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Liquid Granite

© Stephen Shoff

Liquid Granite

Uploaded: October 03, 2012

Description

Reflections of Yosemite Valley's granite walls in the Merced River.

Exif: F Number: 6.3, Exposure Bias Value: 0.00, ExposureTime: 1/160 seconds, Flash: did not fire, auto mode, ISO: 320, White balance: Auto white balance, FocalLength: 87.30 mm, Model: NEX-7

Comments

Aimee C. Eisaman October 03, 2012

I like how this one makes me have to think about what it is I'm seeing. I feel that I'm looking at the ground...that the reflection is really there. Creates an interesting abstract image! :~) #1489976

Dale Hardin October 03, 2012

I like this Stephen. It's one of those shots that make you scratch your head, until you see the description. #10353718

Teresa H. Hunt October 03, 2012

I agree with Aimee and Dale. I like the abstract image. I read the description and still had to study to get what I was looking at. Very cool :) #10353770

Jeff E Jensen October 03, 2012

Yup, very intriguing. #10353963

Rita K. Connell level-classic October 03, 2012

Stephen I am glad to see you getting out side your box, but for me I am not a fan of it. so I don't think it would be fair to commenting on it. #10354188

Peter W. Marks October 04, 2012

OK Stephen, my thoughts perfectly mirror what comments 1, 2, and 3 made; right down to 'abstract, head scratching and reading the description. And as for Rita's, we of course all have differing thoughts about images but would really love to hear what doesn't work for her. You've left me hanging girl so be a little "unfair" and go for it. #10354892

Aimee C. Eisaman October 04, 2012

Rita I don't think you should have to not say anything just because you don't like it. Do you not like it because of all the distortion or do you think it could have had something done to it to make it better? #10354962

Debbie E. Payne October 04, 2012

I think I see where Rita is coming from. The image is abstract-- it relies on accompanying text to let us know what it is. So, it is what it is, and that being said, really doesn't need a critique. Abstracts are often like that in that there isn't really much to comment on. It!s Stephen's vision, not ours. I would much rather have seen the walls themselves along with the reflections in the water. Perhaps one of those dual images made into one shot with the imposing granite walls on one side and the more intimate landscape on the other side would have affected me more. ( I know the name for that presentation, but cannot, for the life of me, spell it.

I think that Rita was just making a comment that on her end didn't seem abrupt but at this end was misinterpreted. That is the only downside to online critiquing. #10355028

Debbie E. Payne October 04, 2012

And, in looking at this again, you could have a two for one, Stephen. It is not only a thought-provoking image in and of itself, it has potential to become a textured background. #10355030

Stephen Shoff October 04, 2012

Great conversation, here, Phellos. We are all getting out of our box. (Thank you Rita. By the way, I didn't take your reply as abrupt, dismissive or negative in any way. It just didn't capture your interest. That reflects my reaction to many images I see. Nore do I get involved in conversations about baseball. Makes me very boring[ed] at parties, though. I was tempted to reply that I think its likely that comments from a disinterested reviewer might often be more instructive than those from reviewers that get more invested in the image.)

Debbie's response to Rita expresses my dismay with the first set of responses. They made me wish I hadn't included the description because I didn't want this to be a landscape picture of Yosemite. The description encouraged the viewers to get caught up in what it was a picture "of" rather than what it might be communicating. The description displaced the role of the title.

I think I had two goals in posting this picture:
-- in the context of this being an abstract, would there be any of our typical composition, tonality, color suggestions that would make it a stronger image
-- I had doubts that the image strong was enough as an abstract to stand on its own. I personally like its interplay of "shape, color, and form", but I wanted independent feedback. Clearly, it doesn't, at least to this audience. (See next post.)

A completely unobvious question I have and one we don't get into often -- what kind of matte/mount/framing do you use on a picture like this? How do you "border" it?


#10355202

Stephen Shoff October 04, 2012

As I was wrestling with whether or not this picture could actually qualify as "abstract art" (so I could start doing it on purpose rather than by serendipity), I found the following description on the internet that I think describes what form of abstract art this image might be and what caught my attention when I saw this in the LCD. The full article also includes much of what Debbie was verbalizing.

"... You must let go of your need to put things into words, and let the artwork take you somewhere... even lift you into higher spheres.

You have to 'understand' abstract art with a different part of you, one that you may not normally use or be familiar with. Essentially, you must:

Accept that it is what it is. Don't try to pinpoint an exact meaning for an image.

Look at abstract art in the same way that you would listen to a symphony. When you listen to music, you don't try to hold on to the notes - you let them wash over you. Let your eyes wander over the painting the way the notes of a symphony wash over your soul. Let your eyes play with the painting, slipping around corners, following the twirls, twists and turns, dipping in and out of the surface. Let your eyes dance around the piece.

Rather than trying to figure out what the painting looks like, just allow yourself to be taken in by the painting. See what emotions, sensations or memories emerge. Let your eyes relax and travel around the piece without expectation. Examine the colors, forms, materials, surface, and how they interact with each other. Take your time. Let the painting "speak" to you.

Notice how the various elements like shape, color and form affect you.


