Textures in Photography

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PHOTO CHALLENGE | Seek textures all around, but look a little closer to find something a little less obvious. What colors, light, or patterns stand out to you that showoff an interesting texture to make a worthy photo.

In essence, textures are details that visually describe how something physically feels. Textures can be smooth, rough, and anything else your hand feels when it touches a surface. In photography, depth, good contrast, and patterns are what define textures, or rather, define the illusion of texture. And you can further intensify these in post-processing or an editing program.

One of the greatest things about textures is that you can find them almost anywhere. The more details you watch out for, the more creative opportunities you’ll discover. Commonly, you can photograph things like flowers, feathers, and water in motion.

Don’t forgo the notion to create your own textures, too:

  • Take an abstract, or macro, photo.

  • Collect and organize natural objects like pebbles, leaves, or dried flowers.

It’s worth noting the obvious, that even the most beautiful textures will look unflattering in the wrong kind of light. Direct light (i.e. midday light) might add too much contrast to your photo, while soft evening light might make it difficult to capture a sharp photo. You can find the most flattering light between these two extremes. The way textures look changes as the day progresses. This is what makes natural light or ambient light so unpredictable and fun to work with.

Textures in portrait photography:

You can use textures to add more depth, vibrance, and contrast to a face. Human textures include hair, wrinkles, and freckles.

Treat human textures the same way you would those found in nature. Photograph them up close, in detail, or from a distance. The more detailed they are, the more striking your photos will look (don’t confuse this with increasing your clarity slider in LR, that is not flattering on portraits). You can also use textures to enhance a portrait background. Even you’ve blurred a pattern due to depth of field, it can add much-needed contrast to a simple portrait.

Editing photos with texture:

You can make your textures look even more outstanding with the help of a few editing tools:

  • Contrast will enhance even the dullest of textures. Move the slider to the right. Make sure you don’t go overboard or else you’ll end up with a dark and oversaturated image.

  • Clarity will add depth to every detail in your photo, but can quickly make elements in your photo look unpleasant, so be mindful.

  • Shadows and Blacks – These are two separate tools that play a similar role in editing programs. If you want to make your texture photography look more atmospheric, move both sliders a little to the left. Blacks, like contrast, will have a more dramatic impact on your photos than shadows. Allow harmony between the light and dark elements in your photo though so you aren’t distracted by the contrasting blacks.