Chaos or controlled abstract

Creating images that take the viewer 'within' a subject, such as this image, can provide a fascinating new experience. The majority of people simply don't have the observation skills needed to see the finer details of a subject and it can be quite a revelation to them when you present them with only a part of a common subject. However, even when working with only a small area of a subject, all the principles of good design and composition still apply. It could be argued that these visual skills are even more important since it is much more difficult to 'arrange' the subject when only dealing with a small part of it. Don't allow your 'abstracts' to be simply an image of chaos, apply some visual order to make your images work.

Design elements - Repetition

Understanding the design elements of image management is useful when hunting for new subjects to photograph because it gives you ideas of what to look for as you seek new things. One of the most powerful design elements is repetition. Repetition can apply to lines, shapes, colours, complete objects, in fact anything in the scene that repeats.
The image shown is a study in repetition. There is repetition of the curved lines creating visual movement. This is dynamically contrasted by the repetition of the diagonal straight edges. Note also that the repeating items are similar but not exactly the same which adds more interest to the image, i.e. each curved part is different, the straight parts vary in number and the ¡negative spaces' vary in shape.
Repetition is a useful tool when creating semi-abstract images from every day subjects as this image shows.
Q: What is the subject of this image and what is creating the 'starburst' effect on the highlights (no filter used)?

The 'Near - Far' Effect

The 'Near - Far' effect was explored extensively by Ansel Adams using the camera movements of a large format camera to create or exaggerate the sense of depth in a scene. Adams coined the phrase 'near - far' to describe the visual result of the technique. The 'near - far' effect is created by having a prominent foreground object dominating the lower half of the image with some form of visual line leading you towards the background of the scene. This can be clearly seen in this example, the lines of sunflowers take you into the 'depth' of the scene.
With 35mm cameras the 'near - far' effect is easily produced by using a wide-angle lens. Since wide-angle lenses make closer objects look bigger than distant objects, positioning yourself close to an interesting object automatically creates the 'near - far' effect. Make sure you adjust the depth of field to include the background in the area of sharpness.
The 'near - far' effect is one of the most powerful techniques for creating a sense of depth in your images so why not explore the visual possibilities of 'near - far' the next time you go out with your camera! Have Fun!
Q: How do you obtain sufficient depth of field for the 'near - far' effect?

Scale and Space

Scale is used to help define the size relationships between the elements of an image. A sense of scale goes a long way to adding to the feeling of space in a scene. In this beach scene, clearly a semi-abstract design, the inclusion of the single human figure walking across the sand allows you to immediately appreciate the amount of space included in the image. Without this point of reference it would be very difficult to perceive just how much of the beach had been used to form this design oriented image.
Q: Why is the water so blue?

PhotoTalk Gallery Now Open!

OK, here we go! Let's enter into a virtual photo gallery, that's us in the gallery now, and chew the fat about photography. Mind you, try not to stick ice-cream covered fingers all over the image like this little lady is doing!

Happy New year

Well, here we go with 2008 and I hope it's a good one for everyone. A new year, a new blog, a fresh outlook!

Cheers