Texture photography

What is texture photography?

Why is it important? & why is it useful in pictures?

Texture is everywhere, we feel over a thousands different textures everyday wether it is soft, rough, bumpy, smooth, the list goes on but it is physical to us and have the muscle memory to remember what it feels like.

What I think it a good picture is when you can identify the textures within the photo almost like you can reach out and touch it. Texture comes in my different shape, sizes, colours, tone and depth and this is important when trying to capture that 'life like' picture, for this there is somethings that you need to remember.

Avoid shallow depth of field, think about where the object is and judge the best distance that really captures the surface, the angle of the image it will look different if you shoot it at an angle rather than straight on as it will show more of the texture but also be more abstract. Avoid or remove anything that will create a glare or reflection in the image, moving on to the settings of the camera auto focus will be your best friend at it naturally locks on to the point of the image that you supposedly want to take, the right exposure will also help if the image is over exposed or under exposed then you might loose some detail and the image night not come out that sharp. (or as what you wanted it)

Here are some examples that I recently took for a photo challenge and the theme was Texture.

These pictures were taken inside of my sisters car, where I was looking at the different surface areas within one small space, obviously there is many more textures within the car alone but these were the ones I found interesting. I think that it is safe to say that I did a good representation on capturing some textures, after snapping some of these images I should've really experimented with other objects around me but my main focus was the car.

The pictures I have shown are very monochromatic there is a lot of black, white and greys so my next challenge would be to look more into colour and have some fun with that as well as find some new objects to photograph. You can find them almost anywhere even in your own home, if you keep looking for details the more creative opportunities you will have.

Or if you get tired of looking at the objects in your home then go for a walk, not essential to carry around a big heavy camera, smart phone will be just as good. While walking take mental notes of the different textures around you this could be tree bark, pavement, brick walls, even plant life or peeling paint. Whatever catches your attention and even if you like the location keep it in mind for any in the future shoots.

Last option if you haven't found anything interesting then make your own! abstract painting, natural objects (stones, flowers) even use things like flour, feathers, cup of water. As the day passes texture looks different, direct light can make the image look to harsh and sharp as soft light might blur out the texture that you wanted and depends if you want grain to your images, using artificial light you have more control over the way you want it to look compared to natural lighting. (you don't need no fancy lighting to create artificial light phone torch or a lamp)

I could go on about texture but I want to keep it somewhat simple for people and easy as possible, remember there is no right or wrong way a take a picture it's the creative mind set you have.

Follow me on insta for more pictures!

@shannon_photo_