Playing with Abstract Photography

I was reading about abstract photography, and it said "Abstract photgraphy leaves more to the imagination and helps us concentrate on texture and color rather than the entire subject." Even in high school, I never was interested in participating in lessons on abstract photography, but I love to see it! Especialy lines, texture and contrast. If you know me personally, I am always looking to do better with my work. I am never satisfied with what I have done, I always notice something that could be made better. With abstract photos, anything goes! There is no right or wrong. I had a good time going out today, spending time looking at different things in a different way. I hope you enjoy, and feel free to comment!

 An imprint left behind from when the concrete was poured.

 Where the water meets the wall of the Quail Lake Dam. Lots of trash and twigs in the water, but it kind of added to the texture.

 This is a still shot of a splash of water. Not a perfectly clear photo, but I think the composition turned out great.

 The door to an old rock house.

A slow exposure (1/20 second) to a mossy creek. I did use a filter on this shot to take out some of the sun's reflection and bring out more of the green moss.

Close-up Toys

Well I was bored today so I decided to head out to the mountains in my Land Rover Discov...
Just kiddin. The real story. I had very little juice left in my camera battery so I figured I would play around until it was dead (so I could throw it on the charger). I decided to do a close-up photograph with my little Hotwheels Land Rover with some scenery in the background. I have seen this done before, but never tried myself. I pulled a nice picture out of my Backpacker magazine, got my car and some other toys to spice it up. Here is what I got.

This is everything thrown together briefly. This is f5.6, 5 second exposure, and ISO 100. The lighting was terrible and the pic did not have much contrast. I turned off the ceiling light and turned on the LED flashlight to give it more of a white light. I also turned the car to give a little more depth of field.

This made the photo look alot better! The contrast and colors really began to stand out. If you notice though, the shadows still are not right. If you look at the background, the sun in the mountain is coming from the right. So... I made my light come from the right as well, as if it were almost sunset. I also moved the dinosaurs, and added a rock in the background to add to the depth of field and make you feel like you were really in the mountains. All of this made the picture look more real.

Last picture, and there is the result before my battery died. All the camera settings stayed the same. Only the lighting, and the position of the items changed. One thing I would change if I were to retake this picture is add a little ground in from of the car, and to bring the "sun" up just a little...but for now, I am happy with this photo.