The snake

No scale, no hints, just shape. Isn't it what abstracts should be,

sometime? Comments, criticism, ratings (if you believe in them) are

most welcome. Hope you enjoy looking at this as much as I enjoyed

shooting it.

You might actually want to click "LARGER"

Fantastic Abstract! The shape fills the frame perfectly and the rich colours are awesome.

Great Work!

Kind regards,

Brendan

Aaah, now this I love!

Reminds me of Australian abroginal art. Love it!

The previous comment came to me upon first glance. Gneiss colours but don't take it for granite. Schisty stuff. Where is it? See my abstract folder. I think there are some photos of slabs there. This would look great as a large print.

Brendan, Kim, Ipeson, David, thanks for your support.In response to David's question. This is in Norway, just in front of the NW-most snout of the Svartisen glacier, in the Svartisen National Park. Just above the lake you see in the centre of this map, or this other one.

Geologically, this is not schistous terrain. Rather solid, actually. And well polished by the glacier which was above those stones just a few years ago.

As for your similar picture, David, you won't believe it but I had it in mind when I shot this in June: I had seen -and commented on- it a few weeks before leaving!

Salvatore, this is art at its best -- mysterious, abstract, challenging, playful and beautiful. I should also add, natural and of the earth to the delight of our senses. This would be hanging on my wall...

No scale is indeed a great aspect of this abstract. My very first impression was that of an aboriginal wall painting, befitting your caption for this image!

Now that I know the true nature of this capture, I am left wondering if this is a rotated version of the actual view of the glacier.

David, thanks for your support... as for my wall, I have been thinking of it. Shall you have free wall space, I can send you a printable file...

 

Peter, the aboriginal art seems to be a favourite interpretation of this when looked at from down-under. As for the scale, this is roughly 1m across the width of the shot... Should get one of those small geological scales with dots and lines of few cm across, and bring it in the camera bag for those cases ;-)

Terrific abstract Salvatore! I love the organic flow of the shapes and the patina and textures of the surface. This image conjured up all sorts of thoughts. Of course, the title led me in one direction initially, then I thought-oozong lava, an aerial shot of a river/canyon, bracken growing on a decaying tree....the list goes on. In the end, what I appreciate the most about this image boils down to the essential compositional elements of form and color. Nicely seen and captured!

Laurie, thanks. Your comments in the field of abstraction are well received and appreciated. I am pleased to see that the lack of scale did work also for you. I had another shot, taken some meters to the side, which I deleted because a little pebble, indeed, gave away this illusion too soon.

Salvatore, I will make room, if you would be so generous. I would consider it an honor to have print and hang this image. My email is: daverob@comcast.net

The one thing that bugs me about rock closeups like this that don't have any special lighting is the texture looks flat. So flat that the viewer has a tough time discerning scale. i.e. How large are those tiny specks of rock? How deep are those ridges? In reality we don't care because this is about the shape and the dark versus red on either side of the shape. Unfortunately, in this case texture is your enemy.

 

I spent quite a while playing with this one and finally came to the conclusion that it might be best to remove these specks from the photo. Since I have several photos with rock closeups that have the same issue, I think I may try this with my own work too.

 

I did a few things:

 

1. Rotate--snakes bring tension and a vertical is better for scenes that are not "pretty"

 

2. A gradient, light on top and dark on bottom.

 

3. S curve after gradient to restore contrast.

 

4. Despeckle to remove specks.

 

Now we focus on the shape, rather than the texture.

David, I'm impressed you took all this time to enhance my image.

 

For what concerns the original lack of texture, there are two reasons. First, the day was overcast, not a big news in that part of the world. Second, this rock was truly polished by millennia and millennia of glacier grinding and its recent retreat. We were just at the edge of the glacier, as in the picture here above.

 

As for your version, I have to abstract myself from the memory of what the rock really looked like. If I do so, I like what you did. I like the vertical tension it produces, and the way the gradient enhances such a feeling of vertical motion. It is extremely interesting for me to see how an unbiased person -without the bias of a real memory of a place, that is- can re-interpret a scene giving it a strong visual impact.

 

Thanks again!

 

I am glad of the impact this image is having: I was close to forget about it for good and not even post it here.