First attempt at abstract photos

[aprhockey]

I got an idea for a setup to do some abstract photos and these are the 2 that I think came out the best. Can you guys guess what that setup was?
Also, what do you think? Composition? What I could've done to improve them? I guess with these pictures, I'm aiming to make the viewer question what the picture is showing.
Oh, and these are straight out of camera, except a little bit of cropping on the first image.

1.

2.

 

[KenC]

It's a tough subject because it is very symmetric, and as you obviously realized, you don't want to position it in the center of the frame. However, when you set it off from the center, you have no other elements contributing to the composition, so it just looks odd. With the second one, I guess you could extend the lines in the background so their ends reach the frame edges and define a shape that is more rectangular. I don't know what you were photographing, but if you could arrange it so that it's stretched to one side and forms concentric ellipses instead of circles, and position the spot in the center (looks like a bolt) so it's off center both horizontally and vertically that might be more interesting.

 

[aprhockey]

The second one is a little symmetric, but i don't think the first one is. I could have made it symmetric but I thought that would make it less appealing. I think you're right and I should crop the second one tighter to eliminate some of the dead space on the left. Maybe a square crop could work here.

And no, it is not a bolt.

 

[Infidel]

It looks to me like you're shooting through a glass coffee table (from underneath) with a drinking glass (or similar glass vessel) set atop the table. Beyond the drinking glass, the blades of a ceiling fan are visible, with the lights of the ceiling fan visible in the center of the glass in the second photo.

 

[thunderkyss]

I like them both. However for me, the beauty of abstract art, is not trying to figure out what it is, or how it was done. Instead, it's more about how it affects me. Your photos illicit an appreciation of beauty.. a simple beauty, the perfect circles, non concentric, with some sort of imperfection.. The contrast between dark & light.. I think they are stunning, and would be impressed if I were to see them as full sized prints.


I can't tell what they are, but it appears to be a nut at the "center of the first one" The "star" in the background makes me think we are looking at an office chair from the bottom up...... which kills the whole art thing if you ask me.

 

[aprhockey]

Thanks thunderkyss.
Hmm... now I'm not sure if I should tell what it is...
I can say that Infidel is pretty close, but there's no table

 

[Infidel]

You need not tell us what it is, that's up to you...but now I'm pretty certain that you're shooting up at something glass with a ceiling fan above it, in the background.

 

[sam_justice]

I really like this, you can see the light source from the ceiling fan which is what made me guess what it is. What I want to know is your settings for that, since the light seems so concentrated, almost controlled.

 

[aprhockey]

For the first photo: f/22, 1/8s, and iso 200
For the second: f/4, 1/60s, and iso 200