shapes and patterns : when nature teaches art...

Check wikipedia or other internet source if you need the definitions of shapes and patterns  but all I want to give here is examples and some tips on  how to capture it for beginners.

Any camera

Any camera can be used to capture shapes and patterns, even from a mobile cam. Your eye is the main gear  (as always ). So go through following details, grab your camera and  get started!

Some camera setting suggestions for beginners

Please don’t use this as a rule as you are always free to express your own vision.

1) Use small apertures. F8, F11,F16 are the best s othat you can have maximum areas in sharpness.

2) use low ISO as possible to get finest quality and postprocessing benifits.

3) Keep it flat, I mean zoom and capture so that you can get patterns which are all look same size. But you are the owner of your vision so you  can become more creative with this and then   yell at me!:)

4) Observe lot of photos shot by others. Improve your eye. I have given some good links for examples end of the page.

Use this a just guide or kick start only but you will find your own way and taste as you move along.

My shots

I am not a shapes and pattern guy but I enjoy a lot when I look at other photographer’s shots . These are few of  my last one  year collection of shapes and patterns I shot during my photographic journey!

Why black and white?

It is just my preference to go for black and white. Colors sometimes can be very distractive .Black and white processing can give unique contrast to the image and will only emphasize the shape and the pattern in the picture. I will definitely write another blog sometime to show you my collections of color shapes and patterns.

Water

Patterns on water make me crazy. I think the reason is we dont see them  from our naked eye as water is not stable. If it is stable then we dont get patterns and will be extreme flat. So in this case  trick is to use very high shutter speeds so that we can freeze them in frame. Even a large aperture works here to get a high shutter speed. Check these images.

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The first one on  left is my top favorite .As anybody can recognize they are rain drops falling on a pool of water.

The second one  on right is surface of a large water body.  The nice slow window can make very soft waves and generate a smooth soft warm pattern.

Third one is a mess but still it is beautiful. A running water on the rocks when shot against the reflection of sunlight.

Last one is reflection of sunlight on a muddy water with a very fast waves generated by falling water or a moving boat etc.

Leaves

You can find so many patterns and shapes made by leaves. You can also see patterns on the leaves . Try to use very small apertures like f8, f9,f11,f16 and avoid direct light falling on them. Sometime a nice light can make a good patterns also because of the  harsh shade it gives.

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Flowers

So many shapes and patterns you can find on flowers too just like leaves. These are my take on them.

click to view this large

Miscellaneous 

Trees are easy possibility for shapes and pattern. Just the texture on the tree can make so many patterns.

Shapes on fire can give you some unexpected results. Very difficult to visualize before you capture it but these are to be enjoyed after  you capture !

Some other strange patterns I found in  unique situations

Bunch of trees captured from Moving train

Dead grass on a calm lake

Texture on rocks are very beautiful subject for patterns. This one I shot is the dead fish eggs on rocks found in sea shore.It doesn’t look beautiful but very interesting.

Couple of corns when put in the frame

Trees in fog moved by a strong wind

There are so many other ways to capture the shapes and patterns which you will realize after going through these links. Observe all these and keep the subjects in mind. you might invent something unique!

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photogalleries/patterns-in-nature/   ( where else ,  right?)

http://www.redbubble.com/groups/shapes-and-patterns   a fantastic collection of all kind of patterns.

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