Here is another abstract from our 2012 trip to California. It is amazing how you walk right past, or step over some of the most interesting forms, textures, or shapes and never notice them. At least maybe consciously you do not notice their significance. You have to slow down, put your mind into slow motion, and take the time to look. Edward Weston said something to the effect that you should be able to look at your feet and find something to photograph.
This was our fourth day in Lone Pine and we had made several trips, at different times of the day, into the Alabama Hills to photograph. This day there were high clouds and there was a storm heading our way. It was one of those days where you had intermittent full sun. At times the high clouds acted as a giant soft box and made some things glow. This dead scrub brush was very near where we had parked and I had walked past it several times. Finally I could not resist any more. The light was just right and I had to set up the 8×10 camera and make a negative.
I can’t say a lot about a subject that is this abstract. You really can’t tell from the finished print direction, size, or exactly what you are looking upon. For me, that is a good definition for the term abstract. Take a look at the accompanying snapshots, which should help orient your view and maybe give a clue as to what was so intriguing about this little clump of dead brush. As I said, I really can’t say much more about this image, except I really like the finished photograph.
This was one of those days when we just couldn’t find anything that really moved us to get out a camera. Another day in Zion National Park and we had just finished an unsuccessful hunt for something of interest. We had a secluded canyon selected for the day, but it just didn’t do much for either of us. Never give up though, there are those times you find things when you really do not expect to see much of anything of interest.
We decided to head to the lodge for a break and to regroup. Just before the lodge entrance there is a large pullout and we decided to look around. I walked about 500 yards to the trail that winds along the river and suddenly I found this very large cottonwood tree that was dead and fallen. The broken stump was beyond beautiful. This is one of these things that is just not suitable for words. . . but there it was right in front of me. All I had to do was make the photograph.
The temperature in the park had been running from the low 30’s in the morning to the lower 40’s in the afternoon, and I was geared up to work in the shaded valley where we were exploring earlier. I was not really prepared for working in full sun. The tree was a pretty good hike but it was on level ground, so I rushed back to the van to get my camera, not thinking about the layers of clothes I was wearing. I have to admit that I was quickly becoming overheated, but I knew I had to get this one on a sheet of 8×10 film. This was a really quickly seen subject of interest, grab the photograph, then move on type of image.
I knew I had something if I had not made a mistake in my heated (literally Heated) stupor to expose the negative. When I saw the proof some four months later there was no doubt and it was quickly immortalized on a sheet of vintage #2 Kodak Azo. This is the extremely abstract type of photograph that I am always drawn into. You don’t know exactly what you are looking at. . . what the size relation is. . . nor even if you are on Earth. Those are the things I look for in what I would call an ‘extreme’ abstraction. I love this stuff and thrive on it.
Susan did not find anything that interested her so she shot this video of me and the stump. . . enjoy!
