The Most Abstract Nature Photographs I've Ever Created! 

Kim Grant - You make some of the highest value content on RU-vid. I watch a lot of photography videos on my phone and I value the educational/instructional ones. But the videos you post stand out as particularly special because you encourage us to appreciate the beauty to be found in nature all around us if we just look a little closer.

Love your utter enthusiasm... it's infectious!

Very creative Kim….. look like you had a great evening 😀

Loved those images with the abstract orbs of light. I really enjoyed the ones that also had some half ones. They added something special.

Hi Kim from Australia 🇦🇺 photography is experimental

I think it's really important to stop and take the time to just look and enjoy what you are about to photograph. It helps you absorb your surroundings and hopefully help you capture the atmosphere and your feelings in the photo you finally take.

Your videos are always so uplifting and inspirational. Thank you for sharing your passion of photography and nature with all of us.

Your videos are always inspirational. After watching them, I'm always eager to get out with my camera and enjoy being in nature.

Kim, I’ve been following many photographers’ channels lately, and your channel is my latest subscription. Quite a difference! What a philosophical journey on the back of the beautiful stallion that is photography. One of the things that makes the art dreary for me is when “the rules” get hyped and pushed like a religious mantra. You make photography come alive again, with promises of adventure and discovery by simply dipping in to your inner sense of adventure and unshackling the dogma. A huge thank you!!

I love the images, what fun. I also really enjoy your attitude. Thank you!!

One of your best. BTW I do believe fairies travel in orbs of light.

Thank you. I completely empathize.

Hi Kim, what an inspirational video this is. You are so right that we need to spend time enjoying the world around us and that a camera just gives us an excuse to look more closely. And maybe the resulting images will help us to remember too.

I love watching your videography get really good, you have come a long way from the beginning 😃 Beautiful video.

Thank you! Got a moment of peace watching this.

.......reflections of nature, nice one Kim 🙂

Sometimes all the better images that come from the day, are the ones we think we made a wee mistake ,overexpose or underexpose,to suit your taste,in focus out of focus where it works for yourself.

I've only recently discovered your videos and every one of them I can relate to. I've had numerous holidays in the area that you live and have been on that beach, and enjoying the woodlands beside it. As you have said, at times all you need to do is just sit and look at the beauty and capture memories. My photography is a bit in the doldrums this now, and it's frustrating me - simply too busy with other things in my life at the moment, but your vision, your words, your pictures are definitely inspiring me to get back out there and try to do more with my camera. Keep up the good work, Kim.

I agree with your message and in my opinion it is vital to be open to making the images that you find. if you get mentally locked on getting a specific type of image you can miss so much beauty, and by taking the time to soak it in as you do, allows you to see more details and subjet matter. A lot of people won't even go out if the conditions aren't 'perfect' and miss out on so much.

Kim, great message...explore your photography opportunities, but more important capture your memories.

I wish when I lived on your coast I could've explored more, but looking back I wasn't in a good headspace at the time. If I'd only known how much better I could have felt sitting on the beach. Thanks Kim. 🙏

Very cool! I think you're orb images turned out excellent, I would put one on the wall. Thank you and take care

I love all this kind of stuff. Especially when it happens by magic sometimes.

Thanks Kim. You have given me ideas for a stretch of water that I knew had a photo in but I could not work it out!

Again, here you are making beautiful art from common things we take for granted and don't notice the beauty in them.

Very cool Kim - Thank you!

I could really feel your sense of joy and wonder as you captured those dancing orbs, Kim. It's so true that regardless of the final images, if we enjoy the experience that's what matters most. Those beautiful images were an added bonus.

This is what photography is all about, well it is for me too. Life can be so hard but to get out with your camera in nature is a life saver. Thank you so much Kim for a great video.

Absolutely amazing and yes they must be ferries or as we might say in the States, water sprites. That's the only explanation. Works for me. Bill

Honestly, photography has made it so it's more difficult for me to just sit and enjoy nature. If I watch a sunset for example, I feel disappointed that I don't have my camera or I'm so concerned with getting a good shot I don't fully 'see' it. It's not photography's fault, its my own fault. It's like a double edged sword in a way. Photography does a great job of connecting me to nature. It makes me see better, observe things in ways I wouldn't if I wasn't into photography but the camera is also sort of an addiction that can take away from the experience a little. I wonder if its just me or if others have that problem.

