Weekly Abstract and Experimental Thread #11 (6-3-2025)

The weekly Abstract and Experimental thread
This weekly thread, starting on a Tuesday, allows us to showcase our abstract and experimental photos and get some feedback.
Opening up discussions, not only on content, style, composition & techniques, but also on the creativity of the image.

It’s easy to participate
Post an image with a title and description. To make it easier to view in the forum, all comments should include the original title and at least one of the original images as a quote.

Thread Guidelines:
This weekly thread is for sharing and developing abstract and experimental photography skills.
We want to see wild, creative photography.
Give your entry a clear title and mention the technique used.
Provide constructive feedback on others’ images.
Try to go beyond simple praise or dismissal and explain why you like it, or what caught your eye.
”Likes” are encouraged too.
Negative feedback and suggestions are also OK (be polite, honest, and constructive).
Giving feedback is just as important as receiving feedback, both help to improve our artistic and technical skills.

What is an abstract or experimental photo?
Different ways to see and investigate the world around us. Abstract photography reduces a subject to shapes, tones or colors making it unrecognizable. Abstract subjects are everywhere.

Experimentation might include, Infrared, dragged shutter, zone plate, motion, 3D, fluorescence, multiple exposure, birefringence, ultra violet, optical including adapted lenses, tri color, fractals, manipulated Polaroids, pinhole, Kirlian (bioelectrography) and many other methods. Experimentation can be for artistic expression or pure science. It is often more difficult than standard types of photography. This is fine, we aren't expecting perfection. Every experiment enhances knowledge. Your idea can help others explore the universe around them. We love experimentation. You can explain your process or keep it a secret.

This will be a looser collection of photos compared to other weekly threads. This is good. It will be a place to get away from standard animals, babies & sunset photos. We don't hate animals, babies or sunsets. Show us your creative abstract and experimental images.

Intentional camera movement at sunset.
Thanks for looking and participating,
barondla

Strange light over the planet

Digging deep into my archives, found these two experimental results.

...
We have am illuminated globe in our living room.
Attached a small LED light on an, almost invisible, thin fishing line and suspended it from the ceiling over the globe.
Then set it, like a pendulum, moving in small circles above the globe and took some long exposure photos from different positions.
The ambient light was very dim to get the black background.
So it all kept me busy for an hour or so, and the results are sort of "OK for a start" 😇

Excellent experiment. The lighted globe is a great touch. It adds reality to the "Tron like" images. Would like to see phase 2 add longer exposure, for more light tracks. Your exposures are spot on.

I tried the penlight as pendulum years ago with film. Wasted a lot of film and never got anything I liked. Went for ~4ft area and let it swing until it stopped. Masked the penlight for a sharper light. Unfortunately, Kodachrome 64 film was too slow and a poor choiçe. Images were very dark and murky. Your images are tempting me to try with digital.
Thanks for sharing and participating,
barondla

Flagstaff from Prescott, AZ

Sunset and the San Francisco Peaks at Flagstaff, from Prescott, AZ. Mingus Mountain in the Black Hills at 20 mi. silhouetted in the mid-ground.

Prescott is at 5000 ft elevation, the peaks are 11,000 ft. and the distance is 100 mi.

Rich

Shapes!

In Krakow I stumbled upon an alleyway that had these colourful acryllic glass shapes hung from the ceiling in rainbow colours. I ended up having a lot of fun, messing around with a bunch of the filters on my camera to figure out how it would change the images.

Intentional camera movement at sunset.
Thanks for looking and participating,
barondla

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Big fan of the colours here. I'd honestly hang that up as a postcard somewhere. I love the juxtaposition of the harsh lines and the soft soft soft colours of the background. The street looks like its haunted by ghosts of telephone poles, both lending the image an otherworldly quality, while the bright doubled lines fading into the distance create a sense of scale and distance. A little bit obessed with this.

A little set of experiments, none quite successful. When I go through tunnels I play with camera settings and see what I might end up with. I've had good luck and bad, and this bunch from the famous tunnel through a mountain in Zion NP was nothing special but thought I'd share them anyway. The longer shutter speed you try, the more abstract the images get but any shutter speed is likely to capture something weird.

Nice set, Minnie!

Zion National Park, USA?

Fantastic colors and layers. The minimalist composition is perfect. You should print this very large and hang it on a wall.
Thanks for sharing and participating,
barondla

Thanks!

I lived in Prescott 2005-2007. The image is from 2005. The print has been on my wall since.

The saturation is a little boosted in this shoot, but, yes colors like this do happen in the Desert Southwest.

Rich

I consider all of these images successful. Playing with the camera and subject is what this thread is all about. You captured many different looks and moods by varying the shutter speed. They are all valid images. B&W compliments the subject. This series proves one never knows if they don't take the photo.
Thanks for sharing and participating,
barondla

Fine abstracts. Everything from dark and moody to light and airy. This location could supply endless photographic opportunities. Can tell from the images that you were having fun. Terrific photos. Do you live close to this place?
Love using filters. They often seem forgotten these days. My UV and IR photography can't be done without filtration. Filters are often like a child playing with building blocks - just pure magic.
Thanks for sharing and participating,
barondla

Beneath the mountain

Following this week's trend, here are some shot in the Frejus tunnel that cuts under the main watershed of the western Alps. This is always a fun thing to try, as minniev says, you never know what will turm up.

Intensified Colors

Antelope Canyon is a natural gem (Arizona) and was formed by the erosion of Navajo sandstone due to rainwater that caused flash floods. Over time, a canyon with spectacular erosion forms as "flowing" shape, has deepened, with a specific warm color in the areas where the light from the surface reaches.

First image is pure chaos while the other is structured chaos. Second one has cool "electrified guardrails". Superb images and quite experimental. Amazing these look so different than the images by minniev. Similar subject and technique with very different looks. Fascinating.
Thanks for sharing and participating,
barondla

Spectacular subject and colors. It is otherworldly and a fine image. I've heard these canyons are extremely dangerous if it rains while being explored. Be safe.
Thanks for sharing and participating,
barondla

Thank you for your kind words! I don't live closeby sadly. My friend and I randomly found it while walking through Krakow in Poland. He's a local and he hadn't known about it either. But I agree! Endless foto possibilities. I also took an approximate endless amount. Also highly agree! Filters are very fun! I've gotten used to using them on my phone and was overjoyed when I realized my dad's Olympus also had a bunch to mess around with. I think I photographed these colourful shapes with all of them.

That's nice I thought. Then I noticed your comments about altitudes and distance; Wow! That's a looong way!

It is!

Thanks for looking and commenting.

If a mountain is high enough it can be seen from great distances.

I live at sea level now in Oceanside, CA. I can see the peaks of Mount San Antonio, 10,000 ft, in the San Gabriel range to the north and Mount San Gorgonio, 11,500 ft, in the San Bernardino range to the North East, both at about 75 miles from me.

If the 7000 ft Black Hills hadn't been in the way, I probably could have seen almost to the base of the mountains at Flagstaff (12,600 ft, not 11,000 ft as I had originally posted) from Prescott's 5000 ft elevation.

Rich

Wonderful! I'm (slightly) envious - I love mountains. We have just moved to Cumbria, and from our house at 50m altitude I can see the summit of England's highest peak, Scafell Pike, 977m (3209ft). It's about 34km away/21miles. Nothing compared with California of course, but not bad for England! When I say 'see'... it rains a lot here 😁