Art in Nature

One of the things I really enjoy is creating artistic images out of natural things like flowers and foliage etc, what I like to call ‘Art in Nature’ or ‘Macro Art’. This involves taking my DSLR with a macro lens on, setting a wide aperture, and basically shoving my head into the middle of bushes etc in order to create almost abstract images.

The idea is not to produce a crisp and clear record shot of the whole plant but to create more arty pictures where perhaps only a tiny part of the plant is in focus, or indeed even in the frame, with the rest blurred out to create a soft backdrop. The intention is to highlight tiny details that are normally missed.

With these images, you cannot ‘see’ the idea in your head first and then get your camera. For these images you need to have the camera at your eye whilst you move around the plant, changing the point of focus etc as you go, until something just clicks…….and you click the shutter 🙂 !

The plant actually doesn’t matter because it is abstract images that I am looking for really so weeds, grass, anything in fact, can produce lovely images……in my view anyway.

The top image was taken with my head up amongst the branches of my Japanese Maple, and it was that sense of movement, of dancing, that I was after. The second shot is one of my my sempervivums but I just focussed on the tips and hairs.

The third image is cranesbill which seems to grow rife in my garden. The flowers are somewhat sparse and spread out, but I love the foliage when it turns red, as it does in dry conditions,……and obviously the greenfly love them too!

The final image in this set is Spirea which I grow for its foliage. The flowers are secondary and insignificant, hence my title 🙂 !

I have lots more of these images and I will post more later. They were all taken in my garden. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my artistic efforts, or rather, I hope you enjoy my efforts to capture some of nature’s art. Lets face it, nature is far more amazing than my feeble attempts to capture it’s beauty!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings, and I hope you enjoy exploring with me.

Until next time,
Your friend
The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

All words and pictures in this blog are the copyright of The Dorset Rambler and may not be reproduced without permission.