Waves in the Trees

Eucalyptus Grove Abstract

Another abstract image from a few nights ago at Lake Miramar. The goal of the night was to come away with an image that could be used in the Stripes photo challenge I mentioned in my last post, but the very nature of this type of shooting is unpredictable.

I shot a few hundred frames that evening, doing my absolute best to only move the camera straight up and down while the shutter was open. However, as evidenced by this image, I wasn't always successful staying in a straight line. Many of those images were deleted right away when I saw them on my computer screen, but the gentle side-to-side motion in this one created a nice rhythmic feeling for me, almost like there were waves in the trees.

Natural Stripes

Natural Stripes

When I've got the time (or a unique idea) I try to participate in DGrin.com's photography challenges and when the newest one, "Stripes," was announced I saw it as a perfect opportunity to expand on my Of an Abstract Nature gallery.

Once the idea struck me to create this type of abstract image, the challenge was to find a dense enough grove of trees to make it happen. That might not be a big challenge for many parts of the country, but here in San Diego, there just aren't a whole lot of groves of trees to choose from. Earlier in the week, I just happened to spot a number of eucalyptus trees along the side of the road on my way to the bank and knew they were the perfect subject for this shot. Their tall, slender trucks are generally uninterrupted by branches, allowing for better streaking, or in this case, more distinct stripes.

I returned a couple nights ago after work but just couldn't get the lighting or composition I wanted with the trees I had originally planned on. Luckily, Miramar Lake was less than a minute away. This reservoir had been on my "to visit" list for a while so even if the light wasn't great, I stopped by, planning to scout out the location for future shoots.

Just a couple hundred feet from the parking lot (good short distance because I'm out of shape and it was the hottest day of the year so far!) I found a tightly packed grove of eucalyptus trees squeezed in between the path and the edge of the lake. From the angle I was at, the late afternoon sun lit up only the left side of the trucks leaving the right side in shadow and further emphasizing the stripes created by the slow shutter speed and moving the camera vertically throughout the exposure.

Of An Abstract Nature

Abstract Trees and Grass

This image is the first of a new series, titled Of An Abstract Nature. The series is an avenue for exploring different photographic techniques and at the moment I've been experimenting with longer shutter speeds and deliberate camera movement.

Most photographers (especially landscape photographers) strive for super sharp, crisp images where any blur from camera shake ruins the image. Even the smallest amount of shake will be noticeable in a print and detract from the overall scene. This image, and the series thus far, explores what happens if the whole scene is a blur. With vaguely recognizable forms and purposeful movement, the image becomes more of an impressionistic, painterly view of the natural world. The colors of the scene are emphasized over the details of the scene.


Part of the fun of this type of shot is the mystery. When taking a standard landscape image with the camera set atop a sturdy tripod, what you see through the viewfinder is what you get (hopefully). With these shots, I could only imagine at how it might end up. I found it best to take multiple shots of similar scenes with varied shutter speeds and camera movements.