out of hibernation

A blizzard, then an ice storm. Then rain, then a cold snap, and everything freezes solid. Foliage is dead and buried, brittle or frozen. Everything hibernates.

Go ahead, says February. Find my beautiful. And I'm not talking about that salt-weathered barn in the middle of that field. No standing half a mile back. Get up close. Make something of nothing.

I've got a bit of a plan now. A wide-open aperture, a deliberate shoving through of foreground, a focusing on the middle. Lying in snow, stalks tangled up in my camera strap. It makes camera into brush, composition into canvas.

+++

It doesn't matter what you think you're shooting. What's in front of you is not your photographic subject. Your photographic subject is whatever that thing or person or scene evokes. Your subject is the feeling, the story, or the questions you raise by capturing that thing or person or scene one way versus another. Let's strip this down and test it. Here's a bunch of stuff.

I looked at the table in front of me. A coil of wire, some reflective paper, a pad of steel wool, some bolts, unraveled wool, crumpled paper and too much else to make sense of. I looked back up at the instructor.

Take whatever looks interesting, and photograph any of these subjects. She pushed a paper across the table to the group of us.

Loneliness
Love
Cold
Warm
Fear
Safety

It doesn't matter what materials you use. What matters is your creative intention in arranging and capturing them.

I choose 'cold' and photographed it. And I forgot it until now, or at least forgot the connection between that abstract photography course and what I'm looking for when I'm outdoors in February. I'm not looking for pretty subjects. I'm looking for shape and line, company and loneliness.

+++

The first time I did it, it was an experiment, an exercise in blurring eyes and looking to see what else I'd found other than a withered, mid-winter hosta. I've been on hiatus from Shutter Sisters for a while, and now I'm back at the very peak of my photographic dry season (which I write about every year without fail, each time with that whiny, northeastern lilt). And so I remembered the basics.

Have you ever abstracted subjects to their elements? Have you set out with the intention to construct a photograph of colour - just colour - or line, shape, texture, or space? I'd love to see. Either that, or just tell me how you're doing and what you're shooting. It's been too long.

Comments

[starrlife]

S'good to see you Kate! That grass looks marvelously limpid!
Here's one I did awhile ago, a marsh at sunset that I got a color filled effect that looks like a painting almost. http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrlife/5424480187/
And here are a couple that are close winter shots from this week. http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrlife/5425100540/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrlife/5424499669/in/photostream/

[Bridget [aviary]]

yes, yes. Great to "see" you again Kate! I'm finding that being cooped up indoors has led me back to the basics also:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7919926@N04/5370075560/

[Jill]

Too dreary and grey yesterday to go outside yesterday - but this miniature iris beckoned with it's soft colors.
Quietly pulled out the camera, moved in as close as I could, steady and click.

http://humbirdhum.wordpress.com/

[Deanna]

I too struggle this time of year. Winter has lost the photographic appeal and I am longing for spring. But I went out Friday determined to find some beauty and color if possible. The remains of last summers flowers beckoned to me from the side of the road and I had to get out and photograph them.

http://anewdayadifferentway.blogspot.com/2011/02/winter-flowers.html

[Kristin]

At the weekend the sun came out since long time and it was all light and shadow. I took pictures because I was happy in this grey, cold February on a little sun.

http://liundbelle.blogspot.com/2011/02/best-of-week-lights.html#links

[Geneil]

In this bleak winter landscape I either have to get up really close to a subject or blur everything out of focus. Love that abstract look that comes with the blur.

http://breezelife.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/icy-blur-552/

[Marcie]

Not quite abstract...but definitely winter white. It's been quite a winter here in the northeast:
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/home/2011/2/1/emptying-in-to-white.html

[spread your wings]

this image is very cool - so painterly. great vivid blue in the upper right corner

i love the effect of a wide open aperture - paying close attention to what my colors are doing in the background.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/5078959727/in/set-72157625016734411/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/3353220443/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/4341735317/

[AnnGeeDee]

I'd been wondering where you'd been! happy to see you back. I was trying out a few things the other day in a freak ice (supposed to be snow) storm in Houston, TX. In this one, I was trying to capture the warmth that still resonated in the frozen grasses. http://www.flickr.com/photos/anngeedee/5416463643/

[Shawna]

Abstract colour is one of my favourite things to shoot, actually. It's niced to be asked to share!

Here's one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shawnac/4608072928/

[Hannah N.]

