I found last year that I really liked having a project in the back of my mind when I went out shooting.  Something to look for in places that I've been many times in the past and will revisit many times in the days/months/years to come.

Last year my project was dead and decaying trees/stumps/branches and such.  And this is something I'll continue to look for while wandering around, especially somewhere new.  The same way I always look for birds, butterflies/insects, larger landscapes, etc.  But, these are harder to come by in familiar settings.  So, what's the next focus?

Right now, I thinking abstracts and/or in-camera manipulations of images (that latter being what happens when the camera or lens or subject are not fixed).  I was out last week and made some examples of abstracts over at Lone Lake that I thought I'd share:

Rippled LightClick to Purchase

The sunlight was creating interesting shapes under the rippling surface of the lake, while the blue sky was reflected on the surface.

Tree ReflectionClick to Purchase

Here, I like the way the ripples distort the tree's reflection, creating a recognizable but abstract image.  In the past I've inverted or flipped images such as this, but I like the image as taken.

Reedy ReflectionsClick to Purchase

The bold straight lines of the reeds contrast nicely with the reflections that are broken up by the rippling surface of the lake.

Sad EntClick to Purchase

The technical term for seeing an recognizable shape where none exists is "pareidolia".  In this case, I was wandering around the lake and saw a scowling face in the tree.  I decided to title this one "Sad Ent" after Tolkein's tree-folk.