The National Gallery Scupture Garden

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Washington, D.C., and was excited to do some photography while I was there. I had photographed in D.C. in the past, but the location definitely begs for making ‘touristy’ photos, which is what I had done. This was the first time that I was in D.C. with the express purpose of making abstract images. And the area is rife with possibilities, given the number of museums located there.

I found myself particularly drawn to the National Gallery of Art, especially its sculpture garden, where I was able to make both of these three image multiple exposure abstract photographs from the same sculpture.

© Howard Grill

© Howard Grill

If you are interested in how these images originated, the photo below is of the actual sculpture I photographed in the garden.

As you can see, the resultant images bear no resemblance to the actual subject. The first image was made by taking a three photograph multiple exposure with the in-camera blending mode (not all cameras have in-camera blend modes for multiple exposures and, if this is the case, the separate images can be combined in Photoshop) set to Lighten. Below is how the image appeared essentially straight out of the camera (a bit of contrast and some minimal color change was added in Lightroom). The unusual colors are related to using the Lighten blending mode:

© Howard Grill

The image was then brought into Photoshop where selections were made and a more pleasing color palette was applied.

I am curious, since I have been showing these types of images on my blog, would there be an interest in some “How To” posts on making this type of work? Let me know what you think in the comments!

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