No matter what type of subject you enjoy taking photos of, there is a specific photography style waiting for you to be discovered. One of them is what photography enthusiasts refer to as texture photography. Kind of strange to your ears? No worries because we’ve prepared all the introductions about texture photography in this blog just for you.
Image taken from Japanese Crafts
What is Texture Photography?
Texture photography is a style of photography that practices capturing texture in photographs. It is described by many photographers as sometimes a challenging way to take a subject’s photos. In texture photography, subject composition, light source, and image depth work differently than what other styles of photography usually do. Capturing texture photography examples is all about patterns, the colors, and the depth of the subject you’ve chosen.
Every single detail of texture on your subject plays an essential role in the overall impact of your final texture photograph. Usually, texture photography revolves around intricate details, fascinating patterns, a good image depth, and a set of vibrant colors. Subjects you can take for the best texture photography examples are everywhere and can just be easily found by the naked eye. It can be in the form of art, amazing sculptures, detailed painting, sophisticated pottery, and carvings. You can even find inspiration from everyday objects like the trees on the street, flowers in your backyard, and even the type of fabric you are currently wearing.
Image taken from Paul Zheng
What is Texture in Photography?
In the world of photography, texture is considered as among the most important elements in showcasing a subject’s hidden beauty. It is a visual portrayal of how abundant in details a single object has. Texture in photography has the ability to highlight the set of colors, shapes, and actual depth of a subject’s surface which cannot be easily seen by the naked eye in just one glimpse. Textures in photography also vary from what type of subject you are capturing. It can be of smooth surface like glass, or rough like the details of a crumpled paper.
One best trick in unleashing the presence of texture in a subject is by simply adjusting your texture photography lighting. Lighting has a very unique way of releasing any photography subject’s hidden beauty. By getting the right source of light for your texture photography examples, you can easily succeed in getting the right shot.
Another you could do in getting the perfect texture in photography, is through the use of various photo editing applications. There are tons of editing programs which help photographers in turning simple photos into masterpieces even with just minimal enhancements. Among these known photo editing applications are Photoshop and Lightroom.
When using these programs, there are important key points you must remember in order to make your editing balanced. It is important for you to know these ideas to avoid getting your photos too unrealistic and overdesigned.
• Image Contrast
Image contrast is the amount or degree of difference between the lightest and darkest part of your photograph texture. This will be the one responsible for enhancing the best amount of lightness and darkness on your photo and make the texture photograph appear balanced. When editing for the image’s contrast, make sure you don’t go overboard to avoid getting too dark or an oversaturated texture photography image.
• Photo Clarity
Clarity makes any photo look more stunning. Enhancing the clarity of your texture photography image helps in adding more depth to your final image. When doing your edits, do not hesitate to go and experiment on the best level of clarity for your set of texture photography examples.
• Shadows and Blacks
Shadows and blacks are two essential elements in getting the best photograph. These two separate tools play similar roles in many photo editing programs. If you want to achieve texture photography that looks moodier, you can simply do it by controlling your image’s shadow and black settings. Blacks are usually the ones used by texture photographers in giving a more dramatic impact on the shadows in their photos.
Image taken from Steph Harding
Tips You Should Know on How to Put Texture in Photography
To give you more ideas on how to start capturing texture in photography, here are more tips we’ve provided for you.
1. Look for a Texture
You cannot start your texture photography without having the texture you’d want to capture. So, the first thing you need to do is find your inspiration on getting to know what is texture photography. Look for the type of texture you want to take a shot on. Finding a simple texture for your texture photography is very simple—you can even find something without going out of your own house. Look for unique and eye-catching patterns either on walls, pathways, curtains and even on your room’s floor. You might find it quite time-consuming at first, but once you get used to it, finding more texture photography examples will just be a piece of cake for you.
