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Author Topic: Show us some Abstracts!  (Read 722287 times)

David Eckels

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Re: Harpa Reykjavik 3
« Reply #3200 on: September 10, 2018, 10:15:24 am »

You know Dave, these abstracts either strike you or don't. It's OK, but I don't like it as much as the first version.

JR
I understand, John. I am working on a small series that will represent a "portrait" of Harpa, embellished with some of these detail shots for my coffee table book based on my recent trip to Iceland. It should be a best-seller of one! ;)

Chris Kern

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3201 on: September 12, 2018, 06:40:03 pm »

Is it fair for me to call this an abstract?  A cityscape?  Probably not an architectural and I'm fairly certain it's not a landscape—despite the presence of a mountain and some weather in the background.  I don't want to indulge in excessive genre-bending.

Made earlier this month during a vacation in Vancouver, B.C.

Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3202 on: September 12, 2018, 07:09:43 pm »

... an abstract?  A cityscape?  Probably not an architectural and I'm fairly certain it's not a landscape...

That's why it is important to make up your mind as to what you are trying to convey at the time of shooting and reframe and refocus accordingly (both literally and figuratively). Selectivity in photography is paramount. Or, as my high school professor used to say: "A lack of clarity of language is a sure sign of the lack of clarity of mind." The same goes for visual language.  ;)

Chris Kern

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3203 on: September 12, 2018, 07:19:37 pm »

That's why it is important to make up your mind as to what you are trying to convey at the time of shooting and reframe and refocus accordingly (both literally and figuratively).

Sigh.  I fear you may be correct.  I simply tend to shoot what looks interesting to me while I'm peering through the viewfinder without thinking too much (okay, prolly not at all) about "what I'm trying to convey."

But I suspect I'm too old and set in my ways to learn how to exercise more discipline.

Chris Kern

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3204 on: September 12, 2018, 08:07:30 pm »

More abstract.  But still with mountains.

Chris Kern

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3205 on: September 12, 2018, 08:15:38 pm »

No mountains.  No sky.  This ought to rate at least an 8.5 on the international open-ended abstraction scale, wot?

Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3206 on: September 12, 2018, 09:31:58 pm »

No mountains.  No sky.  This ought to rate at least an 8.5 on the international open-ended abstraction scale, wot?

Yes :)

Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3207 on: September 12, 2018, 09:41:13 pm »

More abstract.  But still with mountains.

What you probably noticed in that scene is the layering of different buildings when viewed at a certain angle. You can then capitalize on that and exclude (abstract!) everything else (sorry, mountains). Something similar I did in Houston (five different buildings):




P.S. This isn't meant as lecturing, but rather as a friendly exchange of ideas

Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3208 on: September 12, 2018, 09:49:01 pm »

...I simply tend to shoot what looks interesting to me while I'm peering through the viewfinder...

Nothing wrong with that. That's how it starts. It is an iterative process. You see something interesting and snap it. Then you think: "Hmmm, this looks interesting but too busy, too much information... how do I simplify it?" For instance, the photo posted above started with this image:

JNB_Rare

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3209 on: September 12, 2018, 11:44:57 pm »

No mountains.  No sky.  This ought to rate at least an 8.5 on the international open-ended abstraction scale, wot?

Rotate right 90 degrees and get a 9.0!
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Chris Kern

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3210 on: September 13, 2018, 10:59:00 am »

It is an iterative process. You see something interesting and snap it. Then you think: "Hmmm, this looks interesting but too busy, too much information... how do I simplify it?"

The three pictures I posted earlier in this thread were all made within a five-minute period.  Actually, I started with the most abstract, then my eye was attracted to the skycrapers with the mountains and clouds in the background.

My wife and I have been visiting Vancouver every two or three years for 25 years now.  It is is arguably the big city with the most beautiful setting in North America.  But the downtown is looking increasingly like Hong Kong Central, with enormous, closely-spaced towers crowding out the view of the harbour and the mountains beyond.  In the three years since our last visit, it seemed like at least a half dozen new ones had sprouted up.  A local community activist complained to us that relatively new buildings were being torn down so that even taller ones could be constructed in their place and, as often happens in city centers where there is a surge of redevelopment, housing costs have increased dramatically.  The attached photo provides a sense of the density.  I made it from an isolated park—apparently unfamiliar even to many Vancouverites—which must be the only parcel of undeveloped land along the downtown waterfront.

John R

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3211 on: September 13, 2018, 09:56:08 pm »

From downtown Toronto.

JR

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Chris Kern

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3212 on: September 13, 2018, 10:04:33 pm »

From downtown Toronto.

". . . the pipes, the pipes are calling."

drmike

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3213 on: September 14, 2018, 02:27:07 am »

I'm guessing this is as abstract as many here



Mike
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John R

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3214 on: September 14, 2018, 02:13:52 pm »

I'm guessing this is as abstract as many here

Mike
It looks fine to me. Here is one from nature, taken on my Daily Walk.

JR

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drmike

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3215 on: September 14, 2018, 02:52:39 pm »

You choose your subjects well for in the camera movement. The trick seems to be to avoid over bright skies and white as the background.

This one is particularly nice as it has relatively few plants in it.
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JNB_Rare

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3216 on: September 14, 2018, 03:40:24 pm »

Here is one from nature, taken on my Daily Walk.

Really good, this one.
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Eric Myrvaagnes

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3217 on: September 14, 2018, 06:48:33 pm »

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-Eric Myrvaagnes (visit my website: http://myrvaagnes.com)

armand

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3218 on: September 14, 2018, 07:48:13 pm »

Encounter

John R

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Re: Show us some Abstracts!
« Reply #3219 on: September 14, 2018, 08:40:37 pm »

+1.
Thank you John, Eric and Mike for the comments. Mike the image consists of grasses shot against pond water reflecting the blue sky. But you are quite right, in general, I try to avoid white unless I decide the white can be part of the image or has a pattern.

JR
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