Textures a la Haley

In keeping with Jen's Monday post on texture photographs, I've decided to investigate texture in my own work.  However, this will be quite the different post from Jen's, since texture is not something I often actively seek out when I have a camera in my hand.  Also, my still life photography is limited, as again, it's not usually my thing.  Thus, this post will be less of the texture study that Jen's post was and more of texture quest.  So break out your coconuts and follow me as I find textures in my existing photos and contemplate it's affect and overall contribution to the photo.  *clippity clop clippity clop*

Ruby Slipper

Okay, so I lied; I do, in fact, have a still life photograph that emphasizes texture.  This was taken shortly after I received my latest camera, a Sony Cybershot 1080 (who, le gasp, lacks a name and is thus exceedingly jealous of Jen's Ernst), which has a fantastic macro setting if you have a steady hand.  In fact, I tend to shoot most of my photos in macro as I find it adds a detailed clarity.  

But to return to the photo at hand, this is one of, maybe, three photos I've taken in which I was actively including texture as part of my compositional thought process.  I really loved the contrast between the textures of the satin ribbon detail and the suede body of the slipper. The shine of the satin fabric as well as the visible lines of its weave enable us to visualize the feel of the ribbon - it's odd duality of smooth and rough.  Meanwhile the suede seems so much smoother and softer compared to the boldness of the ribbon.  The ribbon stands out more in the composition, which subtly enhances the texture of the suede by contrast.  This photo relies on the texture of the fabrics to become visually interesting.  Without the texture, the shoe would become a drab and boring subject, failing to stand out in any significant way.  The photo might still have been nice, but it is the texture that elevates the photo from nice to good.

Seagreen Shells

And now for something completely different!  Shells.  I love shells.  The beach is nice, but shells are my real favorite.  That's what inspired me to take this shot on a trip to Gulf Shores in December of 2009. One of my favorite aspects of this picture is the color; the seagreen tones really pop out of the photograph.  Color tends to attract my photographic eye when taking pictures.  And yet, when I gave this picture a second look, I see that a lot of what makes it visually interesting is texture.  The rough, lined backs of the shells contrasts with the shiny smoothness of the colored interior.  It sets up points of dueling interest that engage the viewers eye for a longer period of time.  The rough, almost sharp edges of the shells also add to the natural and organic feel of the photograph, making me want to run my fingers through the bin of shells all over again.

Then there are pictures where texture is not particularly obvious at all, like this one:  

Seagull and the Surf

This is an example of my partiality to nature photography.  When taking this shot I was thinking about not disturbing the bird, timing the photo according to waves, and capturing a shot of the gull with its head down to the water.  

One of my favorite aspects of this photo is the layers it contains.  Our eyes move from the foreground, to level with the birds feet, to the first line of the receding surf, to the larger line of the sea lapping at the beach.  But, when I was sorting through my photo archives with texture in mind, I realized that texture plays an extensive role in this shot.  What distinguishes the different layers if not the texture of the foam of the sea?  First, we have the tiny, distributed bubbles of the foreground.  This is followed by the slightly larger bubbles (almost like soap on hands) of the second layer. And lastly, we reach the foamy froth of the final layer and the rolling water of the sea behind it. 

While I doubt that texture studies will ever hold the fascination for me that it does for Jen, thinking about how texture can passively add to any photograph has certainly made me look at my work a little differently.  I find new appreciation alongside some old favorites.

Monday Mayhem: Tantalizing Textures

Never let me use alliterative titles again.  Ever.

So, let's lay out the current plan for SLP's post schedule: we will/should post every Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  I, Jen, will post Mondays, and Haley will post Fridays.  Wednesdays are kind of up in the air at the moment, but the intent is to provide a collaborative post based on a specific photography topic.  Excited?  Of course you are.  Or just pretend you are.

That means you, the viewer, will be able to bask in the splendor of...oh, whatever, I'm tired and need to post.

This Monday's post deals with a study that I'm currently doing: textures.  I'm not really sure why I started doing texture studies, but I did, and the great thing is I get to write a blog post about it.  What had been a silly little pastime in between exciting naps and even more exciting Internet surfing over a lazy Sunday has now developed into a interesting way to develop my attention to detail, along with composition, lines, and how to make seemingly "uninteresting" objects (if such things do exist), such as a cat toy, into something visually curious.

Texture Study: Feather (Feb. 2011)

  The first current study I did concerned the aforementioned cat toy, a feathery little thing that my cat has never played with (aside: if you've seen my Jabba the Hutt of a cat, you'd glean she'd never actually exerted any energy other than meowing at the food bowl).  I had only been puttering around with the camera--named Ernst, by the way--, but I became increasingly more focused on the subject's own detail as I continued to fiddle around with Ernst's settings.  Upon snapping this extreme close-up, I noticed that, aside from the toy's vibrant colors, the texture itself was an intriguing subject, with its lines lending to the feathers' softness.  This brings me to the main point of this post, actually, as many good texture photographs should visually portray the feel of the object while retaining a good composition.  In this photo, the feathers look soft while also remaining aesthetically interesting through use of their fluid lines and the balance of sharpness and blurriness.  Although color is a large focus of a picture like this, the texture of the object causes the toy to stand out.

Texture Study: Purse (Feb. 2011)

Of course, some texture studies are constructed in such a way that it's sometimes difficult to tell exactly the object's identity, which can lend more...interestingness (oh, shut up; I can make up words if I want to because I edit military documents*) to the overall photo.  As seen with this purse study, we know that the texture has something to do with fabric because of the object's visual feel--but the fact that this is a purse doesn't really mean much.  The different directions of the lines within the fabric's squares lends a harsher feel than, say, the cat toy's soft feathers, while also giving the eye a maze of geometric shapes with which to contend.  The overall curvature of the bag also lends interest to the photo's composition, giving the object's visual texture a rough, yet still soft, feel.

Besides, I just like it.

*I don't know why editing military documents gives me permission to invent words, but it does, and I feel very empowered by this.

Texture Study: Blanket (March 2011)

Generally, texture adds an extra dimension to a photo and can contribute substantially to a photo's success.  For instance, if the detail on my grandmother's crocheted blanket, pictured left, had not been as sharp, the overall composition wouldn't really be all that interesting.  However, being able to see the individual stitches in the foremost square allows the blanket to pop out of the photo and looks cozy enough to touch (please don't; apart from "grawr-it's-my-blanket," you'll only muss up your computer screen).  Although it isn't the most captivating photo, it seems to establish a sense of comfort and warmth to the viewer, like most blankets have a habit of doing.  Perhaps that's my own sentiment (although it's kind of a scratchy blanket), but the point is that I can feel the blanket's texture just by looking at the photo.  And that's kind of cool, I suppose.

Using texture to your advantage, be it in portraiture, nature, etc., can transform an otherwise pleasant photograph into something that stands out from the rest, and I've discovered that conducting texture studies causes me to more critically examine texture in more and more photo opportunities.  It's fun.  It's a learning experience.  And it may just save the world.