[Steve]

I really struggle with abstract photography, whenever I see somebody elses work I generally like it, however my own attempts seem to return results that are less than satisfactory. With that in mind I have recently shot a very small series of abstract pictures to see what I could come up with. This is one from that series.

All comments greatly received.



Is it time for me to totally give up on this genre of photography? :lol:

EDIT..The other two pictures from this series can be viewed in my gallery along with some more recently shot photographs.

Link to Steve's gallery

[CT]

I'm crap at abstract but FWIW, I reckon that's not bad at all.

[Matt]

Steve this doesn't work for me I'm afraid.
Its probably because I can identify the glass and the lamp.
Also the light polution hitting the desk/table distracts from the subject/s.

This type of still life/abstract is difficult to get right, and its definately not one of my strong points.

I would like to see just the glass with the lines going diagonally across the image.
You would probably need to use a different light source to stop light bleeding onto the forground/background.

The use of coloured card would be very helpful in keeping the forground/background uniform.
Get down to your local craft shop and purchase different varieties of colour to experiment with, or just pick up anything you can find.

This is what I achieved using the coloured card:
Red
Black

You shouldn't give up trying this type of photography, after all you did have success with your CD-rom/water images.

Matt

[Steve]

Thanks guys for your opinions.

One for and one against after 44 views and I am sitting on the fence

[Matty]

well ok, off the fence i get...

Looks like a plastic water bottle to me, i like the way the light plays over it, but otherwise i dont really feel it at all, sorry!

[Steve]

Originally Posted by EosD

well ok, off the fence i get...

Looks like a plastic water bottle to me, i like the way the light plays over it, but otherwise i dont really feel it at all, sorry!

Was it uncomfortable?

You are correct in your guess, it is a plastic water bottle lit from the rear by a blue lamp.

Thanks for your honesty [smilie=t:

[rob]

Steve,

A few comments, I'm sorry, but as above it doesn't work for me. I'll try and quantify that a little - it's the composition that does it for me, it's a very simple layout of the image but the subject matter doesn't really suit the situation (I feel).

I don't feel to flow through the image at all, I think one of the features of abstract photography should be to either make a bold striking statement (the simple composition can sometimes help here, but there's nothing for me to be struck by!), or to lead the viewer through a abstract journey. This image doesn't really do either for me, sorry.

Maybe I've been of help, maybe I haven't. Take from this what you will :-)

Rob

[Steve]

Thanks Rob for your critique. You have been very helpfull.

[KenCo1964]

Okay, first let me start by saying I know nothing about abstract art/photography, so am only commenting on what appeals to me.
I like to be able to identify what I am viewing however basic and even after Eosd mentioned the water bottle, I still found it hard to identify. Being honest at first sight I did not find this pic interesting, too much blue and black with shapes I could not associate with. Because of this and my lack of knowledge on abstract I did not want to comment. Now that I have viewed this pic a number of times and done a brief search on abstract definition, I am beginning to see into the pic and what I see from this is a moon/sun set or rise over a waterfall, which when you think is quite clever the sun/moon being your light and the waterfall being your bottled water. I also like the shades of blue in the ribs of the bottle, which I do find appealing and clever once again. I don’t know if this is the intention of abstract but I thought it clever. However still to much blue/black for me and it does need something to grab the viewer immediately. That’s just my opinion.

Quote “good abstract photography starts with a vision of what you want to convey - great abstact photography is when you achieve it”.

I certainly wouldn’t give up if you enjoy.
Just say no to drugs!

[TerraS]

Good attempt Steve. I'd crop the bit on the right so you have a nice gradient from light (left) to dark (right).

[dod]

Well I like it.

Just my opinion but I don't feel an abstract needs to be recognisable, it's more to do with the light and shape. This might have been improved by a really radical crop to take in just the segments so you had a transition from light to dark blue, a bit like a pano if you see what I mean.

[CT]

Originally Posted by Dave

Good attempt Steve. I'd crop the bit on the right so you have a nice gradient from light (left) to dark (right).

Good point! It would also make it less obvious that it's a bottle by eliminating the base.. Cloning out the base of the glass in the background would also add a more abstract feel. It definitely starts to work more for me then.

[Steve]

Lots of great feeback gents, it is much appreciated.

I have a few things to do around the house but I should get some free time later tonight to try some of your suggestions. I'll post up any results which I feel are steps in the right direction.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by KenCo1964

Snip.. Now that I have viewed this pic a number of times and done a brief search on abstract definition, I am beginning to see into the pic and what I see from this is a moon/sun set or rise over a waterfall, which when you think is quite clever the sun/moon being your light and the waterfall being your bottled water. I also like the shades of blue in the ribs of the bottle, which I do find appealing and clever once again. ..Snip

I certainly wouldn’t give up if you enjoy.

I wish I could say that I was that deep but in all honesty this is a big area that I struggle with and there were no deep thoughts or motives behind this shot.

Am I enjoying it? Nah but I am trying to learn and get my head around abstracts, the challenge is interesting but not necessarily fun.

[Matt]

The fun part is when you get it right, and when you show it to the world (or us in this case ), you get loads of praise for your fine effort.