topic > my artistic intention

Looking back on 2013

January 02, 2014 in About my arttopics:

A new year has begun. So I thought I’d take a few minutes to look back and select some my favorite photographs I created during 2013. Spectrum – A simple image, of a very tiny leaf, but its personality just explodes in the print. Shelter…  read more


Airfoil by Daniel Sroka

Airfoil – an abstraction of a shell

October 03, 2013 in About my arttopics:

We found this broken shell on the beach during the last week of summer vacation. It’s not a “pretty” shell, by any definition, but it does have a strong presence and it demanded that I bring it home to my studio. My favorite characteristic of…  read more


an abstract of a calla lily

September 04, 2013 in About my arttopics:,

My kids gave a bouquet of calla lilies to my wife on Mother’s Day, so I created this photograph to make their present last a little longer. This photograph celebrates the clean and simple shape of the lily, as well as its subtle shifts in…  read more


Spectrum – an abstract of a leaf

January 25, 2013 in About my arttopics:

This leaf is a tiny thing, no bigger than my thumbnail, and would have been very easy to overlook. But its vibrant colors caught my eye, in spite of its size. I wanted this photograph to celebrate this small but rich spectrum of color, glowing…  read more


Langour - an abstract of a leaf by Daniel Sroka

Possibilities from an ugly leaf

November 26, 2012 in About my arttopics:,

I collected this leaf while visiting the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx with my family last month. The leaf appears to have been blown about the garden for some time: it is dried, beat-up, and frankly, rather ugly. I didn’t hold out much…  read more


abstraction of a maple seed

June 14, 2011 in About my arttopics:

Today I’m working with a small stem containing several seed pods from a maple tree — what my kids call “helicopters”. I love the intensity of the vascular system of the seed, and how it conveys images of riverways or arteries and veins.


my favorite photographs of 2009

December 31, 2009 in Newstopics:

The end of the year, a time for reflection. Although it was a busy year, I managed to create a number of photographs I am very proud of. Photographs that remain pinned to my wall months after I have finished creating them. Furnace I (abstract…  read more


A new abstract of a leaf: Dragon

June 05, 2009 in About my arttopics:,

I’ve been working on my art each day for the past couple weeks, working my way through a collection of leaves, seeds, and acorns from last fall, trying to find one that captured my imagination. While most days yielded little progress, I kept at it,…  read more


Work in progress: more views of a sunflower

April 24, 2009 in About my arttopics:

Today I continued my third day photographing this single sunflower. It’s amazing how deeply you can get drawn into such as simple object. The more I worked with it, the more I wanted to continue exploring. What surprised me most about this work was how…  read more


Exploring a sunflower

April 23, 2009 in About my arttopics:,

Last weekend, my son and I found some sunflowers at Trader Joe’s. They looked so droopy I didn’t hold out much hope for them. But we bought them anyway, and were amazed at how much they bloomed once we got them in water. This photograph…  read more