Hi Will,
It's an excellent bonsai book! It doesn't have any thing about bonsai technique but carries a whole of natural approach to this art. You know what, I already read it twice even with my busy schedule! I wish you could write another book regarding to carving technique of Mr. Dan Robinson and I would be the first one to register
Once again, thanks for your effort to get us an unbeatable bonsai book!
Bonhe
Thanks, Bonhe. I was inspired to capture Dan before he could no longer help with the effort, and it took three years to do so, and I'm always very happy when someone loves the book.
Victrinia Ridgeway, my co-photographer, who has formally studied with Dan, had expressed some interest early on about a book specific to Dan's techniques, but it did not materialize. You might write and encourage her if you like.
I had a bit of an idea for a follow-up book as follows. Dan loves nothing more than teaching people about the stories of his trees' growth by showing the story found in the trunks and roots. My idea was to record Dan doing so for ten or twelve of his most ancient and interesting collected trees, taking photos of the areas he was talking about as he went along. A ten to twenty page spread for the photos and explanations of each tree would make a decent size, handsome book that would be (relatively) easy to do, and would really capture in a fascinating way the collected wisdom of his lifetime studying trees. It would have nothing to do with technique, however.
Dan has expressed the idea of a book devoted to the tops of ancient trees, which - if you've read his book - is a lifelong fascination with him. I'm not as enthusiastic about it, however, and I don't know that many other potential buyers would be either, but that's a possibility as well.
For right now, I'm resting and recovering, with little motivation in writing, photographing or publishing another book. It was my great good fortune and a great honor to have been able to create such a work about such a man, and I am surprised and pleased that something so marvelous came about through me - most unexpected! Most of the time now I think I would simply like this one book be my contribution to the world, and leave it at that. But who knows.