Abstract & Experimental | Naomi Stolow Photography (Wildlife & Nature)

Abstract + experimental photography

Fun with in-camera multiple exposures, slow shutter speeds and more...

Just playing about purely for the joy of seeing what images might emerge.

Rook feathers

Frozen in ice

A big freeze happened overnight and the next morning the water in my shallow orange and yellow mosaic bird bath had frozen solid. A few fallen oak leaves had become trapped in the ice. The wind must have whipped up the water as it froze, creating hundreds of tiny. intricate air bubbles that also became trapped on their way to the surface. It was so cold out, but I could not ignore the warm colours and textures I saw in the exquisite image before me.

Iris

I often imagine what it would be like to be so small that I could go for a walk inside the sumptuous, exquisitely coloured irises growing in my garden. I would marvel at the beautiful intricate shapes, patterns and colours as I wandered from one to the next, trying to capture their alluring beauty as i went.

Autumn leaves

On a chilly December walk along the riverside, dense trees lined the side of the path. Their abundance of rich, warm autumnal looking swirling leaves were so thickly packed together they seemed impassable, yet somehow created the most alluring spaces, inviting a closer look.

Frozen sunlight

The pond on my patio is made from an old cast iron bathtub and overnight the surface of the water had frozen. It remained icy all of the next bitingly cold day and come the evening, with the sun low in the sky, I could see long rays of light glittering on the water's slightly bumpy, iridescent surface. It seemed the perfect opportunity for some creative photography and I enjoyed shooting directly into the sun, watching the shapes of light dance through my lens.

The Ice of Monacobreen

The ice in this image is glacial ice, and over 3,000 years old, and seen at Monacobreen up on the northern west side of Svalbard. I love the way the wind has carved translucent, polished scallops into the side of the ice. I love the incredible turquoise light illuminated through it and the cocktail of silt and sand from the surrounding mountains causing the most beautiful and intricate designs within. All this makes it one of my favourites from that afternoon.

Looking at glacial ice, at first it is just fallen snow. The snow is filled with air bubbles and as it gets buried and squashed under new snow on top of it, the snow below compacts, reducing the air bubbles and creating ice. Hydrogen in the atmosphere bonds the shifts of ice together. Over many years the lack of air bubbles and the hydrogen together mean that light can penetrate more deeply into the ice. This combination means the ice absorbs all red and yellow light, reflecting the stunning blue light we recognise. Glacial ice also moves through rock and soil as it carves its way down the slopes towards the sea, so have a lot of other ingredients adding the soft greys and browns, that add to their beauty.

Frozen pond water

A big freeze happened overnight, and the next morning my small pond was completely frozen over. There had been a big storm and the high winds must have frothed up the water leaving the most beautiful geometric shapes as it froze.

Ice scape

The morning after a big storm my small pond had completely frozen over. The high winds must have frothed the water as it solidified, creating air bubbles and shapes that became frozen in time. Looking down on the pond in the early morning light, the patterns and colours looked to me like a scene from outer space.

Ice on the pond

A big freeze happened overnight and the next morning my small pond was completely frozen over. There had been a big storm and the high winds must have frothed the water, whipping up air bubbles of many different sizes that then became frozen in time as they journeyed upwards towards the surface. A scene that looked to me like something from outer space.
Canon R5 and 100mm macro lens (I think)

Poppy

While photographing down low amongst the poppies I imagine being so small that i can climb up inside the petals using the fine hairs up the stem as a ladder.

Spider's web

Taken in a shady wood, a shaft of sunlight shone through directly on to this web. The spider's web is strong, intricate and delicate all at once, and I think very, very beautiful works of art too. I see them as natural works of art. The strength-to-weight ratio of the material is quite remarkable, and spiders seem to be able to weave a web anywhere - often reweaving them daily. The webs have incredible properties, from attracting prey to letting the spider know when and exactly where prey is trapped.

Illuminated leaves

Plants under one of the biomes at the Eden Project in Cornwall. I was there on a Shadows and Light evening where they illuminated the biomes with coloured lights that created mysterious shapes and patterns within the plants.

Secret ice cave

We floated by icebergs of many shapes and sizes, each beautifully lit by the stunning midnight sun. This iceberg was solid but a change look through a small crack in the ice revealed a beautiful flat area in the middle of it that looked to me like a magical stage, set within another world altogether. I asked if we could go round a few times so I could try to photograph the inside. Unable to get too close for fear of our zodiac being sucked in and underneath, i had to use a long lens and hope for the best. I was lucky with this image as it describes to me the secret and magical world hiding within this white bulk of floating ice.

Just under the edge of the floating ice

Being out on the water at sea level, bobbing about amongst icebergs in the beautiful light of the Midnight Sun is without doubt a nature photographer's dream.

The arctic breeze blew frothy white waves complimenting the deep blue sea and the pastel blue sky. At times the sun was in-front of us and at other times behind, yet each way revealed sophisticated and exquisite patterns within the icebergs as we floated past them. Each iceberg seemed to create its own currents and tides, strongly pulling water underneath it, meaning much as I'd loved to have gone right inside one, we couldn't get too close to any or we'd be pulled underneath too!

Pond ice

Geometric pond ice

POPPY

POPPY STEM

Pond surface

In-camera multiple exposure of a pond's surface.

Bar tailed godwits

Swirling ice

Over the cold winter, each morning I was fascinated by the endlessly different patterns on the water's surface of my pond. Storms often whipped up the water and the water often froze during the gusts, creating beautiful patterns and shapes. This was taken early in the morning and i enjoyed the swirls of water set in ice.