Abstract: A Tutorial

Browncoat

Senior Member
This week's photo challenge is "Abstract". I've already received a few questions in private messages asking how I did this, so I figured I'd write up a short tutorial. First and foremost, this requires a little faith in your own creativity. Second, it requires patience and a lot of practice.

The gist of abstract photography is using long exposures to create interesting designs. That said, you will want to be shooting in full manual mode so that you have the most control possible over your designs.

Step 1: Choose colors
This is a very good time to learn more about the color wheel and familiarize yourself with different color schemes. Not only will it let you create more interesting designs here, but can help train your eye to catch pleasing color combinations with "normal" photography. We are going to be working with as little ambient lighting as possible here, so it's important that you choose bright, vibrant colors.

Step 2: Create a design
For this process you need to know the screen resolution of your monitor. We are going to either set a new desktop background image on your computer, or view the image in fullscreen mode. Yes, this is all done by taking a long exposure photo of a simple design right on your computer screen!

Keep it simple. A couple colors and simple shapes does the trick. I've found that using thin straight lines gives the best results. The design in my photo was a blue rectangle inside of a white rectangle on a black background...that's it. The rest is done with moving your camera around. Don't use big circles in your design, because it will look like nothing more than a solid color when you're done.

You can create your design in Photoshop or even Paint. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but keep in mind you want to be able to view it fullscreen on your monitor.

Step 3: Camera Settings
Full manual mode. Varying shutter speeds will give different overall results, so you'll have to experiment. I've found that 1-3 seconds works best. You want to attempt this is a dark room so that the only light you have is coming from your computer monitor. Stick with ISO 200.

Step 4: Shoot!
Set your image as your background (be sure to minimize your Windows taskbar!) or even better, simply view it in fullscreen mode. Take a few steps back from the monitor and get crazy! Try to keep the camera aimed squarely at your monitor and move it all around in different directions during your exposure. Spin it around in circles, back and forth, up and down, just experiment. If you're the adventurous type, toss it up in the air. I keep tons of pillows on the floor under me when doing these shots...better safe than sorry!

You'll quickly discover which spinning/tossing techniques give you the results you're looking for. It's all about timing and just having fun with it. The best tip I can give is to start moving around before you press the shutter so that you don't have a static image of your design.

Abstract photography is a lot of fun and really brings out the artist in you! I mean, seriously...how else are you going to come up with an excuse to throw a $3000 camera up in the air?

:cool:
 
Top