Today’s subject is a series of aerial interpretations of a tidal formation known as ‘The Tree’ by locals. It is formed of sandbars and the action between the high tide lagoon draining. Due to the nature of fluid dynamics, the current magnifies any irregularities in the channel creating a self-reinforcing turbulent flow which in turn digs certain channels deeper than others. Over time, this creates ever deeper channels – but also channels that may land up shifting when the various flows deposit runoff material and interact with each other in unexpected ways. The upshot of all this is the creation of a pattern that can only really be appreciated from the air both due to accessibility and scale (and there would be no vantage point from the ground). The rate of change is much faster than you might think, too: these images were shot at the opposite ends of the same day, yet there are formations that are visibly different over the course of barely twelve hours. MT
This series was shot over Francois Peron National Park in Western Australia, with a Hasselblad H5D-50c and processed with Photoshop and Lightroom Workflow III.
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Ultraprints from this series are available on request here
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More info on Hasselblad cameras and lenses can be found here.
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Images and content copyright Ming Thein | mingthein.com 2012 onwards. All rights reserved
Ming Thein | Photographer 
Superb. I like very much the abstract ones.
Thanks!
Ming,
Curiously, the first word that came to mind when looking at number 6 (#159) was organic. The thought was not analytical, but spontaneous. For me, the best of the set.
R/Carlos
The whole subject is most certainly organic 🙂
Beautiful photos.
A question not related directly to the essay but I am just curious.
Do you care what aspect ratio you end up using for your photos?
Maybe it can be a good topic for a future essay?! 🙂
Thanks
Nope, I use whatever fits the subject/idea best. I’ve actually written about it already…
Very very nice portfolio Ming ! Out of curiosity was it shot from a helicopter or from a plane/Cessna ?
Cessna – insufficient range on the available helis.
Incredibly beautiful landscapes!
Thanks!
These are just lovely Ming.
Thanks Brett.
Beautiful! The fourth photo looks like a painting 🙂
Thanks!
The photographs are so luminous that they would be magnificent printed on semitransparent medium and exhibited backlit.
Agreed on the presentation medium 🙂
Can’t be more beautiful than that Ming.
I suspect that Tasmania might actually yield more material – but I have yet to go…
Like a mini New Zealand I believe…
That’s what I’ve been told, too…
Beautiful!
Thanks!
Beautiful! I took some years ago flying over and enroute to Lake Eyre (in South Australia) this reminds me of the same sorts of imagery though yours are simply stunning 👌
No pesky windows in the way, and I could tell the pilot to make a U-turn 😉
beautiful
Thanks.
Beautiful set. I’m sure they look even more amazing in large print! The sixth (H51-B0008159) is my favorite. Kudos…
The sixth is on my wall as a 24″ proof – I think it still needs to be larger, actually!
I bet! I can tell we are missing a lot of fine-detail on the web. I love the fractal nature of the subject. You can get lost in it…
I’ve got a personal theory that the ‘getting-lost-ness’ and fractal structure is precisely what makes nature and landscapes so appealing.
Beautiful photographs 🙂
#3, 4, 6
Thanks!
Any up-market architectural decor concern should leap at the chance to license that next-to-last image for use printed large. Same goes for a number of the earlier abstracts which can be drawn from this aerial series. Beautiful stuff.
Some were actually commissioned for precisely that purpose. Plenty more, however, remain unlicensed and available… 🙂