Arty Abraham

Headline

A long exposure transformed a wind-lashed mountain lake into a moment of stillness.

Short Description

Captured along the shore of Abraham Lake, Arty Abraham contrasts a weathered, bleached tree against deep blue water and distant mountains. A long exposure softened the wind-driven waves, turning a difficult afternoon into an image of unexpected calm.

Extended Description

This photograph was made during a three-day camping trip near Abraham Lake in Alberta.

After leaving a roadside pullout and exploring the lakeshore, I found exactly what I had been looking for.

A complete tree. Completely dead. Completely bleached.

Against the rich blue of Abraham Lake, it leapt out immediately. I knew the driftwood—not the lake—would become the subject of the photograph.

The wind, however, had other ideas.

Whitecaps covered the lake, competing with the pale driftwood and disrupting the simplicity of the composition. I reached into my bag of tricks and combined a ten-stop neutral-density filter with a circular polarizer. The polarizer strengthened the blue tones, while the long exposure smoothed away the wind-driven waves—the waves, not the MLS side.

With the camera mounted securely on the tripod and the tripod weighted down against the gusts, I waited through a series of long exposures. The final image transformed a restless, bitterly cold afternoon into something far more peaceful: bleached wood, blue water and reliable mountains quietly completing the composition in the distance.

Behind the Lens

Some photographs test your eye. This one tested almost everything else.

The wind was howling hard enough to shake the tripod, so I filled a bag with rocks and hung it beneath the centre column for stability. Then I sat on a small stool waiting for the long exposures to finish, cold, windblown and being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

The driftwood was always going to be the subject. The lake provided the colour, while the reliable mountains did their job in the background.

The calm water in the finished photograph is therefore slightly deceptive. Nothing about making it was calm.

I suffer for my art, bartender.