{"id":38866,"date":"2017-02-15T00:07:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T08:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?page_id=38866"},"modified":"2017-02-17T21:25:34","modified_gmt":"2017-02-18T05:25:34","slug":"abstract-photography","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/abstract-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Shoot Abstract Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"eric<\/p>\n

I’ve been inspired to shoot more abstract photos lately; perhaps this is a paradigm-shift for me:<\/p>\n

Photograph how it feels, not how it looks<\/h2>\n

First of all, I am new to shooting abstract photography, and for the most part– I have no idea what I’m doing.<\/p>\n

But the biggest thing is that I’m no longer interested in depicting reality as it is. Rather, I am more interested in showing my own interpretation<\/em> of reality. I am photographing what things feel<\/em>, rather than how they look like.<\/p>\n

1. Minimalism<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I am drawn to minimalism. I have been inspired by haiku poetry, Apple products, less is more, Bauhaus aesthetics, and Dieter Rams.<\/p>\n

I am trying to cut away the superfluous from my photos, rather than adding things.<\/p>\n

I’m trying to achieve the ultimate simplicity in my photos, with the maximum emotional impact.<\/p>\n

So when I’m shooting these minimalist photos, I try to look at the edges of my frame, and try to get more black in the photos.<\/p>\n

The way I do this is that I shoot high-contrast preview on my Ricoh GR II<\/a>, at ISO 1600, center-point autofocus, P mode, and in RAW. When I import my photos into Lightroom, I apply my free presets<\/a> which gives me a high-contrast black and white look.<\/p>\n

With these settings, I can look at the world in a more abstract way. I’m actually becoming more of a fan of shooting on an LCD screen, because you see reality differently with a monochromatic preview.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the benefit of shooting with an LCD screen is that ‘what you see is what you get.’ I can frame more accurately, by looking at the edges of my frame. When I’m shooting on an optical viewfinder on a rangefinder or Leica, the edges of the frame aren’t very accurate. So in this sense, shooting with an LCD is preferable.<\/p>\n

2. Unusually-low perspectives<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another practical tip on how to shoot more abstract photos: embrace a lower perspective. I’ve been having fun with my point and shoot camera, because I can put the camera on the ground, and get unusually low perspectives.<\/p>\n

We don’t see the world from an ant’s perspective. So it is more abstract and unusual.<\/p>\n

You can also try the opposite– shoot from a very high perspective, looking down.<\/p>\n

Just try to avoid shooting at ‘normal eye-level.’ This will help you shift your view, and create more abstract images.<\/p>\n

3. Shooting wide-angle lenses<\/h2>\n

\"bac<\/p>\n

I heard that we see the world from a 40mm perspective. Whether that is true or not, we certainly don’t see the world in a wide-angle lens (35mm, 28mm, or wider).<\/p>\n

I’ve been shooting all my photos on 28mm lately<\/a>, and been having fun shifting the way my photos look. With a wide-angle lens, especially when you get very close, or shoot from a low angle, your photos become warped. The edges become distorted.<\/p>\n

A lot of photographers dislike this, but I love it. Because it makes the world look more novel and unusual.<\/p>\n

So it is easier to shoot abstract photos with a non-50mm lens. Try to use a wide-angle lens (28mm) or even use a really long telephoto lens (200mm+) to shift your perspective. But because most of us usually shoot with telephoto lenses, I recommend to go wider.<\/p>\n

4. Post-process your mood<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Post-processing is a good way for you to convey the mood<\/a> you want to convey in your photos. For me, I am trying to go for a more melancholy, surreal look — which I feel high contrast black and white works well.<\/p>\n

In earlier projects, like my street portraits<\/a>, I went for color and flash — because it conveyed the cheerful, joyful mood I felt when interacting with my subjects.<\/p>\n

There is no ‘right’ or wrong. Just try to use a preset or post-processing method which shows your mood in your photos.<\/p>\n

5. Look for shapes, forms, texture<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For abstract photography, look for shapes, forms, texture.<\/p>\n

I gain inspiration from man-made objects, urban landscapes<\/a>, textures, and forms.<\/p>\n

Look for circles, squares, triangles<\/a>, diagonals, curves, or leading lines.<\/p>\n

Also try not to have any distracting objects in the background, or unnecessary clutter.<\/p>\n

Another way to bring out more texture in your photos is to use a flash, or lower your exposure-compensation by -1 or -2.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There is no right or wrong way to shoot abstract photos. Just be like a kid and have fun.<\/p>\n

Shoot from your stomach, or shoot from a tree. Try to look at things in a different way. Don’t capture reality as it is. Create your own reality.<\/p>\n

Some more recent abstract photos I’ve shot:<\/p>\n

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\"vietnam<\/p>\n

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Learn more: Creativity ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been inspired to shoot more abstract photos lately; perhaps this is a paradigm-shift for me: Photograph how it feels, not how it looks First of all, I am new to shooting abstract photography, \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38685,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-38866","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}