Abstract, Natural History Photography Blog

OK, I admit it, my youngest daughter shot this image. I let her loose with our uber-mikro-digi-kamera one day while we were crashed at a hotel. I set the camera up for long exposures, and this is one of the images she came up with. Kids don’t know any rules when it comes to photography. Most of them don’t even remember film. They just know that it costs nothing to snap an image, so they snap and snap and snap. They don’t care about the junk shots, only about the one image out of the many that has something going on and captures the viewer’s interest. Kids try things with a camera that we (insert: real photographers, old people, you, me, GenXers, boomers, the ancients) might never think of. Sarah held the camera just a few inches above the carpet as she walked down the hallway to get this smeared image. I liked her shot so much I stole her idea and got a keeper of my own. Today’s abstract photo, #13 of 15.

Patterns in carpet blurred into abstract by time exposure. Image: 20570

Subscribe to this feed - Subscribe via Feedburner - Stumble it! - Digg this! - Add to Del.icio.us - Share on Facebook

This was shot on a drizzly overcast morning at Ruby Beach in Washington’s Olympic National Park. Fresh water flows over cobblestones on its way across the beach and into the sea. Today’s abstract photo, #9 of 15:

Water flows past beach cobblestones, blur. Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA. Image: 13794   Location: Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA

Subscribe to this feed - Subscribe via Feedburner - Stumble it! - Digg this! - Add to Del.icio.us - Share on Facebook

This strange set of clouds appeared at sunset one time, as viewed from our home. Today’s abstract photo, #8 of 15:

Cloud formations at sunset. Image: 07470

Subscribe to this feed - Subscribe via Feedburner - Stumble it! - Digg this! - Add to Del.icio.us - Share on Facebook

As a compliment to the photo of the ocean floor I posted a few days ago, here is a view taken from the same location and depth but instead looking up toward to the surface. A simple enough image, but unfortunately it is a view that too few people experience, not being inclined to venture under the surface of the ocean. Today’s abstract photo, #7 of 15:

Water patterns. Bahamas. Image: 03183   Location: Bahamas

Subscribe to this feed - Subscribe via Feedburner - Stumble it! - Digg this! - Add to Del.icio.us - Share on Facebook

Last winter I joined friends Skip Stubbs and Ken Howard for a few days of bird photography at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. I would get up early each morning to watch the enormous flocks of snow geese that overnight on the ponds take off in a massive predawn exodus, up up and away to the crane pools or corn fields nearby, where they would spend the day foraging and quacking. Due to the dim light a long exposure was required, rendering the geese as streaks across the background. Today’s abstract photo, #6 of 15:

Snow geese at sunrise. Thousands of wintering snow geese take to the sky in predawn light in Bosque del Apache’s famous “blast off”. The flock can be as large as 20,000 geese or more. Long time exposure creates blurring among the geese. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico, USA. Image: 21799   Common name: Snow goose Species: Chen caerulescens Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Subscribe to this feed - Subscribe via Feedburner - Stumble it! - Digg this! - Add to Del.icio.us - Share on Facebook

I made a number of trips to the Bahamas to film Olympic champion swimmers and wild dolphins. While we were roasting in the Bahamian sun, waiting for dolphins to appear, we could swim as much as we wanted in the clear shallow waters of the Little Bahama Banks. I really enjoyed watching the sunlight move over the white sand bottom, and took many photos during those trips trying to capture the beauty of those patterns. Today’s abstract photo, #5 of 15:

Sunlight spreads across broad sand plains, trochoidal patterns. Bahamas. Image: 03185   Location: Bahamas

Subscribe to this feed - Subscribe via Feedburner - Stumble it! - Digg this! - Add to Del.icio.us - Share on Facebook

Today’s abstract photo was photographed at San Clemente Island. Early one overcast, dark morning at the south end of the island, I found myself drifting along the reef about 30′ deep, over a huge expanse of surf grass. Given the dim light the exposures were long and blurry, so I was looking for subjects that lend themselves to blur. The surf grass was swaying back and forth as swells passed overhead — why not shoot the grass? I had just started shooting digital underwater and had an epiphany (which are few and far between in these parts): if I just look at the photo after I’ve taken it, I can make adjustments and take it again, better. So I did just that, using the histogram and the little LCD display of the image I had just taken to adjust things until the exposure was dialed in, trying for the longest exposure the light would allow (probably about 1/2 second). I sprayed a few hundred shots around the surf grass bed. Upon returning to the boat I found I had a few keepers. Abstract #3 in a series of 15:

Surf grass on the rocky reef — appearing blurred in this time exposure — is tossed back and forth by powerful ocean waves passing by above. San Clemente Island. San Clemente Island, California, USA. Image: 10237   Common name: Surfgrass Species: Phyllospadix sp. Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Subscribe to this feed - Subscribe via Feedburner - Stumble it! - Digg this! - Add to Del.icio.us - Share on Facebook

Another abstract photo, sunlight piercing the ocean surface. I used to shoot a lot of this stuff when I was diving in the 90’s, killing time decompressing at the end of a dive. Note how elegantly the rays of the sun break apart and blend into the water. That is simply not attainable (yet) with digital cameras, which instead just blow the sun out into a ball with perhaps a few rough rays extending from the ball. This flaw, which I hope will be overcome in the next few generations of digital cameras, is one of the few weaknesses of digital cameras in underwater photography. Abstract #2 in a series of 15:

Water patterns. Image: 03181

Subscribe to this feed - Subscribe via Feedburner - Stumble it! - Digg this! - Add to Del.icio.us - Share on Facebook

I have had good luck selling abstract photos the last few years. I just had another last week. Which got me pondering and ruminating (not a sight for the faint of heart). So without further ado, today begins a series of posts highlighting some of my favorite abstract images. Abstract #1 in a series of 15:

Abstract colors and water patterns on the ocean surface. Image: 20343   View this Image in Google Earth!

This was taken in La Jolla, before sunrise, with a 500mm lens, panning while keeping the shutter open.

Subscribe to this feed - Subscribe via Feedburner - Stumble it! - Digg this! - Add to Del.icio.us - Share on Facebook