"Abstract of Aspen Trees, New Mexico" by Brenda Tharp
I love to pan my camera on non-moving objects - like trees, flower gardens, meadows, even boats in a harbor. But one thing I’ve noticed is that in many of my favorite abstract pictures and panned images, there is some depth expressed. I think it’s very helpful to have that depth - just a whoosh. When everything is in the same plane, the image doesn’t have that depth and the resulting picture is a two-dimensional abstract.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but as in real landscapes and scenes, I’m often trying to suggest the three-dimensional attributes of the scene. To do that in this abstract photo, I got up close to one aspen tree, placing it to the left to allow the other trees to balance that dominant one. With the other trees ‘behind’ the main tree, the near/far relationship establishes a suggestion of depth to the scene. The other, equally important element that is suggesting depth here is the light. The side light brought dimension to individual trees, showing their "roundness".
The light and the near/far relationship combined to make this a picture I was very happy with. And, as the light falls off to darker areas in the background, you get even more depth. My goal was to have the viewer (you) feel like they were standing in this grove of trees, right next to me.
Additional notes: Brenda Tharp teaches some excellent digital photography online courses, including Creating Visual Impact. Also check out BetterPhoto.com's photography school online.
Comments