In his book “Learning to See Creatively,” photographer Bryan Peterson discusses six elements of design: line, shape, form, texture, color, and pattern. Mr. Peterson defines a pattern as lines, shapes, form, or textures (I would include colors, as well) that are repeated over and over in relatively regular intervals.
If you like photographing patterns, there is good news — nature is full of patterns. Sometimes, they can be difficult to discern from the surrounding chaos. At other times, they can be hidden in plain view. This was the case with this image.
I had been walking around one morning in an area of Pinnacle Mountain State Park known as the Arkansas Arboretum. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular to photograph that morning. I was just trying to keep my eyes, and mind, open for possibilities, but I wasn’t having a very productive outing.
As I neared the end of the trail, I found myself walking by a pine tree. I gave it a quick glance and continued walking. I took just a few steps when I suddenly stopped, turned around, and really looked at the tree. That’s when I noticed the interesting patterns that its bark formed.
Setting up my tripod, I carefully positioned the camera to be as parallel as possible to the plane of the tree to ensure maximum depth of field and captured this image.