What does a texture do for an image?
Neil September 4th, 2008
Let’s talk about texture
In response to my release of the Light Touch beginner’s textures, we’re about wisdom here
Can you see what’s happening when I added the texture in the first image?
Can you quantify it in your mind?
If not I recommend taking a read of the classic text “Perception and Imaging” to give yourself a strong backbone in realizing the subtitles and abstractions of what you see.
But let’s try and put our finger on it for a moment with the end in mind – what does a texture do for an image?
In the first image I composed the shot with a piece of the ceremony decor in focus with the bride’s head in the background but out of focus. The sharp objects are perceived by our eyes as the subject – the blurry or soft things are the ground – upon which the subject ‘rests’ or ‘resides’. Without separation there is nothing.
So what happens when a texture file with small sharp details is introduced?
In the texture file that I used from the Lighting Overlays Disk 1 set, a focal plane runs through the image with the texture of paper in sharp focus. In this image where only one small object is in the focal plane the texture adds to the perceived depth of the image by adding more ‘figure’ to the figure/ground relationship. It appears as though the crystalline beads rest on something as they sway in the breeze.
The second image of the diptych shows the opposite point of focus, but has the same exact texture applied to the image. Even with my best blue sky photo processing tricks, I couldn’t help the bride’s face rise in perceptual value without some additional lightening or darkening of the sky. I chose the blue texture file and applied it in overlay blend mode which darkened the sky while increasing saturation. Here’s the image as it looks straight out of camera raw.
Interesting perspective, but not the same dramatic picture energy as the finished version. The lighting overlay helps channel the image’s tones into a dramatic and emotionally engaging corner burn (compare the top and bottom right. The cooling blue effect helps the skin-tones rise in prominence and the overlay blend mode deepens the shadows and brightens the highlights for a stronger dimensional feel to the hazy sunlight.
I hope this discussion brings you deeper understanding on your path to visual wisdom!
fan this site
Honestly….I dont think the texture added anything to the images. The second one for example benefits more from the increased density of the surrounding area, not the texture. There seems to be this great tend to add a “cool texture” to an image. Very few times in my opinion does it actually enhance the image. Again, that second set with a bit of a vignette would have resulted in similarly darker background, while preserving the skin tones of her face. The first one, we dont get to see the before version, but again, it is textured, but personally I dont see the texture as having added any aesthetic value to what was already a fine image.
Both images are very good to start with. Thats the key. You did a great job capturing them. Sometimes I think we as photographers are “over enhancing” what would otherwise have been an excellent image. I wonder in 10 years if textures will be quite so popular or be like the old image in the wine glass from the 80s.
brad
“I dont see the texture as having added any aesthetic value”
Then you may not know what aesthetic means, since that’s all it is.
Aesthetics (also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste.[1] More broadly, scholars in the field define aesthetics as “critical reflection on art, culture and nature.”[2][3] Aesthetics is a subdiscipline of axiology, a branch of philosophy, and is closely associated with the philosophy of art.[4] Aesthetics studies new ways of seeing and of perceiving the world.[5]