If there is one key that I could give young photographers it is to change your perspective. We all see the world from eye level 95% of the time. This perspective is so ubiquitous that we are instantly drawn to images that change the point of view. I laid down on my stomach to take this photograph and with that simple step changed a picture of some pretty flowers into something interesting. We look at the stems as they emerge from the dirt and we can almost feel them pushing upwards. Get high, get low, do what it takes to change your perspective in interesting ways. The other concern I had was the very busy background so I stopped down to f/2.8 and got back far enough that I could shoot it at 200mm. This longer focal length emphasizes and strengthens the effect of the shallow depth of field, turning the distracting background into a blurry field of dark tones. When I took the photo I was thinking black and white because the the brilliant white petals but little did I realize how converting to B&W in Nik Silver Efex Pro would give the flowers a glow as if lit from within.

-Russell Berg

www.seeingberg.com

Apple's wallpaper image that was the inspiration for my photograph.

I was walking along the edge of a marsh just after dawn and I saw this tangle of thick grasses. I was immediately reminded of Apple’s desktop wallpaper image of grass and Picasso’s dictum that good artist’s borrow but great artists steal. I am no great artist but I decided to try and go for something similar with my own interpretation. The grass that I was looking at seemed to cut and slice across the image and the form, line and shape of the image was more compelling to me when I took a wider shot than the one that Apple used. Using a wider point of view also meant that we did not get as direct a view of the dew drops on the grass; instead the mist and dew drops become a soft counterpoint to the slicing horizontal lines of the grass. The wider image also allowed me to include the transition from the dark regions below to the lightening sky at the top and I believe this improves my image. The colour seemed to be getting in the way of, instead of complementing the image so I converted to black and white and was much happier with the result.

For more natural photographs with an abstract feel check here and here.

-Russell Berg

Perspective

Slicing Dawn