Understanding Abstract Photography

 

 

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Do you really understand what abstract photography is? Do

you know what makes it different from all other forms of

photography? Why should you consider capturing abstract

images on camera when you can devote your time and

skills on some other form of photography instead? If you

want to learn more about abstract photography and what

makes it click, then please read the rest of the article.

What is Abstract Photography?

While there is no exact definition for this form of

photography, let us establish that abstract photography is a

technique that puts primary importance to form, color, line

and texture over everything else. With abstract

photography, content and composition may be immaterial.

What’s important is that the image expresses the

photographer’s creativity and captures the viewers’ eyes.

Interpretation can very well come later.

Abstract photography requires you to see things in a

different light. It requires you to get out of your comfort

zone and jump out of the box. However, photographing

abstract images, when done right, can help you come up

with some very powerful images – images that appeal to

our most basic instincts. And that is one great reason why

you should consider doing it.

While it basically works on a no holds barred and

everything goes principle, there are three essential

elements that play a significant role in abstract photography

– form, color and curves. Let us see how each of these

elements affects the quality of your abstract photos, shall

we?

Form. In abstract photography, form (or shape) serves as

the structure of an image. It can very well be considered as

the heart of an image. As such, you should always choose

subjects with interesting, pleasing and dynamic forms. So,

how do you know that you have a form that is worth

photographing? Well, if you see something and you get

really excited about it, then you can be sure you have

something special.

Color. While form serves as the heart of an abstract image,

color provides an added depth and dimension to your

images. It can help draw and hold your viewers’ attention

and stimulate their senses as well. In general, using

saturated and contrasting colors in this type of photography

can best serve your purpose.

Curves. You can use curves to help spice up your images. It

can help point your viewers’ eyes to the image’s center of

interest and keep it there.

Shooting Abstract Photography – Some Tips in Doing It

Right

Trust your instincts. In shooting abstract photos, the most

important thing you need to remember is to keep your eyes

open for interesting subject matters. Let your instincts

guide you in choosing your subject.

Look at things on a completely different angle. Abstract

photography requires you to look at things a little bit

differently. It requires you to take something familiar and

photograph it in such a way that it would be taken out of its

original context. So, look through things more carefully.

 Don’t be afraid to break the rules. Abstract photography doesn’t require you to follow any rules. As I said before, just trust your instincts and you’ll have a great chance of capturing some very interesting abstract images.

Consider going macro. Another popular technique used by most abstract photographers to capture amazing abstract photos is working in the macro mode.

Bring out the artist in you. Always remember that abstract photography is a manifestation of your personal expression and creativity so don’t expect people to see things as you do. So what if you and your viewers don’t have the same perception of an image? Wouldn’t it be a lot more interesting that way? You bet it is!

Abstract photography is an ideal way to create some very powerful images so if you are really up for the challenge, why don’t you take your camera out with you and start seeing things on a totally different light? Go on and surprise yourself! …but first see this helpful photography source of tips to make your shoot even better.
I hope this has been of some value to you.

Roy Barker
 
PS. It's one thing to learn a few tips from these articles I provide you for free but this link takes you to where you will learn how to get 'paying customers' to yourphotography business. Hey, but if you don't need customers, skip it!
http://www.start-a-photography-business.com/

Heh everybody, I have a great Photography tip for you if you like creating abstracts with your camera and having some fun, Ed Verosky sent me this tip and how to do it. Ed is a great photographer and if you like this and would like to purchase some of his books there are links at the bottom of this blog.

 Smoke Photography Tutorial

I recently tried my hand at creating some intriguing photographic abstract art; incense smoke photography. Several of my friends at the About-Photography Group posted some of their own smoke images, so I thought I’d give it a try and came up with the images shown here.

The following is a short tutorial on how it can be done:

There is more than one way to do this, and some of this is optional. You’ll need to work in an area that is free from moving air. A little is ok, but you don’t want a fan or open window nearby, or anything that will prevent the smoke rising up from the incense to be blown away before it gets a chance to rise vertically for the pictures.

MATERIALS

Here is a list of things I gathered to create my smoke images:

    Incense
    Match (or lighter)
    Small table and incense holder
    Camera, normal or telephoto lens, and external flash *Tripod
    Dark background material (black seamless, poster board, cloth)

NOTE: Take precautions when working with matches, lighters, and burning incense so that you don’t start a fire. You don’t want to work with these items around flammable materials. As soon as you’re finished, make sure you douse the incense in water. Don’t leave it out or throw it in the trash.

SETUP & SHOOT

    Setup the table or other support for the incense. You can use a dark material in the background to help visually isolate the smoke in the shot. Make sure there will be enough distance between the incense and the background so that the background fades to black in the exposures. For my setup, a black cloth was used and positioned about 4 feet behind the incense.

    Setup a camera on a tripod. You’ll want this positioned in line with the smoke as it rises off the incense. I shot the images shown here with a 50mm lens about 3 feet from the incense. My camera settings were ISO 100, f/stop 16, and shutter speed at 1/250 (flash sync).

    Setup the external flash (off-camera). I positioned my flash about 2 feet to the left of the incense and slightly behind it. I did this so that it pointed slightly away from the background. You don’t want to illuminate the background with spill off light from the flash, so you can also modify it with a flag or snoot. I used mine without any modifiers. You can trigger the flash any way you like (PC cord, TTL, radio trigger, etc.). How you setup and use the flash isn’t as important as simply getting it to illuminate the smoke.

    Focus for the smoke. If your camera is configured to autofocus whenever you press the shutter button, you’ll have to set it up for manual focus, or use an alternate focus button. It can be hard to focus on the smoke each time you take a shot. Hold an object just above the incense stick, where the smoke will be, and focus on that. Leave the focus there for your actual shots.

    Take some shots. Light the incense and wait for some interesting smoke to rise into the frame. Experiment by disturbing the air around the smoke with your hand or your breath. The idea is to create interesting smoke patterns and get some shots to work with. When you’ve gotten several shots, preview them on your camera’s LCD. If you’re happy with them, import them into your computer.

POST-PROCESSING

There are several things you can do to enhance the smoke patterns including mirroring and colorizing. Here’s what you can do to create the effects shown in these images:

    Open an image in Photoshop and adjust contrast by using Curves or Levels in order to make sure the background is very dark or black and the smoke has the look you want.

    Create a Duplicate Layer of the image. Then flip the duplicate layer with Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal.

    Change the blending type of that layer to Lighten or Screen.

    Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above the other layers. Check the Colorize box and adjust the color of the smoke.

    Slide the top smoke layer, left or right, over the original layer until you see a pattern you like. Crop to your taste and save the image.

Again, this is only one way to approach this type of project. For example, you might use natural light coming in from a window on one side of the setup. If the background is dark enough, you should be able to isolate the smoke in the image. Also, post-processing can involve different coloring methods (you can use multiple colors and blending types). I’ve seen some beautiful inverted images, where the background can be turned white. And you can mirror the original image with vertical flips and other variations. Some original smoke patterns are so beautiful that they don’t need to be mirrored or colored at all.