What to do, when to do it and on what species to manage growth in pines in bonsai

[Warlock]

lots of knowledgeable people in this thread.. it would be awesome to see videos from other members!

 

[BackyardBonsai]

I agree on painful to watch. I didn't watch the whole vid but there were times I just wish he would just cut that damn candle and move on. In Rafael defense on the materials he used in the vid, I don't think many of us get to see or work on the kind of materials in Bjorn vid. I know it takes many hours to shoot and edit a vid so I grateful for that effort.

 

[Adair M]

Hey, Raphael, I just figured out how you can improve your videos! Set up your camera behind your couch, sit on it, turn on the TV, and we can watch you watch the MIRAI videos!

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

I am a student of Bjorn. By this I mean I actually work with him several times a year in my home or at his nursery, and have done so for the last 6-7 years. Before that, I studied regularly with Kathy Shaner. The list goes on. I have learned my techniques over the last 25 years of study, and demonstrate my results with decent trees which have been shown at the National level. My hawthorn won the American Bonsai Society’s Ben Oki award and appeared on the cover of their magazine. I share here for anyone to see and discuss; and on my own site where you can read, but I get to decide if your comments are published or disappear forever into the ether. Poof.

Look, if you come use this forum to hustle your videos, you have ZERO right or ability to limit the discussion about them. So believe me, if I feel like commenting on your posts here, I absolutely will. By posting here, that door is wide open.

It is unfortunate that you don’t seem to understand the difference between what I share here, and your poorly-produced video that poorly explains Walter Pall’s “trademarked” technique using undeveloped trees.

Clearly you are intent on doing this, so step up son! Learn to present with some tone and inflection, sit up straight, speak clearly, purposefully, with some energy, and into the camera. Find some trees worth looking at, or at least an interesting background. Give the viewer something that is worth watching.

If the message is similar, why would I watch someone rambling in front of a bedsheet with no Bonsai in sight for 30 minutes when this video is also freely available?

There is a reason why Bjorn has 68,000 subscribers and millions of views.

Great you have good teachers. So if you decide with all this experience to teach others, will you be "lifting" their techniques as you accused me? or will you be giving them credit as I did? Oh, and with all that experience you still seem to not have understood the most basic facts about hedge pruning but never mind. Again, feel free to comment here. I have no issue, if I post here it is open for anyone to comment. But if you comment again without watching the video or paying attention to the information provided, you'll again make a fool of yourself. Mine was a friendly remark to only comment if you watch the video but like all advise, including the ones I give on bonsai technique, you're free to ignore it. Please do.

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

Hey, Raphael, I just figured out how you can improve your videos! Set up your camera behind your couch, sit on it, turn on the TV, and we can watch you watch the MIRAI videos!

Perhaps then you'll trust the information better than if the same information is provided by myself and learn something. There's always people that need an authority figure to learn from instead of judging the information provided.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Great you have good teachers. So if you decide with all this experience to teach others, will you be "lifting" their techniques as you accused me? or will you be giving them credit as I did? Oh, and with all that experience you still seem to not have understood the most basic facts about hedge pruning but never mind. Again, feel free to comment here. I have no issue, if I post here it is open for anyone to comment. But if you comment again without watching the video or paying attention to the information provided, you'll again make a fool of yourself. Mine was a friendly remark to only comment if you watch the video but like all advise, including the ones I give on bonsai technique, you're free to ignore it. Please do.

By this point, it’s pretty clear who’s making a fool of himself.

 

[Adair M]

Perhaps then you'll trust the information better than if the same information is provided by myself and learn something. There's always people that need an authority figure to learn from instead of judging the information provided.

ROTFLMFAO!!!

Raphael, show me one of your pines. Post it here. Your best Pine. Prove to me (and everyone else) you actually have a clue.

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

Raphael, show me one of your pines. Post it here. Your best Pine. Prove to me (and everyone else) you actually have a clue.

