Depth of Field and Abstraction Inspiration

Abstraction: Freedom from concrete ideas and realities, often a representation of a general idea.  In photography, this means straying away from or tweaking the "rules" of design and composition.  Abstract photographs may represent a larger theme or idea, and cause the viewer to observe the photo for some time.

Some Examples:

Derek Mohr

Mohr used an extremely shallow depth of field, and it looks like he used free lensing to create an even shallower depth of field and distortion.  The shallow depth of field and distortion makes this tree a dynamic and interesting subject.

Bill Vaccaro

Vaccaro used a shallow depth and a vignette to emphasize the center of the photo, drawing the viewers' eyes to the tree's branches and trunk.

Angles, Elements and Filters

When shooting my first roll of film, I thought my meter was broken, so I tried using the sunny 16 rule. Unfortunately all my photos were completely underexposed.

I shot my second roll if film still not knowing where my meter was.  However, I had a better grasp of the sunny 16 rule and shot my roll outside.  As a result, I got a few good negatives from this roll.

Before I shot my third roll, I realized that when trying to meter, I was looking at the focus arrows instead of the meter arrows. Once I found the meter arrows, my negatives were much better exposed.  I went to some new, interesting locations when shooting this roll, and as a result, most of my matted prints are from these negatives.

Motion and Triptychs Inspiration

Panning

Donnell Gumiran

Slow Motion

Koci

Freeze Action

Erika Kaisersot

Total Motion

Martin Kimbell

Effective Use of Camera Shake

Erik

More Effective Use of Camera Shake

Paolo Barzman

Same Action, Opposite Movements


Panning
Sung Lee


Freeze Action
Bruno Long

I think the panning photograph is most expressive, as the streaked background allows the biker to be the focus subject of the photo. Furthermore, the streaked background expresses speed, something experienced while biking.  Also, the high contrast in value allows for a darker, more dramatic mood.

Triptychs

Hengki Lee

Barry Flanagan

Triptych: A picture containing three pictures placed next to each other.  These pictures often connect in some way and work better together than as a standalone picture.