*** Mini-Challenge #704: Abstraction ***

abstraction (noun) : The act of considering something as a general quality or characteristic, apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances

(https://www.dictionary.com/browse/abstraction)

Images can communicate a visual idea that's more than (or less than, if you prefer) the literal physicality of the subject. Please note that "abstract" doesn't necessarily mean "non-representational", although it certainly can. It's possible, in fact common, to abstract -- as a verb -- an image by using color, angle, focus, DOF, composition, post-processing and so forth. There's a lot of latitude on the scale between literal documentary photography and totally non-representational studies in light, color and form. So let's see what you have!

Examples will follow.

This challenge will end on Friday, July 15, 10 PM CDT / Saturday, July 16, 3 AM UTC.

Challenge Rules:

The host gives you a topic and you post up to three images that fit. Remember, it's all about fun, sharing, and learning. Any picture you have taken in person is eligible, regardless of the time taken, camera, or post-processing used. The host chooses the winners and honorable mentions and posts those in a new thread. The host's decision is final. The winner of this challenge then hosts the next challenge, judges the winner of that one, and so on it goes. The winner of this challenge will have 48 hours to post the next challenge. If that doesn't happen, 2nd place will have 24 hours to do so, then it's up to 3rd place.

Submission Posting Guidelines:

Post each one of your three submissions in its own reply to this post. Give each post a unique Subject, please. It is best to embed an image in its post rather than linking to somewhere else. Feel free to post photos "for exhibition only" if you want to share more than three, or won't be available to host the next challenge. Try to preserve the EXIF please, so we can see which camera, lens, and settings were used.

Comment Posting Guidelines:

Feel free to post comments on the images or ask for comments. Don't hesitate to click on the green "Like" thumb on the top right of the post, so we know which images were most popular. Likes are appreciated as much as constructive criticism is. The host can make up his or her own mind without being influenced by that. I wish you all "good luck" and let's see some interesting pics.

Recent Mini-Challenges:

703: Sunsets

702: Living Things - Other than Human

701: Not of this Earth

700: Nostalgia - Your Early Digital Camera Pictures

699: Picture of a Picture

698: Happy Faces

697: Music

696: Birds

695: Nature

694: Boats

693: Metal

692: There's "nothing" to shoot!

691: Favourites

690: Nostalgia

689: Winter

688: Travel/Vacation

687: Festive Lights

686: Animals

685: Plants

684: Night Scenes

683: Small machines (for work and leisure)

682: Autumn

681: Wabi-Sabi

680: Landscapes

679: One Dominant Color

678: Planes, Trains and Automobiles

677: Chocolate

676: Amusement ride

675: One lone flower

674: Food and/or Drink

673: The Road Less Traveled

672: Trees in Nature

671: Waterfalls

670: Mountains

669: Not Your Best Work

668: Speed

667: Round, or nearly round

666: Awakening of Spring

Example images, from slightly to more abstracted

Fairly literal, but composed of simple shapes, color and line.

Once again, fairly literal but reduced to only the simplest elements: perspective, line, color and texture

This is slightly abstracted through processing and the ultra-wise field of view to look semi-dreamy

Another slight abstraction through angle, POV and altered colors.

The physical latch isn't the subject, but rather the form, light, lines and angles.

Building? Eyes? Robot? Or a study in colors, light, shadow and texture?

An abstraction of texture, color and boundaries

Color, tonalities, shapes and curves

An everyday object "sent" to another "place"

Abstraction of time, angle and perspective

If not for the moon, what would this be? That's the abstraction.

A very graphical abstraction of color, lines and repeating pattern.

Household object? Or not? Abstracted through light, processing, color and viewpoint.

Industrial view abstracted to lines, patterns, light and shadow

A very stark abstraction which took little photographic effort - It was this color in reality.

Lines, colors, patterns. At this point the fact that it's a spider's web is hardly relevant.

Hopefully these will provide some ideas and a jumping-off point.

Have fun and looking forward to your entries!

Sea or Sky ?

I had fun with the DOF on this one.

The many shades of monochrome.

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!! 

Okay, this one 'll require some thinking.

Thinking caps on.....

Just kind of squint your eyes and look beyond the default before you shoot.    Look for patterns, light, shape, etc. Or, take some existing images and re-process them to visually reduce them to a simpler abstration.

Not sure if I've got the gist of this......Don

Brickwork forming a double-arched ceiling

Full moon

Yep, you got it!

SHR100 wrote:

I love images like there where your brain plays tricks with you... depending on the moment, the tracks can be visually either embossed (pressed down) or debossed (raised up). Cool!

Plowed field

Steve Thomas

Learning new micro lens and focus stacking. Most will see this for what it is but thought some might find it interesting..i

AF-S vR Micro NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8 IF-ED at 1/25sec ISO 128000 f/40. On D750 Nikon

Croton plant leaf. 24 exposure stack.

ellare

I like the texture in this sand, I hope it qualifies.

Just a reminder that this Mini-Challenge ends in roughly 25 hours, at 10 PM Central US Time, tomorrow night, Friday, July 15.

Let's see the rest of your abstractions!  

Sailing

Talk about leading lines! That's cool.