Producing Stunning Texture Photography Images

July 24, 2010

The general composition principles apply to texture photography just like they do other fields of photography. It is not feasible to carry out a comprehensive review of the field of composition in a few short paragraphs. Instead, three aspects of composition that tend to be particularly essential in texture photography will be covered: contrast, curves, and patterns.

Paying attention to these three aspects of composition can really make your texture images shine. So, let’s have a look.

Contrast’s Role in Composition

There are two primary kinds of contrast. The first is tonal contrast. The second is color contrast. Both of these types of contrast can be utilized effectively with texture images.

Either kind of contrast can be utilized in a couple of ways. The initial way is within the texture itself. When contrast is utilized in this manner, it improves the detail. This makes the detail stand out. Consequently, one of the best ways to create excellent texture images is to start out with objects that have either good tonal contrast or good color contrast. Luckily, there are plenty of such objects around. For example, one object that has good contrast is an aged, weathered, tree stump.

If desired, the contrast can be improved further by utilizing side light. Side light will create shadows that fall across the texture, thus, improving the contrast.

Selecting a background that contrasts, in either tone or color, with a textured area is the second way to use contrast. When this is done, the textured area will stand out and will attract the attention of viewers of the image. So, the way to make this approach work is to carefully select a textured area and a background that contrast. Again, there are a lot of these types of objects around. A single, green vine climbing up a white wall is a good example of an object that would work well with this method.

Therefore, finding an object with good contrast and taking advantage of side light (where applicable) is a very good start to creating texture images. Next, we can move on to the use of curves.

How to Utilize Curves

Texture can often take the form of curves. These curves can be very successfully utilized for composition purposes. These curves can be either leading curves, or they can be non-leading curves. Either type is effective with texture images.

As the name implies, leading curves direct a viewer’s eye. So, where do leading curves led the viewer’s eye? Generally, they guide the viewer directly to the image’s center of interest. Considering that the center of interest is the keystone of an image, this is a very important. The curves in the pedals of flowers that point toward the center of the flower are one example of this use of curves.

The other type of curves is non-leading curves. These curves do not lead the viewer to the center of interest. The role that this kind of curve serves is different in that the curves function to add either emotional or informational content to a texture photo. Basically, they help to spice up the image. The ripples found in beach sand or a desert sand dune provides a couple of good examples of non-leading lines.

Patterns

Patterns can be successfully used to attract the interest of a viewer. On the other hand, there can be a problem with patterns. If a pattern is very simple, it may fail to hold the viewer’s attention for more than a fairly limited time. Therefore, it is necessary to be a little more ingenious when using patterns if we want to keep a viewer’s attention for a longer time. There are a couple of ways that patterns in textures can be made more effective: multiple patterns and breaking the pattern.

The first approach is to use two or more patterns in the same image. However, the patterns must be used in a way that strengthens both patterns. A good example is a flower close-up shot where the texture pattern of the center of the flower is matched with the texture pattern of the pedals.

For some subject matter, breaking the pattern is a much better choice. This is usually done by placing an object into the pattern. One, black marble in a field of white marbles demonstrates this approach.

The inserted object should be carefully placed in such a fashion that it improves the composition. Often, using the rule of thirds (or a similar composition rule) in placing the object will give excellent results.

Conclusion

This article presents information that can provide a sound base for making great texture images. While it is true that this information is a good start, there’s more texture photography information that can be learned.

To learn more about texture photography, click Producing Texture Photography.