Abstract Forests of the World Series™ | Appalachian Trail, Maine

As the name suggests, my Abstract Forests of the World Series™, features impressionistic exposures of Earth’s iconic forests. The abstract effect is created in-camera by opening the shutter and moving the camera vertically. The movement smoothly blends and preserves the colors of the forest while softly erasing the myriad of finite details – a process that accentuates the vertical nature of the trunks themselves. When done right, this technique allows the viewer to explore an impression of a forest – a glimpse that is both reality and illusion.

I have found that the boldest colors of autumn often line the edge of the forests – particularly in clearings made by a marsh or pond. This is especially true for the breath-taking crimsons that you almost never find in the heart of the forest. Crimson was captured adjacent to a marsh, near the northernmost point of the Appalachian Trail, just outside of Baxter State Park and Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine. Ironically, this beautiful forest, which has come to be one of my favorite places to capture fall colors, grows in a forest designated for timber harvesting.