Photography tutorial: the importance of texture
By Shelton Muller
“If photography is used merely as a technical process to record some visual fact, it is an appendage to science. However, if it is used as an expression of emotions that’s personal to each individual…it becomes art.” - Peter Rose Pulbam
Text and photography by Ian Rolfe
Texture is such an important element of photography and sadly, one that’s often overlooked. Texture makes a significant contribution to the expressive qualities of any photograph whether in support of other visual elements or as the main element on its own.
Giving a three-dimensional look and feel to a flat two-dimensional surface is a work of art in itself and creating it is just one of the intriguing aspects of photography. The clever use of lighting, colour and contrast will enhance your photos to achieve a picture that will evoke the sensation of texture.
Tactile textures
This illusion to texture is directly related to the sense of touch. We know tactile texture is a three-dimensional relief of surfaces that is visible to the eye and can be experienced with touch. A photograph cannot strictly speaking do this, but it can call to mind the same sensory response if we photograph a subject that looks like it might be textured to touch.
Visual textures
Visual texture is two dimensional and is used by photographers to create a visual effect. The effect is visible even on the flat surface of a photo and anyone looking at the picture will usually respond to the sight of the textures as if it were real.
Light and the creation of visual texture
The play of light on the surface of any subject can alter the appearance of visual textures. Certain surfaces, for example, will reflect or refract light giving intriguing results. Both the direction and quality of light play an important role in emphasizing texture and it’s generally the rule that texture is accentuated by strong side-lighting or back-lighting.
The quality of light is equally important as harsh light can reduce the effect you’re trying to achieve. So too, smaller details in a subject are better exposed with diffused or indirect lighting. Try photographing the surface of an orange, for example, with strong frontal lighting!
An understanding of how light works on a subject will result in images that reveal texture. By employing various camera techniques, a photographer can create many kinds of visual textures. A combination of lighting, skill in the use of your camera and an understanding of what you’re hoping to achieve should result in photos that will stir in the viewer a sense of emotion and wonder. It’s then that photography becomes art.
Ian Rolfe can be contacted via his website at ian-rolfe-photography.com.au
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