from it if so desired - not easy but still possible.

I can't offer any more specific options because I can't get a good feel for the tree from a single 2D picture.