I have watched your channel on and off since the early days and I have witnessed you grow as a photographer. You are certainly moving in the right direction. Ansel Adams used to say that there was no such thing as ' correct ' exposure, but the photographer had to choose the ' appropriate ' exposure, and that was tied up to their vision. He also used to comment that the only rule in photography was that there were no rules. It is inexcusable for a photographer in the digital age, to still pursuit the concept of ' correct ' exposure with all the visualisation aids available to them, the simplest one is the LV and that damn LCD at the back of the camera. Personally I am not too keen on all the usual cliche's that are regurgitated by most of the Y.T photgraphers. The sort of stuff that you and a handful of other photographers have started doing, is nothing but a breath of fresh air. I am sure others may have different opinions.

You just talking about photography, both yours and everyones, means an awful amount to many people, your visions are beautiful, again a therapeutic video, I thank you 🙏

Sunny days, especially on a beach around sunset are a joy to behold. Your "Talking Heads" had wonderfully vibrant and saturated colours. Your cinematography and choice of location angles was a joy to watch, including the silhouettes along the beach. Have you got a new camera to film with?

The world needs people like you to remind us of the nature/spirit connection. I know I have felt that way taking nature photos, and perhaps the beauty we ‘see’ and capture in a photograph can inspire others to see and feel the power of nature. When I look back at some old photos, even if I kind of cringe at my beginner mistakes, that photo still evokes a connection with the universe. Kudos on your podcast. Very much enjoying hearing from well known photographers, and you ask great questions that are soulful and evocative. Much appreciated.😊

At last ! Someone else who has discovered where the real joy of photography exists.

I love the shimmering light images. Where they single images or photo stacked.

Thanks Kim the first video of yours I've seen and it's very similar to the way I think. I live in S Wales and it's so inspiring to just walk alone with the camera and take in the evening light in the mountains or on the beach, the whole vista is an ever changing art gallery for the senses and now and then you get a quality photo too.

Your photographic journey is ever ascending. Your desire to collect aesthetically pleasing images where none were visible to the uninspired eye resulted in experimentation that led to some very lovely images. Thanks for sharing,, and providing another example of beauty in abundance in a limited space.

A stunning adventure. You have inspired me to go out this evening to capture golden light abstracts.

Wonderful!

It's lovely to see yourself enjoying life in nature. Beautiful to watch. What make are your shoes. Like the logo.

Excellent video!

Absolutely agree about the camera getting the human out of the house - it works for this old lad (and it's even more enjoyable for exercise than going to the gym). Loved the dancing orbs on the water.

Great narration or us.. thank you Kim!

Beautiful.

Interesting vlog kim. So glad you mentioned folklore. In modern sociaty we trend to forget. You'll know what I mean. Loved the images of the dancing sunlight on the water. Simply beautiful........x

An interesting video Kim. I would never of thought of looking for the sparkling light in the water. I don't normally do abstract, but the image's that you have taken in your previous video's make me think again. Atb Kim and take care.

Thank you!

Morning Kim. Another wonderful vlog and absolutely love the dancing orbs that was pure genius so well done. Life is all about balance and as Dolly Parton once said......Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life. So true. Hope you have a wonderful week.

Wow, thanks for another start to my sunday morning. The shots are different and beautiful I have never seen anything like them. I guess you can say a camera is like a painters brush. Have a blessed and safe week.

Beach good.

It's fun to take time and notice the little details. I'm enjoying the new direction you're exploring.

Beautifully stated and inspiring. Thank you.

❤

One of the first images that I ever took was of multi-coloured Christmas tree lights - it inspired me to capture light in nature - You had the Festive Music too! Lovely video, Kim

Omg… I live by the sea and have spent many an evening photographing the beach… never have I considered this… guess what…. I’ll be down there asap given it a go… thank you for the inspiration again 👍

I've doing this for years. Dead easy through trees with light coming through them. It works better with longer focal length lenses. I works great with my Olympus 40-150

The word Photography literally means 'drawing with light', which derives from the Greek photo, meaning light and graph, meaning to draw.

Hi Kim I hope you are well. I just wanted to say a huge thank you once again for inspiring me. Recently I have been struggling with finding something to photograph. I was getting frustrated easily with feeling like there was nothing around me to photograph that is interesting, that wasn't just any old photo that anyone could take. Thanks to you for always reminding me there are photographic opportunities EVERYWHERE I used this as a reminder, and suddenly there were patterns, shapes, objects, textures and more! I just couldn't get out of my head that "this is a boring subject anyone can take that photo nothing is special about that" Today I finally hit the breakthrough I needed with your guidance and advice I was reminded that I love and do photography FOR ME not for anyone else. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart Kim. Much love always Melissa ❤

Kim, you're not only a nature photographer, but you're also a nature philosopher, something in which, modestly speaking, we're alike. You should come to Chile, it has an impressive nature from the Atacama desert to Patagonia with its fjords and glaciers. If you ever dare, I would gladly be your host and guide, you already know... Finally I invite you to see my last video/exposition in youtube "Patagonia, the oblique light of autumn"

This was great. I agree with everything you’ve said in this video. I love the images you captured of the dancing light on the water they look really good, well done for spotting this potential and it’s something I will definitely try out for myself. I’m fairly new to photography and yes it’s as much about the experience and memories as it’s about the image. Your very fortunate to live so close to such a beautiful place and it’s great to see that you appreciate your surroundings.

