Abstract Photography Tips

These abstract photography tips will give you ideas and guidance when you try to do digital abstract photography of your own. This type of photography can help you look beyond the obvious way to frame a subject in a photo and capture images that will communicate something unexpected to the viewer.

What makes a photo abstract?

Abstract photography puts a different spin on the goal of a picture. Usually, when you take a picture you try to capture an image in a way that the viewer will easily recognize. When you take an abstract picture you don't do this. Instead of focusing on exactly what your subject is, the photo becomes more about shapes, color, light and shadow, and texture. When you focus on these aspects of the subject instead of the subject as a whole you remove context from the image making it difficult for your viewer to even identify what you've photographed.

Making an abstract photograph can provide you with a great creative outlet. I like to look closely at objects and patterns to take pictures that express their beauty in a unique way. Here are some abstract photography tips that will help you get started.

Remove context

Taking the context out of a picture will help make it more abstract. When your viewer has no point of reference they will be forced to focus only on what exactly is in the picture and not infer anything else.

You can remove context by not getting horizon lines in pictures and keeping anything that may give your viewer some idea about what the picture is out of the frame. You crop the picture to remove references after you've taken the picture if you didn't do it initially.

Get in close

I've found that the best way to remove reference from a photograph is to get in close to your subject. You can focus on one specific section of the subject and make that the main focal point of the picture. There are a lot of things you can focus on about the subject. Here are some ideas:

• texture
• patterns
• shadows
• light
• contrast
• color
• shapes

Texture and Patterns

Move in close to different textures in the objects around you. Make these textures and patterns the actual subject of you picture. Try taking a close up shot of tree bark or peeling paint on a wall. There are many options.

Look for patterns in these textures that you can capture in your picture.

Light, Shadow and Contrast

Have you ever noticed the way the sunlight falls at a certain time of day and wanted to capture that in a photo? My living room has a large curved bay window. Through the day the sunlight come in at certain angles making patterns on the floor. I've tried to photograph it, but haven't quite gotten it right yet. This is on example of how to you can try to make light the subject of an abstract photograph.

Light is more than a means to illuminate your subject. Light can be your subject. Look for interesting shapes and patterns in light and shadow. Try capturing those patterns and shapes in a picture.

Play up contrast to make your picture more interesting to the eye.

Color

All of the examples I've put on this Abstract Photography Tips page are in black and white because I've been taking a lot of black and white pictures these days, but color can also included in abstract photography. the contrast of color and how they play off of one another can be pleasing to the eye.

You can also pump up or dull down the color up in your editing software making the subject appear more abstract.

Shapes

Concentrating on the curve of a flower petal or the veins in the leaves can also make great images.

I hoped thes abstract photography tips have helped you. Discover more digital photography tutorials.