What ruins this forest image....

[ralf]

Many, if not most bonsai are not.

Well, I am just talking about this composition. The trees look quite realistic to me. The island without the trees looks quite believable to me too. The clash I feel is to combine these two items into a single composition.

In general: I would prefer trees for their natural beauty rather then for their growers ambitions to astonish viewers. Trees that have a believable story to tell. Mr Kunio Kobayashi has a great video about the difference doing bonsai for money ( what he has done quite successfully for most of his life ) or for their natural beauty / character ( where he feels to be now at the autumn of his days...

 

[kale]

Forests are usually just a group of sticks in pots

 

[Potawatomi13]

Nothing ruins it! However fern is of bad scale for trees.

 

[Underdog]

I think it is amazing! Love it! cept for the fern...

 

[rockm]

How to do the same thing without the lame, labor-free photoshop crutch and fake trees work much better than real ones because they solve the scale problem...

 

[Underdog]

Dang... Since forsooth left the site, I guess somebody had to step up.