Hi Kim, I think you’d enjoy experimenting with some vintage lenses (with an adapter mount) on your camera. They can open up a whole world of blurry, abstract goodness! A good place to start might be a cheap Pentacon 50mm f1.8 (m42 mount). Shot wide open, they can bing an explosion of ` fairies` to a photograph.

wonderful peaceful abstracts. how did you settle on f6.3 as most would shut it down further with such spectral highlights

Hi Kim, I really get a much more personal message from the way you immerse yourself into your photography. And the discoveries you sometimes make from what's right in front of you, like the out of focus shimmering water. I also like the way you add your emotional touch to your reason for being anywhere. No goals, just open yourself up to "see" whatever your emotions present. This is great stuff. Thanks again for a great video.

Beautiful vlog Kim. I've been investing more and more in little moments with my photography journey. I've always spent some really intense time my subjects, whether it's the stars, flowers or landscapes. Trying to tease out what they are telling me about themselves and about myself. It's not always productive from a photograph standpoint but it's always joyous. You remind me of that time and time again and I really appreciate you.

Beautiful video Kim. I'm a sucker for sparkles on water too. Always drawn to them. The images are stunning. I would 100% print and frame them. I really resonate with your words and am grateful for them ❤

Lovely, Kim. I love the way thin crescents present themselves breaking away from the full circles. Try it with a long lens on the sparkling sea as well.

I'm so envious that you have that on your doorstep. I love the sea/ocean and beaches but we don't have the ocean here in Ontario, Canada but we do have our lakes and beaches. Loved the dancing light/orbs - great images and the one really made me think of a multiple exposure of the moon in its different phases. Well done.

I love your videos! Always inspiring and insightful. One thought on this one, especially the emotional connection: the emotion may not always translate into the final image, but if that connection is not there in the first place, all that remains is technical perfection - or lack thereof. The images that stay with us - also as viewers tend to be the ones rich in emotion.

Your podcasts are good for you. I dropped in on Christian Fletcher today. I think his photography is becoming more abstract. I reflected on this, mine is too. To me, an image is what the camera writes on your memory card. A photograph is what you produce from it. When I use focus or exposure bracketing, I might use several images to make one photograph. Sometimes I make several photographs from one image.

This vlog reminded me of an exorcise I did in my teens. For reference purposes, there were very few cameras at the time that had built-in metering, not to mention anything program. After all of the technical training was completed and we were becoming adequately proficient with the basics. We threw out an exorcise with random variables. We did this on multiple occasions. Each of us in the club put a camera and lens combo on a scrap of paper and put them in a jar to be drawn out randomly. Since we all had different cameras, we would be using someone else's camera/lens combo. We used a 12 picture roll of 35 mm black and white film. Each of us was assigned a random number, which corresponded to a number on a map of the general area. Before heading out to our assigned point. We were given a subject such as patterns, texture, reflections, shadow, etc. The rules were simple one hour to shoot 12 frames, and return with one image to share, another hour to process the film. The next day, we would print our favorite image in the first hour and spend the second hour talking about the images. The photographer had 2 minutes to explain the picture, its creation process, and what they were trying to achieve. Each of us was allowed two sentences to say what we thought about the image. One was required to be positive. The other could be a criticism or a question. We did this in multiple variations over time. One of my favorite images someone did was a self portrait siting in meter high grass at mid day. The subject was reflections. Her explanation was she was reflecting on being ridiculed for failing to find something that refected. I may not come back with the image I set out to get but I can always find something interesting to share about what I saw.

hi kim,great vlog,we really enjoy your videos,in your last vlog i saw that you had an extra long camera strap,i`ve been looking for one of those for awhile could you let me know where you got yours please..tia

Pause at 5:03 that’s what my eyes see on a daily basis when I take my prescription glasses off. Bokeh’s all around. 😂

Great fun indeed! I was wondering... Do you do your own prints or do you use a service? I want to start to make some prints of some of my images. Thanks and stay barefoot and free!

Kim…what are your thoughts on using an f1.4 24mm lens for all nature photography?

I'm not one for the abstract, I guess my brain doesn't work like that, but I have to say I do like your images

yeah... too much yapping and not enough doing... MOVING ON!!!

Thank you!