Category Archives: Abstracts

Attempts made to break outside of my engineering mentality

Purple & Green

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“Blue Rug Juniper and Woolly Thyme”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Many times I walk through our garden with my camera focusing on a simple objective. Contrasting colors and textures in our winter garden was my photographic theme during this day’s garden stroll. I consider our Heatherwood garden as one big experiment. This little vignette is the result of two seasons growth of a creeping juniper and a soft-textured thyme. It provides a tight contrasting ground cover in our Japanese influenced garden. More thyme has been ordered for this year’s planting project to provide additional interesting ground cover for the garden.

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Color Mixture

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“Ajuga et al”
Heatherwood Winter

Every stroll through our Heatherwood garden presents little “treats” of joy. The above image is from a shady part of our Japanese garden.

Nature’s Cycle

New and old mix together,
From decay, emerges new,
Another season ahead.

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Winter Beauty – 4

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“Foggy Sunrise”
Heatherwood Winter

Fog and early morning sunlight create a wonderful ethereal scene. Layers of fog and low lying clouds cover the valley below our home. The distant hills provide a dark hazy background silhouette in the middle. More low lying clouds obscure the Selah-Yakima gap and additional cloud layers cover the morning sky. Winter sunrises and sunsets are a special gift to start and end a day.

Many may think that the above image could be an abstract painting. It is not. The image is straight from my camera with only a very small amount of contrast added. Magic happens!

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In Search Of …

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“Winter Grass”
Heatherwood Meadow

Recently I have let myself become a little trapped into a photographic rut. Most of my work has been focused on recording what I see. At times the result has been “pretty pictures” that have not portrayed my real feelings behind what I see. I am in a state of being in search of what it takes to create a compelling image that is unique and reflects my feelings behind it.

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One Down, Two to Go

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“Redbud Abstract”
Heatherwood Woodland Garden

One month of winter has passed by, only two more until the first day of spring arrives. Our grounds have been covered with snow since the last week in December. We have enjoyed the beauty of the Heatherwood’s winter scape, but are getting a little “itchy” to get out and work in the garden.

I try to live each day in the present, focusing on what I can do today to enjoy it to its fullest. Each and every day is a precious gift. I feel a little guilty when I start wishing for the future. But it is hard not to when there is such beauty ahead.

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Convex or Concave?

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“Bryant Park Skyscraper”
New York City

This image is an “eye-teaser.” Does the center portion of the image extend outward or recede inward? Whichever you choose, close your eyes, squint, and choose again. This is another skyscraper around Bryant Park that intrigues me. I spent several minutes staring upward to determine the correct answer. But does the real answer matter, or is it just a matter of perspective?

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Lines, Curves, Reflections, Concrete, Glass

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“Bryant Park Skyscrapers”
New York City

These two adjacent buildings with their lines, curves, and reflections have always made me stop and look up. I make it a point on almost every trip to New York to take a walk in Bryant Park. Skyscrapers tower around the park. I look up and get dizzy as I try to make out the lines of the buildings and the relationships of the reflections.

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Back to NYC

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“Highline Neighbor”
Highline Walk, New York City

This building adjacent to New York City’s Highline intrigues me. I first saw a photograph of it in a book on the Highline. As I walked along the Highline this fall, the building’s fluid lines and reflections were like a magnet to my eyes. I spent several moments walking back and forth viewing different perspectives. I easily could have spent an hour. Time was short and I had a lot of area to cover. I will be back!

The building located on 520 West 28th Street is designed by Zaha Hadid. It houses 39 condominium residences. Its fluid curves is a major contrast to the other surrounding buildings. A courtyard garden extends to from the building to the Highline boundary.

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Made Me Dizzy

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“New York Abstract”
New York City

Riding a New York tour bus, I looked up at this building with multiple angles and reflections … I got dizzy! I immediately pictured what I saw as a modern abstract painting. New York City building architecture fascinates me. There is just so much to see. I could spend a whole trip just walking the streets looking up at all the different buildings. I can’t wait to go back.

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Abstract Thinking

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“Ornamental Grass Abstract”
Heatherwood Late Fall

How many ways can I look at something? They are infinite. This image is a 9-layer multiple-exposure, vertical pan of a clump of ornamental grasses in our garden. I enjoy looking at the world around us from multiple, sometimes abstract, perspectives. It helps me develop a balanced view of life that I would have never considered if I would have approached it from only one conventional angle. It also helps me come up with some creative images.

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