My best pine died this winter, not clear entirely what was the cause, possibly rabbits or rats chewed the bark. You may not like it's style but it was well ramified, a Jack pine 2 years from nursery stock. You can watch it being criticized by David Easterbrook in the video below. But there is one more thing I want to say, In bonsai you need Time, Time and Knowledge, or Money. Time alone makes great trees, Time and Knowledge makes great trees too, Money can shortcut both.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

View attachment 252531

I'll film myself watching Rafael watching the Mirai videos, and pass it on to somebody else who can watch me watching Rafael watching the Mirai videos, who can pass it on to somebody else who can watch them watching me watching Rafael watching the Mirai videos

once we've done all of the (interested) BNut members, maybe we have Ryan live on stage watch the finished product, and we can recommence the infinite loop with Rafael watching a Mirai video of Ryan watching our video of Rafael watching a Mirai video of Ryan watching our video... ....with all of us caught in the infinite loop!

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

I find it assuring that all the rabid attacks are against me, my experience, my video editing/presenting capabilities but not the information provided in the video. Thank you. I still hope some people will find the information in the video useful because the subject of growth management in pines is complex and there is a lot of misinformation out there and this video, that could perhaps be shorter, better presented, etc, etc, brings logic and clarity to the subject for those that focus on the information provided and not who is presenting it and how. Enjoy the video and please keep watching and don't forget to subscribe.

 

[Adair M]

I find it assuring that all the rabid attacks are against me, my experience, my video editing/presenting capabilities but not the information provided in the video. Thank you. I still hope some people will find the information in the video useful because the subject of growth management in pines is complex and there is a lot of misinformation out there and this video, that could perhaps be shorter, better presented, etc, etc, brings logic and clarity to the subject for those that focus on the information provided and not who is presenting it and how. Enjoy the video and please keep watching and don't forget to subscribe.

Raphael, the information you try to share is for the most part accurate, but your presentation is so poor that the information gets lost. You do not “appear” to have first hand knowledge of the subject matter. You are just repeating something you have heard.

Have you ever played the telephone game? Where a bunch of people sit in a circle, and one person whispers something in one ear of the person next to him, and that person passes it on to the next, on to the next so that by the time it finally gets back to the original person, the message has totally changed?

That’s what you are doing. No one wants to hear to try to repeat a Ryan Neil lecture, especially without illustrations, demonstrations and examples.
You provide NO added value. In fact, it’s so disjointed, even an educated viewer like BVF got confused!

One thing you could do, is remove a complaint that many people have about the orifessional’s videos: people complain that the material that Ryan and Bjorn use to demonstrate with is so good, that “anyone” could make a good tree out of it! Lol!!!

I’m going to assume that you don’t have that kind of material, so you could demonstrate how to work on more “ordinary” material that the average bonsai enthusiast is likely to have access to. That would be “added value” than just trying to repeat Ryan’s words.

And, just in case you think I’m blowing hot air, here’s a few of my trees:



I know a thing or two about pines.

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

And, just in case you think I’m blowing hot air, here’s a few of my trees:

View attachment 252588View attachment 252589View attachment 252591

I know a thing or two about pines.

We are not discussing the quality of my trees or yours or my experience or yours. Actually I don't even know what are we discussing. Again, for sure the info in the video will be beneficial to some. Maybe not you, but is that a reason to troll? As long as the information that I am providing is correct, and it is, just leave it like that. Like my video, don't like it, subscribe to my channel, don't subscribe, it is all good but I have a feeling that there is here in bnut a self-assigned bonsai police that kept me away from this site for too long - and I hear that from a lot of people. Which is a pity because there are well intentioned people in this forum. Now, since you showed me your trees, I will critique them if you permit me. From a technical side, nice work - no questions about it. Now the rest of my critique is about aesthetics, so not really important, you can't please everyone and should not care to please anyone, even judges in exhibitions. Stylistically, if you permit me to critique, I like the last one, the first two I've seen thousands just like them. They even resemble each other. They are too symmetric to denote age, which is a pity because they have really old-looking bark. For the second one there isn't much you can do about it, it is what it is but the first one I feel that there is some interesting movement hidden behind all the excessively dense foliage and symmetric branch placement. My two cents.

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

@thumblessprimate1 LOL is that one of your trees?



It is very normal that nobody is "attacking" the 'information provided in the video'. All of the information that you're sharing already exists. The fact that you have chosen to re-iterate that information puts into question not the information itself, but your delivery of it.

Ryan Neil did not invent what he presents in his videos. Ryan Neil's skill is in his delivery. Unfortunately, rather than following Ryan Neil, you sound a lot more like Walter Pall who is relatively worse at delivery and takes advice and questioning as a badly as your are doing now.

