As I stated when I announced this assignment, everyone has their own idea or ideas as to what makes up an abstract photograph.  Some of you took to this like a duck to water.  Others, like me, had no clue when they started and feel-ed their way through it.

All in all, we had 21 people submit links.  Thank you so much for participating!

Oh, one last piece of business before I share my thoughts of your work.  Gerry of Torch Lake Views was selected in the random drawing and won Nature & Outdoor Photography by Brenda Tharp.  I will be in touch soon, Gerry!

The newlywed from Ireland, Simone, broke a record as to have fast someone could contribute to one of my assignments. Her unfocused view of a forest reminded me of looking through glass during a rainstorm.

Gerry from her Writing Studio and Bait Shop shared a slide show of grass images which she took to their most simple structures and shapes.  Created a very modern artistic feel to them.

I never thought cardboard could like so stunningly beautiful until Carsten did his magic in a slideshow of images he created.

A new contributor, Brian, used off camera flash to highlight interesting and brightly colored patterns he found in a playground.

When does a mud puddle turn into art?  When Amy Lynn comes across one on one of her walks during late winter in Nova Scotia.

What caught my eye in Robin’s abstract photos was the color and textures of the leafs she focused in on.  Green can be a shocking color after a winter of white (or drab browns) and her photos got me to craving the color and the touch of a leaf.  This happened just before all the early blooms of the last two weeks.

Betsy (aka Starbear) shared two links but I want to talk about the flickr photo.  To me her photo of a natural formation looked very unnatural.  You would think it was man-made.  The simplicity of its shape, lines and shadowing point to nature as a person seldom stops there.

Take a restaurant ceiling and add a creative photographer named Nora and you get a Space Wheel.  The colors and textures beyond the wheel put one into outer space.

Brigitte submitted two links. The first was about flowers and, while they are nice, her second post blew me away. Now I know what to do with outdated technology!

Colette contacted me about using her Phanfare link.  After seeing it, I said, “Please, do!”.  It is a very mesmerizing image one could get lost in.

I enjoyed reading through Larry’s abstract post as he went about deciding what was an abstract photo to him.  I really liked all of them (including the pattern photo) but the finger painting one is my favorite.

Now we come to the person who inspired this assignment.  Isa’s photographic eye was able to find many kinds of artist looking subjects even as she is recovering from a recent health issue.  Thanks again, Isa, for the idea!

Even though this winter has been lacking in white, it has been very drab.  Must be why I am really enjoying the plant abstracts like the one Debbie shared with us from her trip to Florida.  The motion abstract is cool, too.

Laurie MacBride shared with us a set of wonderful abstract photos on flickr.  I particularly like the ones of the beach.  She also has a very interesting and lively blog called Eye on Environment.

I love a good tradition.  Karma and a few of her friends meet at a favorite place to have lunch each year.  Even the name sounds abstract, Pickity Place, where she found a few very interesting natural abstracts.

I think most people do not think of patterns as abstract.  I beg to differ.  Barbara shows us an amazing pattern abstract and swirls and reflections and a cool app to create even more kinds of abstracts.

I knew this assigment was going to be tough for a few of you.  It was for me.  I like how Dawn went about it.  She went looking and started photographing things normally she might have not.  Working with various subjects.  I think she did well and will get better.  I do think she needs to get closer. Give that a try, Dawn.

Truels nailed the technique I was trying to do in my post (see link below).  He panned his camera over a familiar subject and created an image which breaks it up.  Leaving colors, lines and patterns where there was none before.

I read about abstract photography and felt more comfortable using a couple of motion techniques and one photo using my iPhone and special effect app to create three abstractions.

Tracy has a good eye for macro compositions which take us into the surreal using real things. I felt like I had taken a fantastic voyage after visiting her post.

Nye got in just under the wire with her take on abstracts. She got in close and used shallow depth of field with her camera’s lens to focus on everyday objects in a new and, yes, abstract way.

Not making the cut off was KanniDuba (KD for short) but she decided to share her photos with us anyway.  I, for one, am glad she did. She challenged herself not to use a macro setup and found abstractions in the bigger world.  Oh, and KD, I always start and end my assignments on a Wednesday. 🙂

This assignment was chock full of outstanding photos and images and I wish I could set up a gallery for all of them to show the world.  I will be back in May for the next moving assignment.