Aspen Abstracts

Just a couple hours away from the hot and barren Arizona desert, at 9800 foot elevation, Boulder Mountain, UT (Dixie National Forest) is laden with fresh snow and aspens. I spent some time photographing both traditional shots and abstracts. Abstract photos like these work well with subjects like trees, high grasses, and snow. The trick is to use just enough blur to create the abstract, but not so much that the subject is not easily discernible. For these images I used my 70-200mm lens at the lowest ISO (50), handheld, and experimented with shutter speeds between 0.3 and 1 second. The snow was very bright, so I adjusted the aperture all the way down to f/32 and used a solid ND filter to reduce the light on the sensor. As is the beauty of digital, I fired off several hundred shots in succession, varying the settings and compositions slightly. I moved the camera up and down every so slightly during the exposure, and every shot was unique! These are my two favorites. When you are looking to create something a little bit different, this is a great technique to try.