Moreover, you have chosen to view the posts of others as "attacks". What I see a lot of solid advice in a handful of posts by some of the forums most respected and experienced educators.

In post #6 Brian noted that your videos could be improved with some organization, and with the results-oriented approach.

In post #9 Adair agreed about the need for organization, and emphasized brevity

In post #18 Adair patiently repeated his advice

If you are going to focus on content, and believe that your delivery cannot or does not need to improve, professor or not education is simply not for you my friend. You are delivering a product, which must be designed and delivered in a way that is easy for others to consume. This too is advice, not an attack.

Derek, I take all the suggestions very seriously and I feel that a certain improvement is already apparent in this video compared to previous ones. Note the use of a solid background that was suggested previously. Note that the pace of talking is more natural (an area that needs further improvement for sure) - I am most definitely trying to improve the delivery and I never criticized anyone's suggestions of improvements. I took and take note of these. I never said that my delivery cannot or does not need improvement, I said as much myself in previous posts. I am delivering a product designed for others to consume but not being a professional actor or video editor, and that product being free, I think a bit of cutting some slack is acceptable or even expected. As for being more like @Walter Pall, it is for me a compliment, we do indeed both speak our minds and don't take things personally. I consider him a personal friend and I hope one day you have the chance of meeting him. That said, I also hope I learn to be so natural and professional in front of the camera as Ryan Neil is.

 

[Dav4]

God, I love this forum... it's better then Netflix!!!

 

[Silentrunning]

Rafael, I will pass on some information my father told me. When someone tells you that you are wrong, stick to your guns. When a lot of people tell you that you are wrong, step back and take a second look. I understand that some of the members on this forum who have been into bonsai for decades and have award winning trees to prove it, resent being talked down to by someone with no cred. Even a rookie like me resents the implication that I don’t have the intellect to understand clearly presented procedures demonstrated by professionals. I certainly am not helped by disjointed ramblings. Step back and look at the big picture.

 

[leatherback]

the first two I've seen thousands just like them. They even resemble each other. They are too symmetric to denote age, which is a pity because they have really old-looking bark. For the second one there isn't much you can do about it, it is what it is but the first one I feel that there is some interesting movement hidden behind all the excessively dense foliage and symmetric branch placement.

lol. I do not need to see any more videos by you now. If you really think this, and are not saying it out of spite, than you really have no idea what you are talking about. Thousands like them? I would love to know where.

 

[my nellie]

... ...people can earn money by posting videos. The more videos and more followers, the more money... ...

... ...keep watching and don't forget to subscribe.

... ...In bonsai you need Time, Time and Knowledge, or Money. Time alone makes great trees, Time and Knowledge makes great trees too, Money can shortcut both.

 

[coh]

God, I love this forum... it's better then Netflix!!!

Does Netflix have a bonsai channel? If not, maybe they should consider it!

 

[thumblessprimate1]

@thumblessprimate1 LOL is that one of your trees?

No. It's a tree I saw at a show in Kyoto. My first and currently only bonsai show experience.

 

[Adair M]

Stylistically, if you permit me to critique, I like the last one, the first two I've seen thousands just like them. They even resemble each other. They are too symmetric to denote age, which is a pity because they have really old-looking bark. For the second one there isn't much you can do about it, it is what it is but the first one I feel that there is some interesting movement hidden behind all the excessively dense foliage and symmetric branch placement. My two cents.

Obviously, you’re clueless. You’ve seen thousands of them? In Japan, maybe.

In your video, you never mentioned cutting back to two shoots. You never mentioned developing primary branches with alternating secondary branches. You never mentioned developing “top branches” to provide depth for pads. You never mentioned developing branches to have a triangular profile when viewed from the top. Your tree’s branches had a circular profile, and David had to draw it out for you.

In short, you are too inexperienced to be attempting to present an authoritative video!

As for “B’Nut police”... yes, I suppose there are times I act that way. It is to protect newbies from being misled by newbiers and wanna-bes.

Go back thru the thread and review the number of negative, or even constructive comments. Believe me, mist people would prefer not to give negative comments unless something REALLY deserves it. None of your videos have been particularly well received, you should take a step back and try to re-evaluate what you’re trying to do.

The best thing that’s happened with your video is Walter Pall came in and explained his Hedging process! Your video was so bad, he had to come in and defend himself! Are you proud of that?