Starting Abstract Landscape Photography

In my previous post, I was talking about how I started playing with my camera back in the aughts, with flower bouquets in my basement. My initial attempts left a lot to be desired, but I got better as I practiced more. It was intriguing, as I could never fully predict what I was going to get—each one was a little surprise.

Spring Haze is the only image from this time that hasn’t been retired from my portfolio. Probably because of the structure of this one, I still adore it and I still offer it up in my collection. You’ll notice it’s also one of the few with a two-word name—she got her name early before I had settled on a one-word naming pattern for my images.

Anyhow, though I was having fun doing this, let’s face it: being outside is better. So, I started to experiment with how to create the right look and feel with this intentional camera movement technique, outdoors. It’s a tricky one to make work (and back in 2007 when I was doing this, I knew of no other people doing this at all. I was just making it all up as I went along).

In the fall of 2007 and winter of 2008, I started playing with this outdoors. And it started to come together.

On one very cold but very lucky day in February 2008, I was on a hike at Walden Pond. And I created more than one image that just… worked. Dancing Branches (now retired) was one creation from that day; I still adore the book spine look I got from these trees. I had figured out how to get the right amount and type of movement, and could do so with different subjects.

The image that really nailed it for me was Enlightenment. I knew when I saw it on the screen of camera… it was really the first outdoor image I created in this style that had me thinking, “ok, this is totally gonna work. This is my thing now.” It lived on my business cards for years, and still has a soft spot in my heart.