2. Create Your Own Texture
If you aren’t the Sherlock Holmes-type in searching for the best texture photography subject, you got nothing to worry about for you can just make your own at home. One best example is collecting small objects around you. You can experiment with the pebbles in your garden by gathering different kinds and colors and then taking a photo of them. Or you can use crumpled papers and plastics of different colors in getting a vibe of rough texture. Don’t just settle for what is usual and find something that can create a texture for your texture photography. Keep experimenting over and over again until you get the texture photography result you’ve been wanting.
Pro-tip: When creating your own texture, do not forget to include depth in your photos. Rough textures are often viewed as more attractive than the usual straight and smooth surface. Take high considerations of your image’s depth and dimension. Shadows play essential roles in communicating the depth and dimension present in a texture. If you want to achieve the perfect texture photography effect, never forget to include shadows in your photographs.
3. Have Your Equipment
Your equipment also plays an essential role in achieving the best texture photography effect. A tripod is among the most helpful photography equipment. Many photographers use a tripod in securing their camera’s position when they are taking their photos. Using tripods helps in getting the right angle of a subject at the same time, saves you from hurting your arms due to holding your cameras for a long time. It is also helpful in keeping a focus on your texture photography subject.
Speaking of focus, getting the best focus for your image is easier when you have a high aperture. An aperture of about f/8 or higher is most recommended by many photographers.
In terms of camera lenses, the type of lens you should use in taking texture photography depends on the type of subject you are capturing. If the texture photograph is in a smaller size, macro lenses would be needed in order to unleash the subject’s detail. When you plan on taking a texture image of a wall, a simple wide-angle lens like Nikon 18-55mm would do.
4. Play with Different Angles and Depths
One best thing about photography is that you can create your own style. You have the freedom to take photos and showcase them to your audience in your own creative way. Don’t be bored by just taking straight photos. Try playing around with angles and depths. Capture your photos from your own perspective. One tip to do this is setting up the aperture of your camera lens to its maximum value (on prime camera lenses it is about f/1.2, while on zoom camera lenses, it ranges between f/3.5 and f/5.6). This way, you can make the depth of field shallower. You can shoot your desired angle and see how it’ll work out. Just be brave and play with the depth of field by simply increasing the camera aperture value.
5. Mix and Match Ideas
Textures having the same color and pattern can be less exciting to look at. To avoid getting boring texture photography photos, try to mix and match your texture choices. You can add them by yourself and you’d be surprised at how pretty they would turn out. Texture collisions sometimes look more amazing and more beautiful because they help make your texture in photography more interesting.
6. Capture Uniformity and Repetition
Repetition in patterns also defines what is texture photography. These patterns are usually in either straight or curved lines and are definitely breathtaking when captured properly. When working with curve lines and other shapes, try to capture the ones that look somewhat the same. You can even take photos of still subjects that are not very uniform, but still, run from top to bottom in the same parallel direction for it will also make your texture photography more interesting.
7. Take Photos of Shapes and Reflections
When taking photos, you might stumble upon a pattern that resembles something. It can be either an everyday object or a living organism. Once you notice such resemblances, don’t hesitate and take a photo of it! You might even experience spotting shapes that resemble multiple objects, making a photograph texture more eye-catchy. Water or even a mirror can also create stunning texture photography images with reflections on them. So what should you do? Go and grab your chance of capturing fascinating photos!
Image taken from Tree to Green
Sell Your Texture Photography using an Online Portfolio!
Now that you’ve finally understood how the world of texture photography revolves, why not start creating your own?
With us, you can start sharing your texture photography photos through an online portfolio. You can create and design your own website template to make it even more interesting. Add features and choose your desired website templates from our collection. You can even post simple blogs and share your own thoughts!
Image taken from Jacob Tomas
Photography is not just for professional photographers. If you are someone who enjoys taking photos of anything that captures your attention, you can start exploring the wonderful world of photography. You can be someone who enjoys taking images of nature, a group of kids playing in the park, celebrities on a prestigious award’s night, a wedding of two lovely couples, models posing for magazines, and even the simplest form of object you’ll find in your area.
Got more questions? Chat with us and let’s start working together.
