November 30, 2012

Back to orange

The thing with rusty metal is that it creates beautiful orange colors. So I revisited one of my favorite installations at the old King Ludwig Canal near Nuremberg. The autumn sun was shining bright and brought out all the lovely shades of orange on this sculpture. My goal was to render it as "flat" as possible to take the three-dimensionality away. So I went for 200mm focal length at f11 - and if I had a tripod with me I would have even gone to f16 or f22 to eliminate any hint of dof.
I just wanted color and some simple geometry combined with an interesting texture.

Three Orange Spheres 60595

November 25, 2012

Rhythm in black and white

These are some of the ugliest places in a wood that I know of: a coniferous forest where spruces were planted much too tight and have grown over the years to form a dull and uniform looking thicket.
But nonetheless there are photographic opportunities to be had and one of those image I shot today shows the rhythmic aspect of such a wood.

Rhythm 60572

Just click through the image to get "the bigger picture" ;-)

November 05, 2012

Abstract trees - again!

Well, you already know that trees are one of my favorite subjects for photography - simply choose "Use keyword search!" on the right and click on "trees"!*
But today is not about the tree in photography but in paintings. Visiting the new Pinakothek this weekend I came across two fascinating examples of trees: One by Max Ernst:

Max Ernst 60450

Of which I only show a small crop here to give you an impression of how the artist "did it". Fascinating, isn't it?
The other is by Vincent van Gogh, also only a small crop that shows the brush strokes and makes the trees look more abstract than from a normal viewing distance:

 Vincent van Gogh 60472

Click through the images to access the large original crops.

I don't know yet what I will take away for my photography of trees and landscapes, but I find it always interesting to see how abstractification works in different media.
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*You could also simply click on the tag "Tress" below this post :)

November 04, 2012

Abstract Staircase?

Well, staircases are easily identifiable, so to do an "abstract staircase" in photography people normally choose special vantage points: with spiral staircases e.g. centered from below/bottom or from above to emphasize the geometry. Or show a section of the stairs from a perspective that dissolves the steps into a pattern of lines that belie their origin. When shooting the staircase in the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich today I was simply fascinated by the view of the stairs overhead and chose a vantage point where you could see the handrails and a platform but no stairs at the bottom. That produced the impression of a disjointed staircase further emphasized by the contrast between the white stairs above and the dark colors of the handrail and the platform below - and the absence of people which normally give you orientation and a feeling for the size of things. Treppenhaus_60443 You can easily increase the "strangeness" of this image by turning it 90 degrees counterclockwise which makes the whole thing look like a tunnel with a white floor and overhead lighting. Only that the railing at the floor and the ceiling look strange... Anyway: I have to admit that this staircase is not really very abstract. But a good architect and a strong geometry always makes for interesting perspectives and subjects to shoot!