The dam birds, while they aren't exactly abstracts, definitely have abstract kinship. It was the lines and shapes that drew me into this project, and the birds were initially the punctuation, though they became more than that as I got to know them.

When I shoot for abstract-like intent, it is definitely with clear intent, it is almost never a happy accident. If there is cropping done, it is because I knew when shooting it would be necessary. Of course this does not mean I am always or even ever successful, only that I am trying. I think this is the case for me because of how I see. It took me a while to work through Arnheim's classic on art and visual perception, but it made me think more deliberately about how I see and consider how that may be different from other folks, why, and how that may influence my photography. I seem to notice shape and light before other components of composition, and that influences both my successes and my failures. It also persuades me to try pictures of those things whether or not there are sufficient other visual elements to support them.

Conversely, I often crop other kinds of compositions creatively and in multiple ways to find secondary images in them (finding crops of close ups in traditional landscape compositions and various/better crops of street shots, for example).

Certainly the ideal way to go about the business

I don't mind admitting that my thoughts were more of patterns, shapes and light in the ones I posted earlier, and that they were cropped specifically for this thread. What I hope we don't lose sight of, now that we've heard from those who prefer sarcasm and ridicule over teaching and learning, is that topics like these can be enlightening for many of us who haven't seen the photographic potential in such a way in the past.

I love that there is such a great variety of subjects, skill and interest in this thread, along with the whole of FYC and of UHH.

Exploring new ideas and sharing our enjoyment and discoveries is why most of us are here, eh?

- backlit grapevines shot through a window, from inside a coffee shop

The dam birds, while they aren't exactly abstracts, definitely have abstract kinship. It was the lines and shapes that drew me into this project, and the birds were initially the punctuation, though they became more than that as I got to know them.

When I shoot for abstract-like intent, it is definitely with clear intent, it is almost never a happy accident. If there is cropping done, it is because I knew when shooting it would be necessary. Of course this does not mean I am always or even ever successful, only that I am trying. I think this is the case for me because of how I see. It took me a while to work through Arnheim's classic on art and visual perception, but it made me think more deliberately about how I see and consider how that may be different from other folks, why, and how that may influence my photography. I seem to notice shape and light before other components of composition, and that influences both my successes and my failures. It also persuades me to try pictures of those things whether or not there are sufficient other visual elements to support them.

Conversely, I often crop other kinds of compositions creatively and in multiple ways to find secondary images in them (finding crops of close ups in traditional landscape compositions and various/better crops of street shots, for example).

Certainly the ideal way to go about the business

I don't mind admitting that my thoughts were more of patterns, shapes and light in the ones I posted earlier, and that they were cropped specifically for this thread. What I hope we don't lose sight of, now that we've heard from those who prefer sarcasm and ridicule over teaching and learning, is that topics like these can be enlightening for many of us who haven't seen the photographic potential in such a way in the past.

Exploring new ideas and sharing our enjoyment and discoveries is why most of us are here, eh?

- backlit grapevines shot through a window, from inside a coffee shop

The dam bird is amazing Min. I can't say I'm very attracted to abstract really, sometimes they appeal a bit and sometimes I just can't be doing with them - but this shot can be called whatever suits, for me the colours, shapes, textures, and slightly off bonk composition make it a stunner. You could even turn it 90degrees right and call it surrealism. Whatever you call it, hang it for sure! And funnily enough, below your post, I see Linda's vine shot, and that also appeals to me - perhaps my abstracts need to have something recognisable in them.