I was at a local park wanting to do some abstract photos. My idea was to show a spring forest in an abstract manner. I wanted the colors, and strong vertical lines to show the trees. I used my 50mm f1.7 at 1.7, MF. Adjustments to hue, saturation, contrast, and levels. Let me know what you think. I like them, but I just don't know how well they work. Honest opinions and suggestions to improve wanted. Thanks, John

Hi John - I really like this form of abstract. I am often struck when looking at paintings that the painter has much more opportunity to just include what they want to in a picture. As a photographer presented with a scene I think sometimes you just want to capture the shape and colour, without the form and detail (if that makes sense?). I prefer the third of the shots, mainly because this is the simplest and doesn't include any sky. The only downside with the third is that the middle tree is a bit close the the right hand tree. Perhaps in the first you could crop out the sky - unless of course you like the sky . Please keep posting the abstracts.

Pastel like shots. Nice. Try to use a little bit more of focus (just a little, so that they will still be out of focus but more discernible)... anyway, I think so...

Birma and Dr Harout- Thanks for the input. Birma you are exactly right. I was trying to express the scene with only shape and color. The first and third are my favorites. I think the 2nd one is too OOF. I went back to the spot to try to reshoot the with a little more focus. We'll see. John

Here are the reshoots. Of course I couldn't find the exact shots I took, but I really wanted to try some others. I think these have a more watercolor abstract to them. Let me know which you like better... Thanks in advance, John.

The first in the second batch.

You can do just about anything, including simulate this style with filters in ps, from a good normal exposure, when done that way you can play around and still have a good photo. And that's my two bits.

cidrmakr- Very true about what PS can do these days. I wish that I could use my humble PSE 7 to its full potential. This was a fun exercise in trying to see the scene in an abstract way while there. To some degree I think I accomplished my goals, but I'm just not sure of their overall artistic merits. Any of them appeal to you? Thanks, and welcome.. John

Hi John - I like #1 and #2 of the second batch the best - the object lower-right in #3 is a bit distracting. I still can't make up my mind up about the sky in #1. It does add balance to the flowers, but is quite bright. I think it is worth continuing with the experiments . There is an effect (which I can't remember the name of, off the top of my head), where you combine an oof copy with a regular version of a picture, that I like (I've used gaussian blur in PE7 for the oof shot). I will try to look up the name of it.

Also, hi to cidrmakr and welcome to the forum. Can we expect some pictures of apple based beverages?

Birma- After thinking about them for a while, I think having the sky balances it out as you say, but makes it less of an abstraction... If that makes sense. I kinda abandoned the KISS principle on the second set, so I think the ended up more like an impressionistic watercolor than a pure abstraction. Thanks to you cidrmakr and Dr. Harout for the input. John

The technique I was trying think of before is the "Orton effect" described here http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0106/dw0106-1.html. This is half-way house between a regular (?) shot and the abstract one. The gaussian blur approach described is another way of getting the oof effect, as cidrmakr said earlier.

Birma- thanks for the link. I'd never seen that technique before. I think I'll focus on normal focus photography for now! It was fun anyway.. Thanks again John

You know, those are the type of shots I throw out!

Seriously, I never saw the use of abstract or impressionistic art, so don't let this be a downer or a slam on your work. I always thought art was supposed to represent something, and if it's not clear how can it? I know there are those who like it and pay millions for it, but I just don't understand why!

Dusty

No offense taken Dusty.
There is some abstract art that I just love, and some that just leaves me scratching my head.....
This was a fun experiment, and I think I achieved the goal I set out to reach. (an abstract representation of the forest using only color and basic shapes) But I'm not sure of their overall artistic value. I'll leave that to the viewers.. (and if any of the viewers want to pay me millions for my work just send me a PM!) John

I think it comes down to what you are trying to create with the the camera. I love a beautifully exposed and focused photograph of dramatic light over a stunning landscape, and I also love paintings of the same sort of scene. Sometimes I think the painting is able to present the real essence of a scene, without the details , and "abstract" photographs are a means to do the same thing for those of us that are hopeless with a paint brush .