Abstract Nature

This week, I came across an article on Outdoor Photographer by Justin Black that relates to some of my previous posts, particularly last week's post in which I discussed the battle between objectivity and art that has come to characterize photography in the digital age.  In his article, Black discusses abstract landscape/nature photography and how this particular category of photography allows us to see nature in a completely new and unobjective way.

Whereas Stephen Mayes, in his article "The Next Revolution in Photography is Coming," points to the loss of objectivity with the arrival of digital photography as perhaps a detriment to photography and our understanding of visual reality, Black stresses the importance of photography as an art form, as a way of expressing the world in a very subjective manner completely unlike our normal visual experience.  For Black, normal landscape photography, with all of its formulas and rules, is largely lacking in any creativity.  After all, how many shots of the Grand Canyon or of a picturesque mountain with a lake in the foreground or of an ocean shoreline at sunset have we all seen?

Abstract nature photography, on the other hand, requires the photographer to see something in a way that it is not usually seen.  It seeks to strip away characteristics of the subject or scene that are explicitly descriptive and that require no imagination to understand them.  In abstract nature photography, the goal is to completely decontextualize the subject so that a viewer is forced to interpret the subject for themselves.

Black gives some techniques for creating abstract shots.  One particularly common and effective one is to increase exposure times to create a blurring effect.  Another is to take several shots of the subject from different  angles and merge these shots into one final composition.  Black also points out that we often use color in order to identify objects so even when a subject may be completely decontextualized and there is nothing in the photograph to offer explicit clues as to the identity or meaning of the subject, color often allows us to distinguish the subject's identity.  Black suggests that sometimes making such shots black-and-white can help create an abstract shot.

In the end, though I think there is a definite beauty in and place for typical landscape photography, abstract nature photography presents unique artistic possibilities for a photographer.  The most appealing thing about abstract nature work is that you are never short on subjects to photograph.  Finding the perfect landscape and waiting for the perfect moment of light are challenges that do not have to be dealt with.  You don't have to look very far to find a subject, as just about everything you find in nature has the potential to make a compelling piece of art.

Link to Justin Black's article: https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/tips-techniques/nature-landscapes/abstract-landscape-photography/

Share 2 and Critique (1)

In this picture, the sunflower backlit by the sun is more attractive than the darker rest of the picture.  The sharpness and large size of the sunflower also draw attention to the subject.

This picture's main draw is the light of the sun versus the darker landscape.  The reddish-orange to pink color of the sun and sky also draws viewers' attention and makes it the subject of the photograph.  The large size of the sun also makes it stand out from the less significant landscape.

The Reality of Digital Photography

Looking for something to blog about this week, I came across an article in Time magazine by Stephen Mayes that takes a critical, somewhat philosophical look at the future of photography.  With the arrival of digital technology, Mayes argues that much of what photography was and what its intent was is no longer true. 

The original character of photography as an objective record-keeper of the visual world has been replaced with the coming of digital photography and post-exposure editing capabilities like Photoshop.  The capabilities for manipulation of images both in-camera and on a computer that were not possible before the digital era tempt photographers and ultimately diminish the objectivity of photography.  Beyond this, however, Mayes points out that the digital camera itself inherently reduces the objective reality achieved by traditional photography, severing “the optical connection with reality, that physical relationship between the object photographed and the image that differentiated lens-made imagery and defined our understanding of photography for 160 years.”   Mayes explains that only one-third of the photons in an environment are recorded, meaning that two-thirds of an image is interpolated by the camera.  This, in effect, presents reality in a way that we have never really observed.

While I don’t disagree with Mayes on much of what he says, I think his article brings up an important distinction in photography.  As photographers, we must ask ourselves: Are we presenting our photography as a display of art or as a display of reality?  No matter what, the photographs can never be fully objective.  The very act of creating an image means that some amount of objectivity is lost, that some sort of interpretation of a scene has occurred and must occur again when viewing that image.  Yet, this was the case even before digital photography came on the scene.  Every photograph, no matter the manner in which it was obtained, gives a somewhat unreal, subjective view of reality.

Link to Stephen Mayes' "The Next Revolution in Photography is Coming:" http://time.com/4003527/future-of-photography/

Wildlife Panoramas

Though typically done with landscape photography, panoramas can also be used to capture wildlife scenes.  As photographer George Lepp explains, creating wildlife panoramas can be challenging but also very rewarding. 

There are some challenges to taking wildlife panoramas, the biggest one being the fact that the subjects are moving ones as is not usually the case when making landscape panoramas.   However, Lepp also points out many of the advantages of wildlife panoramas if properly done.  With the presence of a large herd or flock of animals, it is often difficult to have all animals properly positioned and unmoving to create a complete, fluent, artistic-looking photograph.  When doing a panorama, a photographer can take several images of smaller portions of the scene and wait for the subjects in a particular shot to position themselves correctly instead of relying on luck for the whole flock or herd to cooperate together.  Additionally, a panoramic view of wildlife allows the entire scene to be properly captured and framed.

Panoramic wildlife shots are also good for either when you are too close or too far away from a subject/subjects to properly frame the shot.  When piecing the photos together, Lepp says that it can sometimes be difficult to piece them together properly with moving subjects.  He suggests that when taking the shots that will be merged into one panorama, you should try to divide up the shots so that animals are not cut in half on the edges of the shot.  If this does not work, he also suggests taking a panorama shot of the same scene after the wildlife have moved.  This way, the background can be properly filled in in the composite.  Lepp adds that sometimes it is okay to remove certain subjects from the scene if the separate shots cannot be properly merged with them present.  However, he does add that while sometimes it is necessary to remove certain subjects from the scene, it is probably never a good idea to add subjects where they weren’t originally.  In the end, though, it is up to every photographer to make their own choice.

Though somewhat challenging, I hope to be able to try my hand at producing my own wildlife panorama as it gives a whole different perspective to wildlife photography.

                                                                       Wide-angle shot

                                                                               VS.

                                                                             Panorama

Link to Outdoor Photographer article: https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/tips-techniques/wildlife-techniques/wildlife-panoramas/

Photographing Wildfires

With wildfires raging all around us in Montana and beyond, I thought that the work of Stuart Palley could not be more relevant.  National Geographic's Shaena Montanari gives us a look into the complexities and challenges associated with photographing these destructive and dangerous yet awesome natural disasters.

The biggest issue in wildfire photography and the main reason why it is so rare to see professional images of wildfires is safety.  Only certain members of the media with proper credentials are allowed into fire zones in the first place.  Even when allowed into these zones, members of the media usually cannot get near the same look as the firefighters themselves.  Photographer Stuart Palley, however, is also a trained wildland firefighter and therefore is able to gain access to parts of the firefight where very few others can.

Besides the safety challenges involved in Palley's work, he also has to deal with the challenges of using equipment not meant for high temperatures in extremely hot surroundings.  Because of such hot conditions, Palley is always faced with having to replace much of his camera gear.  As the article mentions, he often has to deal with melting lenses and other camera equipment failure.

Despite these challenges, Palley is able to make impressive shots that give a whole new look and perspective to wildfires and to firefighting.  His photographs capture not only the devastation caused by these fires but also the enormous power and awesomeness of them.  Palley is able to find and capture the beauty and power in something that only leaves destruction and ugliness in its path.  Even at its worst, nature still impresses.

Link to article: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/09/california-wildfires-drought/