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Practicing creative photography.

One of my goals when I went to Iceland was to get out of my comfort zone and experiment with different types of creative photography. Even signing up for a primarily landscape based photography trip was a stretch for me as I do not consider myself proficient in landscape photography. I do however find that practicing this genre is beneficial for my bird photography as I become more conscious of elements within the frame and therefore create more interesting compositions in my bird images.

I decided to expand my comfort zone as soon as I arrived in Iceland which meant going for a walk through the town with my camera. Urban or street photography is definitely not my strong suit (remember I’m an introvert - link to blog), but there is such a vibrant air to Reykjavik with lots of street paintings and colourful buildings.

I wandered around for several hours and collected a series of images that I’ve called city graffiti impressions. Some were definitely vibrant and colourful while other pieces had a more solemn tone sometimes with clear messages.

I have heard that this street artwork is so much a part of the fabric of the cityscape that there were protests when a building was to be demolished which contained a particularly favourite piece of artwork. I can see why there is such passion around this street art as it brings a very urban vibe to this city.

Erik Malm ICM

I spoke about this technique a bit in this blog post where I have been using slow shutter speed and intentional camera movement to create what looks like a multiple exposure image in a single exposure. For those non photographers - this creates the same effect as overlaying several images, but it is done all in one shot which is a bit unusual and unique.

I worked on this ICM technique at several locations during the trip and I was quite pleased with some of the results. There was this first one from the Concert Hall which really captures the interesting architectural features of the building.

I found this an interesting technique to experiment with as this iconic building has been photographed by so many photographers and I wanted to express how I felt in this expansive and overwhelming building.

My unique perspective really speaks to me about the light and spaciousness of this space.

I also tried this technique when we were at a glacier lagoon with some beautiful misty conditions. The light was very soft and diffuse with all sorts of interesting shapes formed in the ice.

I was fascinated by the quality of the light and the way the misty conditions softened the shapes even more. I wanted to find a way to capture this and convey the peace and tranquility of the moment.

I found that one of the best ways was to capture one of my fellow workshop participant’s image as he was shooting a landscape scene. There is an ethereal feeling to this image with the lovely mist and soft light.

I find this technique very challenging, but when I’m able to capture images that I’m happy with, the results convey the way that I feel in that moment very well. It is also a good way of photographing well known locations with a different perspective and look.

This next image is a good example of doing that as we were photographing on the beach at Vestrahorn which is a landmark that has been captured by so many photographers. The afternoon of this photoshoot was quite bright with some high thin cloud and quite windy conditions with wild white capped waves creating localized misty conditions as the wind picked up the water from the cresting waves. I wanted to capture the feeling of being out in the wildness of nature.

This image captures that feeling for me with the hints of blue in the water and sky and the soft form of the mountains in the background. This is a good example of capturing a famous landmark in a different way.

Intimate landscapes

Another area that I explored was intimate landscapes which tend to be focusing on small areas of a larger landscape. This allows the photographer to hone in on details and really portray the essence of a landscape.

I found myself drawn to this type of image when we spent a wonderful evening at Vestrahorn. The light was amazing and kept changing and becoming more golden as the sunset.

Others in the group were focusing on capturing the changing light on the mountain and I made the decision to venture out across the marshy beach.

I initially thought that I might come across shorebirds to photograph in silhouette against the setting sun, but instead I came across the most amazing patterns in the sand made by the receding tide.

The shapes took on animal forms, fossil like structures and the golden rosy light tinged the wet sand with a full spectrum of colours.

I was like a kid in a candy store - framing up images and then shifting slightly to capture a different angle and light reflection.

The light was changing so quickly and moving from golden tones to rosy hues that I had to work quickly to capture the image the way that I wanted.

I loved the repetitive patterns in this section of beach - the gentle curves had such a flow to them.

I spent a good amount of time working a small area of the marsh and I was so pleased with the resulting images.

Shapes and textures

At a fundamental level photographic images are all about lines, shapes and textures and how they are arranged in pleasing or interesting compositions. When this concept is taken to an abstract level it is sometimes hard to discern what the image is of, but the shapes and textures will draw the viewer in and encourage them to spend time trying to make sense of the image and just enjoy what has been captured.

Macro photography

Another area of photography that has an abstract element to it is macro. Macro photography usually means extreme close up of small objects or capturing a life size image (keeping the 1:1 ratio). I usually like to play with macro photography when I’m photographing flowers or insects, but in Iceland I found that photographing baby icebergs or pieces of icebergs was a lovely way to capture the details within the ice.

This image is actually a very small piece of ice - about fist sized, which fascinated me as it caught the light of the midday sun. The level of details in the ice structure refracted the light much like a gem will.

I loved that I was able to capture the reflection in the mirror like surface of the glacier lagoon and this baby iceberg is overshadowed by a much larger piece of ice at the top of the frame. The same crystalline structure is repeated in the larger piece of ice and in that piece of ice’s reflection. This repetitive pattern is also a key part of this composition.

My key takeaways from my Icelandic abstract images project

One of the key things that I recognized from focusing some time on abstract images is how difficult it is for me to translate what I see into a composition that actually works. It may seem easy to set your camera to a long exposure time and then wave it around to create an ICM image (I’m being facetious here in my description of intentional camera movement - ICM), but it is not that easy. To really capture something that is engaging and reflective of what you’re looking to capture takes a lot of patience, practice and deleted images.

I did notice that setting aside time for this type of photography really helped me to slow down and focus on looking for different and interesting compositions. I find that this has the knock on effect of slowing me down when I’m engaged in other types of photography which helps to improve the quality of my experience and my images.

Have you ever tried something outside your comfort zone and found that it helped you in other ways? I’d love to hear about your experiences either in the comments below or contact me directly by clicking on the Connect With Me button.

I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.