Rough or Smooth
One of the things we look for in photos is texture.
“Everything has its own texture and there’s something about the way things feel that you can just see,” says photographer and designer Cole Keister. Without touching it, you can recognise the soft and fluffy fur of a kitten or the rough and weathered bark on a tree. Capturing texture in a photograph can add visual interest, highlight unique patterns or even evoke emotions.
Texture photography overlaps with many kinds of photography, including everything from fine art to classic portraiture. Texture also plays an important role in macro photography. By zooming in on the details of an image with a macro lens, you can experience it in a new way. “Sometimes I photograph lichen and it’s an absolute sea of texture,” says photographer Meg Madden.
Whether you zoom in to experience minute details or you view something from a distance to experience it in the abstract, texture is an important compositional element that adds interest to your images and draws the viewer’s attention.
