One can find art in the least expected places. “From Desert to Sea” is an abstract image that I captured initially with my iPhoneX and then returned with the big girl camera and a macro lens.

This image has been accepted into a Juried art show by the Maryland Federation of Art and will be on display beginning on January 24, 2019. Focal Point Art Exhibit will be held at the Circle Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland and will feature photographic art by a variety of artists.

It’s easy to be caught up in the technical aspects of the camera. The need to be able to edit the images taken in Lightroom for fundamental exposure and contrast adjustments can overwhelm the novice photographer.

It is our duty to look beyond the snapshot behind the camera and create art from our spirit when we capture the world around us. It is an exercise in retraining the thought process of how to approach a subject and how to see it differently than someone else would.

In fact, it commonly happens that you’ll have several photographers right next to each other photographing the same subject, but each one comes up with a different view. It takes a bit of exploration. A lot of practice and time in the field to start to see what subject matter speaks most to your artist’s spirit.

As I am a Gemini, true to form, I bounce from here to there with enthusiasm with everything that I see. I have my passions for nature and wildlife photography but I also am intrigued with the concept of abstract photography. Forming random color, shape, and textures in a way that may resemble something familiar.

And so when I had the opportunity to wander around a junk yard, you know I was having a ball discovering all sorts of nooks and crannies. And of course the junk yard cats made it even more fun. I discovered that an overcast day made things easier when I wanted to capture closeups and saved me from having to use a diffuser.

For the image above I first saw this abandoned, rusted old Nissan truck in the yard. Filled with junk and vines growing over the tires. So many possibilities of what I may come away with.

But what caught my eye was the sand colored rust on the hood of the car and how it blended into the blue. As if it was sand on a tropical beach. The wispy cuts in the car paint added texture. The challenge for me was to decide how to frame the color transition and what portion of the rusted area I would use for the image.

With those wispy cuts, I knew when I saw them what type of editing technique I would use once I brought the image to my digital dark room. Topaz Studio with the painterly Topaz Impressions module was perfect to use to create a sweeping look to the cuts.

It’s pretty exciting stuff, being able to create an art piece out of the least expected place. The best part is being an adventurer on search of new discoveries and keeping excited about the wonders of life.