Weekly Abstract and Experimental Thread #6 (4-29-2025)

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.

This was taken with an adapted Leitz 90mm F2.5 Colorplan slide projecter lens from the 1950's. The adapter was cobbled together using a Pentax 645 to Pentax 6X7 adapter with cardboard wrapped around the lens for a relatively tight fit. The thickness of the Pentax 645Z DSLR body won't allow anywhere near infinity focus with this combo. There is no focusing helicoid so I moved the camera to achieve focus.
Thanks for looking,
barondla

fairy forest at home

Yesterday I was sitting outside on our balcony and I was struck by how pretty the afternoon light looked, shining through our climbing rose bushes and the textured glass.

You've really managed to capture what wind feels like! I especially like how the almost circular blurryness in the background really gives you this incredible sense of motion! My favourite leaf is the bottom. That large halo is very pretty. Well spotted!

My only slight complaints are that I wish the colours were a bit more saturated. I'm assuming this is a fairly accurate representation of what the colours looked like irl, but it feels like the colour values are pretty similar across the image, making it feel a bit muddied. And that I think a narrower crop would help with a slightly more balanced composition.

I made a quick n' dirty edit on my phone. Cropping it a bit and upping the saturation of the pinks and greens in the image. Obviously the pinks are exagerated a bit from reality, but I think there's a lot of fun in messing with more unrealistic colours and abstracting your images away from reality. Especially since we're in the abstract thread! :D

The effect of out of focus is very interesting and attractive, but it's surprising that even in the center the image is not blur free.

The textured glass works well. Adds complexity and strips away some reality. Reducing reality is often a good plan. Photographs often capture too much detail. Also like the lighting.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

Thank you for the kind words. The sense of movement was part of what I was trying to capture. I like your color adjustments. Not as sure about the crop. It balances the composition, but might reduce the wind feel. The crop might make the composition too perfect. Will have to study it more.
Thanks,
barondla

Thank you. Reading about the metal barrel Leitz 90mm Colorplan people talk about how sharp it is. It is adored by many adapted lens users. I happened to already own this lens, it came on my Leitz Pradovit slide projector. It looks sharp when projecting slides. Guess my "horrible" corrugated cardboard mounting is causing much of this. The cardboard allows the lens to droop after a while. So it isn't staying centered or perpendicular to the sensor. This probably causes the blur- even in the center.

Besides the lack of sharpness, it is surprising that the blur is much worse on one side of the leaf. The other surprise is the swirly bokeh. There are lens designs that do this, but wouldn't expect them to be used for slide projection. Projected slides don't look swirly. This is why we experiment.
Thanks,
barondla

good valentines day card 🤨

Self Portrait

Not sure whether abstract or experimental, but I made a photo of my reflection in the shiny stovepipe of my wood stove.

Shallows.

What lovely eyes and lashes❤️. Your close-up techniques are spectacular. The image fade out at the edges focuses attention on the subject. Superb sharpness and detail.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

I think it is both abstract and Experimental. They aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. A very creative portrait.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

Repetitive patterns make a strong image. The subtle colors add another dimension without taking over. Nice results.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

all my lady friends keep telling me how cute the spiders images are 🤔🤨

techniques that i have developed have just gone up 20 knotches after a hypnotic sleep eposode the other night , i have been back in the workshop building some new equipment thats on another planet 😎

Looking forward to seeing your images with the new equipment.
Thanks,
barondla

its not that the images will be any better its just that you can capture so many more keepers, so a better chance of getting "that" special image. where it took hours to take an image it now takes only minutes.

Reducing the time required to make images will be very beneficial. It should allow you to try things that wouldn't have been attempted before. Less time spent on the process often means more time to be creative and explore.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

Small things on deep perspective.

For cross-viewing.

So cool and kind of weird. The fly and flower pop into 3D when I get everything just right. This image is easier for me than many. 3DGunner, you might want to explain to 3D beginners how to best view images like these.

3DGunner do you use one camera and a stereo attachment or some other method to take these 3D images? Seems like macro 3D would be very difficult to pull off. This image is excellent.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

The best way to view 3D images is to use dedicated devices, along with specialized software.😀
Otherwise: Stereo Viewing

Depending on the situation, I use all the specific methods to obtain stereoscopic images, from the cha-cha method with a single camera, to two cameras positioned in parallel, two cameras with a beam-splitter, or a camera with a two-lens system.
.............................
These were taken with a camera and a dual-lens system.

Another excellent 3D image. The details are amazing. I find both of these easier to view in 3D than the church interior photo on the link you posted above. I seem to do better with images that have simpler subjects or backgrounds that are a different color.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

Thank you for your appreciation and comments!

The image of the church interior has a lot of depth and the eye tends to alternate between the decorations in the foreground on the right and the rest of the content which is at great depth in the background. Significant variations in eye convergence can be tiring/stressful.