This text is copyright protected. View this content on its original page: http://www.art-is-fun.com/understanding-abstract-art.html#ixzz28M8WcaUu
#10355204

Stephen Shoff October 04, 2012

Debbie -- on this particular day, I had spent a lot of time looing for the "dual image" you were describing. The water levels were too low and the light just wasn't there for me. I just couln't find the right location at the right time.

So I took the advice that "when you can't go big, go small". I see a lot of wonderful pictures of colors and textures in water reflections and I used this as an opportunity try my hand at it.

To you background suggestion, I had intended to use the "Adobe Layers" book to see if I could turn it into a background by stripping out all but luminance. If I do, I'll post it in the thread. That was another possibility I wondered if I'd get a suggestion on. Thanks.

#10355239

Aimee C. Eisaman October 04, 2012

Thanks for including that description Stephen. With all that being said I think I'll share more about what I feel or see when looking at this. My first thoughts are of the earth. That green makes me think of earthy people and places. What are earthy people? Ya know....hippies. At first I feel the cool tones of the image and do get a sense of rock or stone, but then there are warm highlights that for some reason make me tilt my head to the left. Not sure what that's about, but I'm doing it every time I focus on the warmth. I'm brought back to memories of hiking alone in the woods as a teenager. :D #10355337

Debbie E. Payne October 04, 2012

Great thread and lots of interesting information. Let us see the texture when you get to that. Something like this I would probably frame in a simple black matt and frame. #10355401

Michael Kelly level-classic October 04, 2012

Sorry Stephen this one does not grab me. If it looks good to you, all is well and that is what counts. Looking at some of the other comments it obviously reaches some people, but not others. To me a photograph needs some type of anchor for example a beautiful cloud shot needs a bit of FG to anchor it. I belive I am in line with Debbie's comment on this if I am interpreting corrrectly. For me even trying to view this as an absolute abstract leaves me cold, but that may be my artless soul speaking.


#10355411

Aimee C. Eisaman October 04, 2012

O and for something like this I would do a canvas...no matte or frame. #10355423

Stephen Shoff October 04, 2012

Well Debbie, I tried but I have no clue about how to create a texture.

Micheal, soul-less or not, I think I agree with you. Even an abstract needs an anchor point. This one has pleasing colors, leading lines an textures, but there isn't an anchor point.

Lesson learned. Object achieved.

Thank you all for your comments. #10355877

Stephen Shoff October 04, 2012

Oh, and Aimee, I guess straight verticals remain important, too. #10355904

Rita K. Connell level-classic October 04, 2012

Well I take it that you all thought I meant that I didn't like stephen getting outside of the box,(thank you stephen for not taking it that way) as for not being a fan of....I was referring to the image. OK... So here is my feeling, it left me feeling unsettled,and not really wanting to get lost in it. ( which I think is what abstract are suppose to do.) I didn't think that there was an anchor point to pull me into the image. #10355947

Aimee C. Eisaman October 05, 2012

I disagree...abstracts do not need an anchor point in my opinion. #10356321

Rita K. Connell level-classic October 05, 2012

you are probably right aimee #10356508

Stephen Shoff October 05, 2012

There are pictures, including at least one of mine that I've posted, whose intent was to leave the observer "feeling unsettled".

But not this one. Thanks for your feedback, Rita. #10356712

Peter W. Marks October 05, 2012

As Stephen has said "Great conversation here, Phellos"
Yes, this has been a fascinating conversation that encourages us all to see and think beyond what is perhaps our norm. We are all nice people on here so we tend to either tentatively declare at worse that an image doesn't move us on the one hand; or heap praise on the other. We say 'awesome or great'; and we are all guilty at times of that. Nothing wrong with that I guess, but it probably is not particularly helpful to the artist and certainly is confusing to any newcomer to photography when they try to see what it is that has merited this high praise. Perhaps we should give ourselves a little test and ask ourselves the following "If I saw that image at a yard sale with a price of $5 on it, would I buy it or even try to shoot a similar one for ourselves?
Thank you Stephen for bringing our attentions to that internet piece. The analogy of appreciating an orchestral piece for the whole not for individual notes is perfect for what we often struggle with on visual arts.
So, what about Stephen's image? I do understand what you are saying Rita but like Aimee I too disagree that an abstract has to have an anchor point.
We can find online plenty of abstracts that DO have an anchor point but if we take for instance a look at many of Jackson Pollock's most famous paintings we will see that ain't necessarily so!
Since we started exploring Stephen's image I have looked at it several times and it now suggests something on a different level than when first seen. I am seeing a cliff-face and clinging precariously to life on its steep face are small plants. These grew from wind-blown seeds and now I am seeing them as a metaphor for humans who were brought into this world unintentionally but are living precarious lives in very insecure circumstances.
Of course that is not what Stephen intended, nor what others see, but that is really what abstracts are about and why they can be so intriguing.
#10357033

Aimee C. Eisaman October 05, 2012

Very interesting Peter! #10357317

Beth Spencer October 06, 2012

i would have to agree that this is very abstract. Had I not read the description I would still be wondering what this was. It is very different and it works for me as an abstract. #10358614

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