Amano's Rockwork

[lorba]

Caught this thread in another forum, you must seen this many times if you have Amano's book.
I've seldom see nice Rock-planted scaping locally. Anyone has one to share?

One most difficult thing is the selection of the rock. Most of those selling in the shop aren't too pretty.

[aizaspurz]

Yup, saw them on-line before.

Yes.....nice they are! They bring up the 'mountainous effect'. I like the first one most

[hwchoy]

I always wonder how he keep the "mountain" in shape.

[juggler]

There's also a nice one at http://www.aquabotanic.com/glossostigmaarticle.htm



Sigh - I am never good at using driftwoods and rocks.

[clusterbx]

The pictures are very aspiring for one trying to bring out the 'artistic genes' in him to replicate a nature look in the aquarium.

Sad to say, my 'artistic genes' are limited...

I think such small beautifully crafted rocks are hard to come by...

[checkerboard]

Give me a new tank and I will immediately give it a try.

Seriously, the rocks available are not that bad at all. I have seen some pretty nice ones at Keong Seng, Choong Sua, C328, Polyart etc. But getting the right size also a problem especially for smaller tanks. Also, the weight of the rocks.

Another thing i find is that it is hard to visualize the rock placement and final appearance as compared to using driftwood.

I am going to give it a try when I start another tank.

By the way, Amano's background paper is absolutely gorgeous. I have always wonder where can I lay me hands on some. Does anyone knows? It really creates the horizon feel very well.

[MdmBudak]

Looks very natural!

[bluezing]

any possibility of him using those image editing program? :P

he is my idol...amano ROCKS!! (forgive the punt) :P

*forgot to add...how he always manage to make the fish shoal when taking pics??....hmmm

[cheeboonyong]

actually, do you guys know what type of rock to use? It seems like a lot of the rocks available in SG are limestone, which I don't think is suitable for planted tank...

[hwchoy]

[quote:1a9b0991d5="checkerboard"]
By the way, Amano's background paper is absolutely gorgeous. I have always wonder where can I lay me hands on some. Does anyone knows? It really creates the horizon feel very well.[/quote:1a9b0991d5]

I think is created by lighting effect. BTW what looks good on photo, may not work in reality. First of all you will still have to have the plumbing, which he removes during the photoshoot

[lorba]

Some more of his rock ...

[vinz]

[quote:39d4275036="hwchoy"][quote:39d4275036="checkerboard"]
By the way, Amano's background paper is absolutely gorgeous. I have always wonder where can I lay me hands on some. Does anyone knows? It really creates the horizon feel very well.[/quote:39d4275036]

I think is created by lighting effect. BTW what looks good on photo, may not work in reality. First of all you will still have to have the plumbing, which he removes during the photoshoot [/quote:39d4275036]

Look at Amano's photography setup here: http://www.vectrapoint.com/main/photo/foto.html

Now you know why we never seem to be able to get the same quality as Amano? The backdrop is away from the tank and lighting creates some of the "blue sky" effect. Dedicated lighting just for photography, etc.

Amano's tank pictures may not be an accurate representation of what the tank looks like normally.

The closest to this effect I've seen in this forum is a tank with a orange wall as backdrop. Can't remember who though. That was an interesting effect.

[IUnknown]

actually, do you guys know what type of rock to use?

Roger Miller gave a good presentation at the AGA conference. I think he mentioned a lot of Amano's rocks being volcanic. Maybe ask him over at aquabotanicwetthumb. Some good reading on rocks,

I think that this link help about triangular layout:

http://www.ifnet.or.jp/~chisao/iwagumi.htm

The Iwagumi, Japanese Rocks Work, is cited by Amano in Aqua Journal.

More:

http://www.ifnet.or.jp/~chisao/taki.htm

http://www.ifnet.or.jp/~chisao/tobiishi.htm

use babble fish to translate,
http://world.altavista.com/