"Fracked" Image # RO-9576
Often when working with my rock abstracts, I will rotate, zoom in and zoom out of these intricate patterns looking for something to make a connection to something other than the literal subject I am photographing. After all, I see this series as not just looking closely at rocks, but how they have a great similarity to images taken from satellites. That to me implies a great connection in the processes of nature – big and small.
Symbolic titles for abstracts also have me with a bit of mixed feeling. In some ways, I would like people to see what they want to see in them, without any guidance from me. On the other hand, I often see very specific things or themes in these patterns, and think part of the art is in conveying that. I am leaning more towards the latter lately, and if someone sees something differently, then so be it. (more…)
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NOAA sky cover forecast - socked in gray!
I was anxious last night because I wanted to get up early today and head up to Lake Huron to hopefully do some long shutter speed blurs at the shoreline during twilight. However, the weather forecast didn’t look like it was going to cooperate with my intentions. One of my favorite tools for checking the weather is the NOAA Graphical Forecast. I like this particular forecast tool because it offers a lot of different overlays to show you what the conditions are going to be like, in addition to temperature, rain, etc. I like using it to check forecasted sky cover to see if a morning twilight might have a chance of some nice colors.
While I haven’t learned the secret formula yet for colors, I have learned that if it shows solid gray across the state, your chances are pretty much ZERO. Even a bit of rain wouldn’t bother me if the tool showed it moving past quickly and clearing the sky before dawn. Still, it was worth checking early this morning to see if things changed overnight. (more…)
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From the Drip Period or the Jurassic Period? Abstract rock photo by Mark Graf
I am quite backlogged on my Inspired by Stone project. I have been collecting various pieces of stone over the years such that my office is beginning to resemble a small rock quarry. The problem is, I have been collecting them faster than I have been able to photograph them all.
This is a rather large piece of Cherry Creek jasper. When I say large, I mean about 4 inches by 3 inches or so. The characteristics that attracted me to this piece were that it resembled some abstract expressionism work by painter Jackson Pollock. Pollock became more well known when his abstract paintings were published in Life magazine in 1949. His paintings were created not by brushes, but by dripping paint onto a canvas on the floor. It was declared quite an original approach at the time. The cracks, splotches, and lines in this piece of stone reminded me of those very drips.
I am sure people would contemplate what he saw in his mind, why he created this line vs. that splotch in that spot. I wonder similar things. What was going on in the Earth when this line was formed, or that black spot? What made this red flow next to this yellow?
These drips and splotches were formed well before anyone ever heard of Jackson Pollock, or perhaps even human beings or art. I highly doubt Pollock was inspired by slices of stone, but I find it quite interesting how there can be such a close resemblance. (more…)
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Fern spore abstract
There is something to be said for abstract photography… you are not confined by your own preconceptions about reality and known subjects. But to the contrary, you leave yourself open to the possibility that someone just may not “get it” as is often stated about abstract art. Heck, I have been known to stare at pieces in museums and say those very same words, and I consider myself fairly open to the idea of abstract and conceptual art. It wouldn’t be there if it didn’t mean something to someone.
I say that’s ok. It may not lead to someone wanting such an image on their wall, but not everyone wants waterfalls, mountains, or animals on their walls either. I have my own images of known subjects on my walls that I am simply tired of looking at. Yet in many abstracts, I see something new each time I study them.
Connection to an image may not be a connection with the literal subject – it may be with the color palette, the shapes, or just the overall design and feel. Your audience may be reduced from general mass appeal, but the connections that do form may be stronger than you could have ever imagined.
When an image you create is something developed from within, and also makes a strong impression on another , even if just only one other person – I say that is a photograph worthy of existence.
Read MoreContinuing my yearly tradition now since 2007, below are my top 10 favorite images made during 2010. Looking back at what was explored and experienced helps not only draw a map of where I have been, but gives directions to the roads ahead. It is a long post, but these end of year ones usually are. This year I feel particularly “chatty.” :-) I hope you enjoy the comments about the images.
2010 Collection
Many famous photographers are fond of the saying about how the camera and lens tend to look both ways. For someone trying to express themselves through the medium of photography, certainly aspects of their own personality and personal vision should come through in their images. I feel at home in these places versus in a crowded street or a concrete jungle. For all of the other important things that our lives become entangled in, there are many things overlooked that are important also. Some things may not be recognized to a particular individual as being significant, but in the grand makeup of nature – these little observations are segments of life cycles going on all around us.
These images not only represent personal growth in vision, but often moments of chance, inspiration, and visualization that have never existed in previous years, and may never again. Many times I have made some of these photographs, and decided “Hey, I’d like to do more of this.” Well, more often than not, the same situation just didn’t present itself again.
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