Embrace The Wind

By Cathy

The day is unusually warm as I sit in my swing. The afternoon sun peeking over the tops of the trees is a little too hot for me. I’ve taken off my shoes and my bare toes skim the still cool ground as I push the swing back and forth. My swing hangs from the branch of a large oak tree, but the bare limbs provide no shade. The only thing that keeps me outside is the breeze. It brings much needed coolness as it blows in my face. I love the wind. I love the sound as it rushes through the pine trees.  I laugh at the new green leaves on my Bradford Pear as they perform a wind dance.  I enjoy watching the birds high above as they catch a wind current and glide through the air. I listen to the music created as the wind swirls through my wind chimes; the smaller chimes tinkle, while the large ones play a deeper song. That same breeze that cools me and relaxes me has also been a challenge to my photography this spring. The wind just keeps blowing and blowing and blowing!  Because of the wind, I haven’t taken many pictures of the pretty spring colors.

I realized this week that if I waited for a day with no wind, I wouldn’t take any pictures at all. Much of the early spring blooms are already gone. They didn’t last long this year due to days of rain, high winds, and frosty nights. I decided if I wanted some spring color I’d just have to embrace the wind, so my pictures are different this year. I’m calling my collection of spring pictures Spring Abstracts and Impressions. I decided to just have fun with it, forget trying to get the perfect tack sharp image, and concentrate on shapes and colors. I went out with the idea of taking blurry pictures. Imagine that! I tried intentional camera motion where I used a slow shutter speed and gently moved the camera in a vertical motion. That picture is the one at the top of the post. Still using the slow shutter speed, I gently zoomed the lens out which created a burst effect.

Using my tripod, I set my camera on a slow shutter speed and just let the wind control the blur. This was harder than I thought. You have to find the best speed to create a pleasant blur, not a she-took-a-blurry-picture blur.

An unexpected surprise happened when I took a picture through the bottom of a clear, small drinking class that I’d placed over a flower. I'll be trying this more often, as I really like it!

Of course, spring is the perfect time for finding beautiful water reflections where blur definitely adds to the picture.

Sometimes a person has to just go with the flow and find beauty in a unique way!

I’m wishing all of you a beautiful, happy spring whether it’s tack-sharp or blurry!

“March brings breezes loud and shrill,

Stirs the dancing daffodil.”

~ Sara Coleridge (1802-1852)

“The Months,” Pretty Lessons In Verse,

For Good Children; With Some Lessons In Latin,

In Easy Rhyme, 1834

"Excellent!" I cried. "Elementary," said he.

 By Kim

"Reflective qualities of a glass bottle"

Strange title for a blog post I know, but if it got your attention it worked. And by the way do you have any idea what two people were having that conversation?  If it's a mystery, don't worry, I'll reveal it all in due time.

Several posts ago I wrote this . . . "My intention is to really dig deeper in cultivating the way I see through my lens that will allow me to tear down the boundaries I have and let me see beneath the expectations, even if I have to look at things sideways. And that perhaps instead of going out to make an image. . .I could let go of all perceived ideas and just participate in the receiving." And at the end of the post I said that I was going to try being a little quieter, a little more still, and try to see what the world would offer up when my view was boundary free. 

And that's exactly what I've been doing, removing boundaries. In fact I decided to pursue something that started to intrigue me a little over a year ago. Something I called "painting with my lens" which also falls into the category of abstract. Along with Terri, Dotti and Deanna, I was also in Kim's 50mm class and it just so happened her next month long class was Going Abstract. Bingo!

"Lines and shapes of a glass bottle"

"Excellent!" I cried. "Elementary," said he. And the rest of the conversation went like this;

"It is one of those instances where the reasoner can produce an effect which seems remarkable to his neighbour, because the latter has missed one little point to which is the basis of the deduction. The same may be said, my dear fellow, for the effect of some of these little sketches of yours, which is entirely meretricious, depending as it does upon your retaining in your own hands some factors in the problem which are never imparted to the reader."  - Watson and Holmes in "The Crooked Man"

And why exactly am I quoting from Sherlock Homes Memoir you ask? Because I think mysteries and abstract photography have a few things in common. Both hold back details of the story or subject and may be based on non-realistic portrayals rather than an accurate representation of an object or scene. The biggest difference though, is a mystery is meant to be solved, an abstract image not so much.

I find that some people don't quite understand abstract photography and perhaps because they are looking for something they will not find. Because not only do you need to remove boundaries and labels to make an abstract image, but you need to remove them in order to view or receive one. Unlike other types of photography where we are trying to imply something or tell a story, abstract is about creating imagery with feelings and emotions that will allow people to see what they want in the image. To be persuaded by color, shapes and lines that will bring an emotional response and one that may be different for everyone.

"The essence of water - a color study"

The fluidity, softness, and ability to reflect colors . . . the essence of water. All three of these are from the same fountain only photographed in a different section as the water came out of the opening. Left and right images were straight on and the middle one was looking slightly above as it streamed down. 

"Abstract - Motion Blur"

I've been making these kinds of images for some time now, and recently started adding the element of people and am thoroughly enjoying it. (You can view another version of this image with a pink tint and the addition of abstract butterflies here called "Walking with Butterflies" on my post Chaos and the Butterfly Effect.)

"Essence of a Daisy"

Abstract photography fascinates me. You can transform ordinary into extraordinary by a subjects very shapes, lines, textures, form and colors through composition. Subjective expression intended to encompass and engage through parts of a subjects reality without always being realistic. As I've been reading more and more about contemplative photography as a form of meditation, the more I see abstract as an intentional form of that for me. There is an openness and a kind of ambiguity in the process that really speaks to me in a world that wants to be closed minded and very specific in its rules.

I also understand that abstract isn't for everyone as it's concept isn't exactly set in concrete. In fact, I'm sure that you would be hard pressed to find any definition about abstract photography that doesn't differ from another. But its my hope that you would keep an open mind, never saying "never," for it's in that state of open that we find wonder and awe for that contemplative space we all seek. 

" . . . life consists of questions and I want to get people to ask themselves questions . . .  What one sees in a photograph is not as interesting as the questions the photographer poses through it."
- Bourbacar Roure Mandemory

Enjoy your day,

Kim