Nature’s Subtlety
Here are 10 photos from nature, that were taken in the first half of October. With these images my primary interest was in textures and color, rather than composition and a strong subject.,
Fall Photo Abstraction (Part 4)
Here is another set of interesting photos abstractions from my stroll along the colorful paths in Edmonton’s river valley.
Walkin’ the Woods
Another autumn day, another stroll through the wooded trails in Edmonton’s river valley, photographing the colors and forms of nature:
2021 September 14
Abstracting November 2011
I’m going back in my archives to 2011 (November 25) for these never-before-presented camera-motion abstract photos:
Six Years Later
This morning, I was looking through my old photos, curious as to what I might have been looking at, taking photos of, on this day in past years. As it turns out I hadn’t been very active on January Thirteenths, but I did find some from 2012. In fact, I quite liked what IÂ was doing that year – it was a bit of a treasure chest of abstract images!
I took a number of those photos, tweaked and cropped them to come up with these final images (which I like and hope you will too):
Autumn Color
Here are some color photographs from early October 2016, featuring the colors of the season (or not particularly)!
Wrinkled Green Trunk
All Blues
Just a Crow
Like Fireworks
Between the Blues
Rainbow Shrubbery
Orange-Red
Tree Shadow
Return From Whenever
It seems like a longtime since I’ve added a post to this blog and since I did any camera-motion abstract photography. Well today (Sunday, September 11, 2016) I did take my camera out, put on a neutral density filter and cranked the shutter speed down to 2 seconds. The day was cool, wet and gloomy but I imagined to find some color and these interesting images:
Chicken Scratch
Broken Spiral
Rosy Glow
Darkness in Light
Cherry Blossom
Splash of January Color
Color can be hard to find for months during the long Edmonton winter.
However, with a bit of light and a long exposure photograph …
If You Look You Will See
Today was another one of those days when I just go for a walk in downtown Edmonton and see what I can see – what I can see in terms of interesting patterns.
Leaf Beauty
Autumn is overwhelming – so many leaves, so much color!
I am often drawn to the broad sweeps of vivid color in the fall landscape but I also like to enjoy the natural artistry in the details. My camera encourages me to slow down and look at the beauty on a smaller scale – the beauty of each single leaf.
Veined Yellow Leaf
Red Veins into Green (with yellow)
Green Spots
Stripes
On Black Earth
Autumn Leaves (again)
Ah, the seductiveness of the colors of autumn. Every year I am awed by nature’s spectacle.
“But not this year!”, I told myself as fall descended on my part of the world. It seemed every year I took pictures and I’m sure if I went back and actually looked at images from previous years I would find the same scenes and colors repeating themselves. The golden trees against the deep blue sky have become so cliche – it’s not just me, everyone is taking the same photos!
But you know what? I couldn’t resist. I’ve taken photos of those autumn leaves again and I will share them again. I will however try to share those images that are a little bit different.
…and a touch of teal
Eleven
A Carpet of Fallen
Lone Leaf
Flying Carpet
On a Muddy Track
Red on Green
Color Fields
A bit of texture, some color and practically nothing recognizable:
Blue 48
Pink Spot
Blue Corner
Light Field
Blue Vertical
Art in the Movement
Another five camera-motion abstracted images, from recent photos:
Pyramidal
Wedges
Confetti
Corner
Red Nest
Color Fields of Spring
Today I was back at taking some long-exposure, camera-motion abstract photos. This batch emphasizes color, sometimes subtle, sometimes bold.
Blue on Green
Peach Left
Golden Square
Pink Haze
Spectrum Centre
Autumn Color
It is mid-September here in my part of the world and that means that autumn is arriving in a hurry. There is an exciting burst of color that will soon give way to 7 months of greyness. Fortunately images captured, can be images savored (and perhaps painted), during the long wait til spring.
Splash of Red and Green
Color Grain
Bending Gold
O Canada
Orangey Shades
5 Favorite Photos From the Last Week of July
If you follow me on Flickr you may have already seen some of these photos but here are some favorites from the last week ( 1 from each day that I took photos).
This first one is a photo of a sunflower growing next to a garage and fence in a back alley in my neighborhood. I was struck by the bright yellow of the sun flower and also the background color. I used a slow shutter speed and camera movement to blur the image and emphasize the color over the details.
Abstract 245-566
Again in this next one, color is the thing and motion blurring is the technique:
Abstract 246-058
Soft Evening Sky I was taken with a telephoto lens looking at the distant edge of the river valley in Edmonton, as the last rays of evening sun kissed the tree tops and provided a red glow.
Soft Evening Sky I
This next photo was purely an experiment in atmosphere. There was no subject, to speak of. I manually focussed as near as I could, just to capture the atmosphere generated by the background plants, a meter or two away, with their blue/green shades:
Abstract 248-131
Finally another motion-abstracted image – this of the Capilano Bridge in Edmonton. I used a telephoto lens and a shutter speed of probably 1/5 second. I panned the camera parallel to the bridge to keep the white and red edges on the bridge sharp and intense.
Capilano Bridge
I have received the comment that these photos look like paintings – I agree. Lately many of my photos that I like best have that quality. It is my intent to actually use these photos as reference or inspiration for paintings, but I am happy with the images as they are as photos. What do you think?
Color and Movement (Part 2)
This is a continuation of my previous post where I shared some motion-abstracted photographs. Here are a few more from that shoot on a windy, cool evening in July after a rainy day.
Abstract 110708-527
For most of these photos I used a shutter speed of between 1/4 and 1/10 of a second with a shutter priority setting. I like to sweep the camera horizonatlly for a general landscape image. The speed of the camera movement as it relates to the shutter speed is something I am continuing to experiment with.
Abstract 110708-520
The vertical structure of tree trunks invites vertical movement of the camera, such as in this image:
Abstract 110708-483
One aspect that I quite like about these motion-abstractions is how the movement blurs out the elements of the urban environment. These images were all taken in the city but you dould easily think they were from a rural environment.
Abstract 110708-518
The wet streets also create some great reflections and invite vertical camera motion
Abstract 110708-489
There is lots of fun to be had in exploring this unconventional idea of deliberately moving the camera and blurring the image. I love the effect and will continue to explore. Have any readers explored this technique?
Color and Movement
Here are a number of abstracted photos taken on a cool July evening after a rainy, windy day. As I have been experimenting with recently , the technique is one of using a slow shutter speed (1/4 to 1/10 sec) Â and moving the camera during the exposure.
Post-rain Evening
Abstract 110708-519
Abstract 110708-529
Evening Landscape
Abstract 110708-536
I like the way motion can be used to blur the image, to obscure details that can distract from the strength of the color and patterns at the core of the image.
Color Play Abstractions
Today I was playing with the color on some new photos, using the Capture NX2 software. For the most part these effects were created by inverting the “quick fix” curve – essentially creating a digital color “negative”. On the right I’ve included the original unaltered images for comparison
Magpie 2
Magpie original
Copper Snow
Copper Snow original
Abstract 110314-11
110314-11 original
Abstract 110314-004
110314-004 original
Abstract 110314-21
110314-21 original
Randall Talbot - Artist 