Phoneography and Non-SLR Digital Devices Photo Challenge: Challenger’s Choice (Abstraction in Nature)

27 October 2014

Lens:

1. Afternoon Refraction on Wall; Copyright © 2014 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally

2. Afternoon Refraction on Wall; Copyright © 2014 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally

3. Textured Bark; Copyright © 2014 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally

4. Textured Bark; Copyright © 2014 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally

Let me know which you prefer and why.

Pens:

Magical, mystical and mysterious are a few descriptors that explain my passion for Mother Nature. I’ve often wondered why earlier philosophers and big thinkers separated human nature from the natural world. In truth the human animal is part of the greater universe; we are nature.

Still, I find myself using the duo; I suppose it gives clarity and reason to unclear subjects. Even in the twenty-first century science wrestles with how the brain REALLY works, and we have unresolved questions that linger and continue about Mother Nature.

Nature has always amused and bemused humans. The intricacies of her omnipresence and power remain some of my most comforting thoughts.

That humans mimic nature regularly is no surprise. To stroll through a forest or gaze upon morning dew or watch northwesterly winds change mood is to feel part of nature’s brilliance. She shores my days and provides enormous hope.

But I do not need to travel to an exotic paradise or mountainous terrain to find natural designs and visual appeal. While there is vast variety in nature’s progeny, her eloquent abstractions often astound and cultivate my attention.

The other day my grandson and I were on a photo shoot at the UD Botanical Gardens. We often venture there. But I’ve never noticed the contrast and tonal qualities of one of the trees near the entrance. How many times have I passed it? Maybe it was the sun’s glorious beams moving through that spot, because the scene echoed black and white, black and white.

In the Lens section are two examples of natural abstractions. The first two photographs are variations on a single reflection that cast itself on a wall. The afternoon sun was at its peak in the sky, and for what seemed like hours that irregular-shaped reflection (the size of two fists on top of each other) spread joy inside. The third and fourth photographs show a small section of that tree from the Botanical Gardens with its textural bark and shades of black to silver.

In each case the first is the original. The second is a play on their designs.

The non-representational toy with our sensibilities and give rise to individual interpretation. Its prevalence in Mother Nature shows her imaginative and whimsical hand, which is constantly available for our visual contemplation.

Tip of the Week: Fabian Oefner is a Swiss photographer with a mission. Oefner combines his passion for art and science to create abstractions that mesmerize. He honors nature through his experiments with ferrofluid (liquid iron) that he injects onto a magnetic field. Or he develops various projects that involve a marriage of nature and his skills and talents. The result captivates and stuns. View his Website here to watch his short video and his fabulous imagination at work. He also collaborates with corporations to produce advertisements and videos. The photograph below is an example of his work. The tiny thumbnail designs are a result of his use of black ferrofluid. Read more about it here.

Millefiori, Fabian Oefner, 2012

View other entries for this week’s challenge:

http://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-photo-challenge-challengers-choice-french-donkeys/

http://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/phoneography-the-mysterious-web-of-life/

http://completelydisappear.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/seafood/

http://streetsofsfphotos.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/halloween-lions-3-photos/

http://patchworkponderings.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/phoneography-challengers-choice-nature/

http://angelinem.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/phoneography-challengethe-art-of-a-sculpture/

http://irisgreenwald.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-challengers-choice/

http://pawcificpurrsea.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=1174/

http://decocraftsdigicrafts.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/phoneography-challenge-hastings-at-dusk/

http://angleandviews.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/nostalgic-look-down/

http://amaltaas.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-challengers-choice/

http://forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/phoneography-travel/

http://nwframeofmind.com/2014/10/27/iphoneography-monday-10-27-14/

http://austindetails.me/2014/10/28/texas-panoramas/

http://livingwithmyancestors.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-challengers-choice-abstraction/

http://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-3/

http://chasinglifeandfindingdreams.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/a-navy-pier-sunset-a-must-see/

Note:

If you’d like to join the Photo Challenge, please click here for details. If you have any questions, please contact me. Below is a reminder of the monthly schedule with themes for upcoming Photo Challenges:

1st Monday: Nature.

2nd Monday: Macro.

3rd Monday: Black and White.

4th Monday Challenger’s Choice (Pick One: Abstraction, Animals, Architecture, Food Photography, Night Photography, Objects, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel).

5th Monday: Editing and Processing with Various Apps Using Themes from the Fourth Week.