Sierra juniper live vein color comparison

Mirai and Eisei-en coincidentally posted this week on instagram, two semi-cascade Sierra junipers grafted with Kishu foliage.

This one is Mirai’s

This one is Eisei-en’s

We can of course talk about design considerations, which I think are similar given the current stage of the trees. I just wanted to note that the live vein of the sierra juniper at Mirai has a nice dark red color, compared to the one of Eisei-en, which is more red-brown as in other type of junipers. My initial guess is that this is related to the genetic of the tree, but since other Sierras at Mirai have the same dark red color, I am wondering if maybe this is due to a live vein cleaning technique used at Mirai. Any thoughts?

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Lighting.
Mirai is top left light, hard shadow. Eisei-en is front light, soft shadow…
.
I note the green of the foliage is washed out similarly.
What impresses me is the similarity of the dead wood color. NOT stark white! Good design choice…

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I think @KurtPis right here. There are differences in light/shadow, the position of where the deadwood is, and the preferences in the post editing process

Mirai’s tree has the deadwood mainly on the underside of the trunk and branch, where Ee tree it’s facing the camera (and flash).

The Ee tree also seems to have the saturation turned up a bit in the post photo editing. This could also be a difference in the white balance or flash technique.

There are also some stylistic differences in how artists treat the live vein. Processes from painting to using oils are sometimes used to highlight the live, especially in Japan.

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I had heard, years ago, of the use of mineral oil on live veins. I particularly dislike the ‘artificial plastic’ effect. Ive never gained a fondness for the stark white deadwood look, either.

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