Abstract

“The less there is to look at, the more important it is that we look at it closely and carefully. This is critical to abstract art. Small differences make all the difference.” – Kirk Varnedoe

AB1: SS: 1/2, f/22, 24mm, ISO: 100 & SS:3/5, f/22, 24mm, ISO: 100

I had fun discovering these. I was looking up at some trees and then decided to just move myself around whilst taking the shot. This was only a  quarter turn but the effect is quite stunning. There is a real sense of a being drawn into a vortex. Pick you own favourite…

AB2: SS:: 1/10, f/4, 50mm, ISO: 500

I was trying to go for a completely different shot to this.. The original idea was to hold the Whiskey tasting glass in my hand as it fitted so comfortably but the image I had in my head really didn’t transfer to reality. So I decided to go for a complete above shot. The colour, grain and the scarring of the table works really well and the images provide a certain level of guesswork to decide what they are? 

I wasn’t sure where to put this photo, how to categorise in.. which I guess will be a fairly common issue. I placed it here however, because I felt that the aim of the image is to focus on the different shapes, shadows and contrast rather than a landscape element where things are viewed more as a whole. There is so much to see in this picture that whilst adding to the overall effect clearly stands on it’s own. The water ripples are great example of this, looking like a Barista’s effect on a coffee. Take a close look at the black and white parts of the ripple.. 

This photo has always fascinated me.. This solid structure, broken, but for some reason all I wanted to do was take a photo of this part of the whole structure.. so it isn’t really the photo that has fascinated me but the subject…for me this is about the space, the imperfect circle, the broken circle.. and how beautiful it is.

I had fun editing these especially when the originals really lack lustre and offer nothing. Cropping and editing have created a couple of quite cool abstract images. Both are from the smoke of an incense cone and the first one I think looks like a ghostly face.. and depending on how you see it, could be looking left or right.

 

 

 

Like my earlier abstract work I love this circular effect. I have been lucky and kept the central point quite central. Not much editing was actually required and sometimes I think things are better left as they are.

 

 

 

I found that doing a ‘panning’ to get an abstract difficult with this setting. It was hard to get the balance correct with the settings and the speed at which I panned. This was the best of the bunch and has quite a misty, ethereal feel to it. I have desaturated the colour as I like to except for a hint of blue in the sky and water. I think that some of the challenge was that it was a bright day. My recent learnings ensured that I had brought a Neutral Density (ND) filter which blocks out the light so you can get the setting correct for this kind of effect. The slow shutter speed on a day that is so bright would just have produced an irreparable over-exposed picture. Nice to know I am learning something!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This came out more like a  lightburst and again.. a theme here, I was pleasantly surprised. The Zooming out has really created a sunlight burst from behind the tree. The knot in the tree has provided a great focal point. I like that it isn’t so distorted and abstract as it adds to it that you can see a lot of the detail.