This past week I walked in the forests along the Chattahoochee River. Autumn colors were just starting to appear. The sun was shining allowing beautiful reflections to appear. Leaf color is a prime feature of autumn but its more than just the leaves on the trees. I was blessed to have nature share with me the abstracts she painted in the river.
Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.
If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
Abstract art uses color, shape and line to create a pleasing image. That image may or may not represent something real. In photography, you arrive at the result through a different route. You find a candidate and create a composition that emphasizes the pattern created by the color, shape and/or line over the subject itself.
I am a primarily a landscape photographer. As I progressed and learned more about that art, I became fascinated with the questions about how a scene evolved; what processes shaped it in the past and what processes are shaping it today. As I observed, I began to see the patterns and to understand how to recognize the effects of the wind, water and tectonic events that influenced it. I also began to see how the patterns repeated themselves in different ways in different objects. It is those patterns that often make a wonderful abstract image.
On a recent cross-country trip, we flew over the high plains of Kansas and the foothills and peaks of the Rocky Mountains. In many places the snowpack was broken; ice and snow lay in the crevices where snowmelt flows, while the remaining surfaces were clear. I was struck by the patterns that I saw. Erosion created patterns like those of a bush branching or leaves branching on a stem. In one spot, I saw a fish backbone with its tiny ribs extended. Using my trusty phone camera, through an airplane window, I created some abstracts from the landscapes I love.
I hope you enjoy these images. Reflect on the patterns – what do you see?
Regards
Larry
Note: Click on Caption to see larger, higher resolution image
Earthwatcher 