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Here is one of the three ficus I purchased late last month.
It originally came in a bonsai pot, but I wanted to get it into a larger training pot right away because I know it's still got a long ways to go. (Plus, I don't know that I much care for the pot anyway. The nursery didn't have any other suitable 'Green Island' material in nursery containers, so I was stuck with it in order to get the tree!)
[img]https://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/Big_Vine/Plants/2010/IMG_6491.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/Big_Vine/Plants/2010/IMG_6575.jpg[/img]

In the middle you can see what appears to be the main trunk (along with a fairly thick aerial root---emanating from near the top of the tree---immediately to the right of the trunk and extending down into the soil). In actuality, neither of these fit into my vision for a future shape for this tree. This tree was chosen, above all, for its lower trunk. I wanted material which I could really work on into the future, and it appears that that's what I got!
BV

Sean - good looking tree! Ficus are one of my fav's, it's hard to find the Green Island's with large trunks like that. Good job!

Thanks Angela!
Just to follow-up on what I've done since those first pics...

My first step was to uncover the trunk line I wanted to keep.
[img]https://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/Big_Vine/Plants/2010/IMG_6578.jpg[/img]

At first I thought about wiring up the remaining upper portion of the tree and turning it into the new apex, but with some feedback from Jerry Meislik (the Ficus expert...he's over at the BonsaiVault forum) it was decided that chopping it off and using the smaller, vertical branch would better fit the overall scale.

Branch selection was my next step...
Initially I thought I would try to stick fairly close to 'traditional rules' as far as branch placement goes. In other words, I envisioned having branches on the outer portion of bends. This would allow for retaining the lower left branch. Lower right branches would need to be removed, and a branch would be needed on the outside of the upper right bend in the tree. Fortunately there is already a small branch at the base of this upper right bend, and it can be seen much easier in this overhead view.
[img]https://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/Big_Vine/Plants/2010/IMG_6581.jpg[/img]

HOWEVER, the lower left branch was nearly snapped in half during some of the work I was doing, and sadly it did not survive in spite of my attempts to save it.

Anyway, here is the tree in its present state...with the 'king of beers' present just to give you an idea on its size.
[img]https://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/Big_Vine/Plants/2010/IMG_6616.jpg[/img]

My plan now is to wait and allow those wounds to heal over.
Some rampant regrowth may reveal new budding/branching which can be used in the future design. Either way, I'll be doing some serious trimming following the rampant growth period, and that should result in lots of budding back...hopefully in the spots I want future branches to be!
BV

Lookin' good so far, that's going to be a great shohin! Keep us posted!

I love your green island ficus, I just got a starter tree and it seems to be going through shock right now