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SEEING BERG

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Grasses at dawn glistening with dew.  Canon EOS XSi EF 70-300mm at 70mm f/13 1/45 ISO 400 −1ev

Grasses at dawn glistening with dew.  Canon EOS XSi EF 70-300mm at 70mm f/13 1/45 ISO 400 −1ev

Slicing Dawn

April 19, 2013
​Apple's wallpaper image that was the inspiration for my photograph.

​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

www.seeingberg.com

In Nature Tags Grass, Prairie, Black & White, Dew, Droplet, Moisture, Tangle
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2009-08-01 at 18-58-34 depth dreamy flower grass green purple soft.jpg

Flowers In The Mist

August 29, 2012

A dreamy purple flower in the morning mist. Canon EOS XSi EF 70-300mm at 300mm f/5.6 1/350 ISO 800 −1ev

I found this flower after wandering around the edges of a prairie slough on an early summer morning.  I caught a glimpse of it through the mass of green reeds and grasses.  I couldn’t get very close to it without getting wet but I was drawn by the contrast in colour and texture.  Everything was very soft. And the droplets of dew accentuated that.  I pulled out my telephoto zoom to pull the flower in close and I noticed the contrasting texture of the hair on the stems of the plant.  Normally I don’t like to have something obstructing my view of the main subject but I feel as though the out of focus stem of grass in the foreground adds to the sense of crowding and compression that was a part of the live scene.  Normally I don’t play much with filters or heavy post processing effects but in this case I applied some effects from Nik Colour Efex Pro and I was quite happy with the result.  

-Russell Berg

2009-08-01 at 18-58-34 1 depth dew dramatic flower grass green purple.jpg

The same image after processing. Canon EOS XSi EF 70-300mm at 300mm f/5.6 1/350 ISO 800 −1ev

In Nature Tags Dramatic, Green, Flower, Purple, Grass, Depth, Dew
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We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are.

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