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« Essential Filters for Digital Photography | Main | ExpoDisc White Balance Filter » December 2, 2006How to Show Texture in your PhotographsShowing texture in photographs is not that difficult when you know how to capture it. Photographs are a two dimensional medium, so to show texture, we need to light our subject in such a way that we present the illusion of depth in the image. To maximize texture in a photograph, side lighting is key. That is the direction of light comes across the face of the subject from one side to the other. This directional light will highlight the ridges of the texture and cast shadows into the valleys. These highlights and shadows are what is needed to emphasize texture in your photograph. On the other hand, front lighting is very flat and can be used to minimize texture in a photograph. Below is an example comparing side lighting against front lighting. Roll over the image to see the difference. This is a 100% crop from two photographs taken from the same location, with the camera setup on a tripod. The only difference between the two is the lighting used to illuminate the wall I used as a subject. This is obviously an extreme example, but it illustrates the point well.
To use this in your photography, when you want to emphasize texture in your subject, turn it to so that the light falls across your subject. If you want to minimize texture in your photograph, turn your subject into the light. A word of caution though, if your subject is a person, apart from removing any modeling (sculpting of the face through the use of light) turning them into the light may cause them to squint. Knowing how to properly light your photos to achieve the look you want will help you create stronger, more dynamic photographs. Next week I review the ExpoDisc white balance filter for more accurate colour rendition in your photographs. Until then, happy shooting. Posted on December 2, 2006 11:56 PM | Permalink CommentsPost a commentTrackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: |
