Looser crop with more negative space, also evened out the tones a bit -
Another of winter’s little enigmas. Not sure this qualifies as an abstract though. Just thought I’d get some input from you guys.
Ideas, interpretations, reactions…
Tripod
Lr for a crop, the B&W conversion and the usual brightening that snow pictures so often need. Texture, clarity and some distraction removal in the snow.
Works as an abstract for me!
It almost looks like bear claws!
Awesome image Kristen! Love the minimalism, negative space, and the illusion of something more than meets the eye. Yes this definitely fits the abstract category for me. Well seen and photographed.
I quite like this, Kris. It’s a very original and interesting shot.
I quite like this. I’m guessing it’s a mostly buried fir tree branch? At first I thought it was porcupine, but that was just a result of the title, I think. It might be interesting to play with different framing (a little off the top and left maybe?) to accentuate the negative space? I like that the needles are barely green. That adds to the mystery.
ML
Thanks @Matt_Payne, @Alfredo_Mora, @Tom_Nevesely & @Marylynne_Diggs - good to have some opinions on its abstractness. I played with different crops and may go back to one with more negative space since it’s something I like and try to use when I think it works. Funny that your brain filled in green here, Marylynne - it is a totally monochrome image, but it is a tiny conifer sprig so quite green in actuality. Converting to B&W helped with the abstract nature of the needles showing through the snow while leaving it in color helped identify it more. I was torn though!
@Kris_Smith I had the exact same response! When I read that you had converted it to B&W, I had to go back and look again and…in fact you had! A lovely minimalist image. I was seeing similar yesterday in new, light snow but they were mostly Club mosses. Thank you.
The word “pristine” springs to mind here. I too would be interested to see what more negative space would do to this. I might remove a couple of the darker dots towards the borders just to make it more pristine (if that’s possible). Lovely shot, Kris.
Our subconscious minds are so good at that kind of thing - we think something should look a certain way, and sometimes we force the issue. Looking forward to your club moss photos if you took any. I love club mosses and really stink at photographing them. I keep trying though.
@Mike_Friel - thanks for popping in. I have put a looser cropped version up and got a few more dark areas out of the snowfield.
