Nature photography can not only capture the beauty and intrigue of a particular landscape but can also lend itself to the creation of artistic abstract images. Award-winning landscape photographer Jim Nickelson spoke about how his pursuit of abstracts in nature has impacted the evolution of his own photography.

Based in Camden, Maine, Nickelson works as a fine art photographer, custom digital printer (as Nickelson Editions), bookmaker, and teacher. Before committing himself to the photographic life, he pursued the atypical artistic career path of NASA engineer and corporate attorney.  He has received numerous awards, including those from the Baer Art Center in Iceland, the book arts studio at Maine Media Workshops, and has been honored as Artist-in-Residence at Acadia National Park and at Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona.  Nickelson has exhibited his photographs widely, and his work resides in museum, corporate, university, public, and private collections across the United States and Canada.  To see his work, visit his website: https://www.jimnickelson.com/.

Critique

The following images were submitted for Critique, a supportive conversation among members to help a photographer achieve their vision.

Assignment

The assignment for November was to make images using intentional camera movement, otherwise known as ICM. This is a creative photographic technique where the photographer deliberately moves the camera while taking a photograph to create abstract and often surreal images. The purpose of ICM is to blur and distort the subjects in the frame, resulting in a dreamy or painterly effect. 

ICM is often used to convey a sense of motion, emotion, or mood in a photograph. It can be achieved by various methods, including: panning, zooming, rotating, and tilting and swinging.

Sharing

Members shared these additional images from their travels over the past month.

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