I recommend visiting a mature hemlock grove if you get the chance, though I couldn’t tell you exactly where to find one. The temperature drops and they are quiet like a snowfall. Very peaceful places.
I agree that the wild types are generally very upright Christmas tree like shapes. Though sometimes the small ones get beaten down and around while waiting for their spotlight to grow. Unfortunately, east Coast U.S. it is difficult to find them in collectible areas, because all but private land is off limits, (that I know of).
For the most part I don’t try to emulate their natural form in bonsai for a couple reasons. One, it is very hard to understand the mature Hemlock form because they are so big and in heavy forests. I think the closest approximation would be a large stick in a pot with the top of the tree obscured.. not a very interesting bonsai. Two, the foliage is so fine and graceful that it is perfectly to scale for a deciduous tree. To me, that gives me leeway to style as an oak or a willow, or a “fantasy” tree.
Which brings up the deadwood question again. If I am styling as a deciduous, should I not have the deadwood? More practically I am going with process of elimination and working with what the tree provides, accepting graceful lines where I can using clip and grow.