Practical Evening – Abstract Photography

Submission by Chris Bean

Abstract photography is one of the subjects for our PDI competition this year. Our first Practical Evening focused on practising techniques for photographing abstract images.

Neil Purcell provided various lights and equipment for us to try our hand at photographing oil on water, soap bubbles, and refractions. It was most enjoyable, especially trying to photograph bubbles before they burst. Some of us used our smartphones instead of macro lenses on our cameras, and I was surprised by the results I obtained.

Whether any images will be entered into the competition is uncertain, but it demonstrated what can be achieved with minimal equipment and provided an opportunity to discuss and learn new techniques.