Serpentine Landscapes in Marshall County

Serpentine Landscapes in Marshall County, Alabama

Abstract of Driftwood from Lake Guntersville

Abstract of Driftwood from Lake Guntersville, in Lake Guntersville State Park, Alabama

Office Area Abstracts

An Abstract of the Bank Trust Building, Mobile

An Abstract of the Bank Trust Building in Mobile, Alabama

This and other abstracts can be found in the Galleries, here.

Water Droplets in the Abstract

An Abstract of Water Droplets :: Canon Rebel T2i, Tokina AT-X 35mm f/2.8

This and other examples of my abstract photography can be found at this gallery, here.

Boutwell Auditorium Parking Deck, Birmingham

Boutwell Auditorium Parking Deck, Birmingham, Alabama :: Canon Rebel T2i, EF 24-105 f/4 L, f/5.6 @ 1/500s, ISO 100

The Spindle Ball

Over the course the last fifteen months, I have really loved my Canon Rebel T2i (at Amazon); now granted, I wish I could justify the purchase of a Canon 5D MkII, but that's neither here nor there. I really feel like I have pushed the limits of the T2i in many regards and gotten as much out of it as it is capable of producing, but that being said, there is one feature of the camera that I have allowed to go largely underutilized: video. And mostly that's because good video is really difficult to do, and the set-up for doing it particularly well is rather expensive.

But on the occasion exhibited below I was suddenly struck with an idea while sitting at the kitchen table. It involved my Tokina AT-X 35mm macro lens (at Amazon), the T2i, and an ornament that decorates the table's centerpiece. Let me know what you think of this little abstract video; I'm partial to it, but I think that's largely out of obligation due to the extraordinary number of takes and amount of time invested.

How do you feel about this video "The Spindle Ball"?

My "I Was Bored" Photo of the Day

Would anyone like to hazard a guess as to what you're looking at?

Extracts from Around the House

One of the things I find most photographically gratifying is to photograph household items, but not in there contexts. Separate them from the elements around them; segregate them and allow them to stand on their own merits. Extract from them a quality that is generally camouflaged by their every-day-ness.

Most refer to this taking things out of their context as abstracts, but photography icon Ansel Adams made the following statement, which I really identified with: "I prefer the term extract over abstract, since I cannot change the optical realities but only manage them."

Extract photography is something that I had long seen others do well, but that I struggled with. I had a difficult time initially conceptualizing and composing such photographs, but have since come to believe extract photography is one of the things at which I excel.