Abstract patterns in wood

Click for significantly larger size.

Who would I be if after two posts of generally landscape-y pictures from the Red Trail in Bastrop State Park on February 10th I didn’t also highlight at least one of the abstract patterns I found on the surfaces of the dead trees? This was by far my favorite, and it soon reminded me of designs from the Art Nouveau movement in Europe in the late 1800s. No doubt similar patterns in nature inspired some of those designs.

The photographers among you might wonder if I converted this image to black and white to emphasize the patterns. I didn’t. This is a color photograph, and there are faint traces of brown mixed in with the predominant gray. Speaking of which, yesterday Steve Gingold suggested converting the first photograph in this Bastrop series to black and white. I took him up on that, and if you’d like to see the result, you can go back to that post and scroll down in the comments.

© 2016 Steven Schwartzman