Great post! So inspiring! I've been reading photography books like crazy lately. One of the most recent photo assignments was to find find lines and create an interesting photo for the viewer's eye. I took this last weekend while taking pictures of the snow. I'm not sure if my photo assignment author would be proud, but I sure like this picture.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58304012@N08/5424967899/

[Sandee]

Wonderful post! Very good reminder for this time of year, when I wonder how I'm ever going to find something to photograph. Here's one I like:

http://flic.kr/p/9fVjwi

[Jeanne]

I'm trying to come out of hibernation also. Yesterday was a little warmer here in Boston, so I got out to capture a little sun, cold and light!

http://bostongirlontheverge.blogspot.com/2011/02/cambridge-photo-walk.html

[s.b.Lyngo]

Lady! You can write and shoot. Thank you for this post and encouragement to blurr. Color outsie of the lines, etc. I love this site!!! Today I am practicing gratitude. Not the easiest task after some brutal blows by Green Bay Defense!
http://somethingblu.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/manifest-monday-project-gratitudeftr/

[Jennifée]

Lovely post! I'm no good at shooting abstract - thanks for the push to go out and practice. I found, quite by accident, that there is beauty in sunlight shining on the frost on the top of a trashcan:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85057042@N00/5384094283/

[Misty]

So good to have you back!! I've missed you.

Texture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dontforgetthehorse/5401820121/

Space: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dontforgetthehorse/5327914519/in/photostream/

And this just because I liked the light, colours and criscross lines in the back. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dontforgetthehorse/5391843956/in/photostream/

[shirley]

Snow and ice. That's what we have here, too......but isn't it beautiful in its own way?

http://www.shirleybehindthelens.com/2011/02/mosaic-monday-ice.html

http://www.shirleybehindthelens.com/2011/01/mosaic-monday-along-winter-trail.html

[Kat]

I think that anytime you study the same subject again and again, you eventually get to the most basic of elements. Color, line, and texture are what I always find.
http://www.kateyeview.com/2010/11/pieces-of-puzzle.html

[Dani]

http://www.danileighblog.com/2011/01/12/12365/ - I set my alarm for this one. I knew the sun would be peaking through that spot at exactly that time. So glad I was able to capture it.

[Brenda]

Kate - I simply LOVE your photo "Hibernation" - I included it in the Visual Diary that I am keeping for my Advanced Digital Photography course - under the category "Shots I wish I had taken".

Here is my impressionistic landscape - taken looking out the front door window on a day of unusual winter sunshine:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gottgraphicsdesign/5381281386/in/set-72157623028894223/

Welcome back to Shutter Sisters - your post was very inspirational.

[Trevellion]

It is not so cold here in the UK right now, but it's still very flat and grey outside and definitely not very inspiring for photography. So like lots of you I look for shapes and then add a little magic.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9970083@N02/5422076375/

[xanthe]

i've missed you kate, good to have you back :)

[Kacey ~ Kay Pickens]

Good to have you back. It is a cold, dry spell time of year for photography, isn't it? I decided to look past the cold, gray, dreary weather and capture a series of finches in the snow, with the muted yellow tones.

http://www.wineonthekeyboard.com/2011/01/31/indulge-me/

[Gail]

I have been hibernating too but I try to get out and take photos of winter. Picture Winter helped give me motivation and inspiration to get out there and shoot.
http://picturingtheyear.blogspot.com/2011/01/still-here.html

[Evelyn in Oregon]

After reading your post, I picked up my little Canon and went to the back yard....I was certain there wouldn't be anything worth photographing. However, the rusty color of leaves and dried berry on the Burning Bush caught my eye.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26473210@N04/5426115463/

[Jess]

Images like the one featured today have gotten me excited about the Winter landscape opportunities. I've played around a bit and liked the lines in this photo as well as a sage color that was picked up along the way.

http://jessicavescera.blogspot.com/2011/01/winter-winter-and-more-winter.html

[Angela DiGiovanni | Living Out Loud]

It's all about my main squeeze right now...

http://angeladigiovanni.com/2011/02/07/stop-punishing-man-hes-already-apologized/

[Rebecca]

winter friends

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccasmithphotography/5427342008/in/photostream/

and colorful treats

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccasmithphotography/5427342396/in/photostream/

[amiee]

i am not sure we can even participate in the cold, snow dry part here in california. but the abstract is something that was brought this weekend with a rental lens and a hungry eye.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16401019@N00/5417742844/in/set-72157625996594552/

and to link a hit of color in the hopes that it brightens your day, friend ...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16401019@N00/5419441355/in/set-72157625996594552/

[Patty]

Wonderful shot!
And I love the list of words...

Here's an abstraction of my front window...http://pmaherphotography.blogspot.com/2011/02/snow-day.html

[BHJ]

Oh Kate's back with the clicky clicky!

[Alex]

http://wildfledged.tumblr.com/post/3194335471

Gorgeous photo!! Ethereal, my favorite.

[jeannie of atlantic beachlife]

I knew it was you before i finished the post and looked for the author's name.

i love abstract nature.

here's a link to some photos i i shot that i love:

http://thebeachesonline.com/atlanticbeachlife/?p=866

it's the raindrops on the window that captivated me. abstract.

[Ella]

/Volumes/FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/Hoved iPhoto Bibliotek/Originals/2010/Former.KUNST M/DSC_0006.JPG
/Volumes/FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/Hoved iPhoto Bibliotek/Originals/2010/Former.KUNST M/DSC_0008.JPG
Yes ! Sometimes I go for the forms only ! Forms and lines . .

[claudia]

trying to capture the bokeh ahead of the scene
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurohunt/5431686182/