Texture is how colours and shapes are captured in an image, allowing you to visualize the texture and quality of an object/objects.
Minor White
Minor White was a key American photographer and writer who made a big impact on photography. He was especially known for his artistic approach and the way he explored deep themes in his work.
Minor White’s nature textured photos are a really interesting l part of his work and they have inspired me to use natural forms for this texture experiment.
He had a knack for capturing the little details and beauty of the natural world. His images often focus on textures in landscapes, plants, and other natural forms, playing with light and shadow to create depth, which I have utilised in my images.
By getting up close and using shallow depth of field, he makes those textures stand out, giving his nature shots a really intimate feel. His love for nature comes through in his photos, making them not just pretty pictures but also something to think about. They evoke feelings and spark contemplation, making them relatable on many levels.
Contact sheet – all photos I have taken
Strongest Images – with preliminary editing
I took the majority of these images up-close in order to capture the texture of the materials. This resulted in a couple of the images become abstract and unrecognizable which I like. Many of the images are deadpan images which create a sense of detachment and sharpness throughout.
My Best Images
Unedited ImageOne edited version of the ImageAnother version I edited of the Image
This is my favourite version of the image that I edited on my phone. I like this image because it creates a sense of ‘golden hour’ as it looks like the sun is casting golden light over the pebbles. I did this by increasing the warmth in the image and turning up the exposure which exaggerated the light areas. I like how the light hits the high points of the pebbles because the light creates shapes on the pebbles surfaces, enhancing the image. I also increased the contrast which allows the texture of the pebbles to become more apparent.
Unedited Image
This is the edited version, I like this image because you can’t immediately recognize what it is, so you aren’t distracted by the material itself, your only focused on the texture. I like how there is a vague pattern in the texture which enhances the impact of the image. With editing the silvery colours are exaggerated which gives the surface a metallic appearance.
Unedited image
This is the image after I edited it on my phone. I like this image because of the texture created by the overlapping of the sea weed. I increased the exposure in order to contrast the lighter and darker areas. I also increased the saturation and vibrancy which made the dull colours become brighter.
I love this image as you can clearly see every line and crack in the wood. I contrasted the light and dark in order to make these lines stand out even more and create an even wider range of tone. I also like how there is a ring of warmer colours which fade into lighter, cooler colouring. The focus is on the wood whilst the stones around it have a softer focus, I think this creates sharpness and definition as it is being contrasted with the background.
Edits on lightroom/photoshop
I like this image because of the warm tones throughout which are contrasted against the dark markings in the sand as this creates texture. I decreased the exposure which exaggerates the darker red tones up close and makes the reflections in the background appear lighter.
Original Image
I edited this image to be black and white to take the focus of the colours in the image and allow the texture to be the main point of focus.
Experiments
I used photoshop to experiment with editing this image:
Using the sepia tool to change the colours in the image:
My Final 3 images
Cropping
Here I cropped each image 3 times to see which version was the best.
Layout Experimentation
Final Images
Images in Virtual Gallery
Evaluation
Overall, I have used organic shapes, combined with busy textures and a vibrant use of highlights and shadows. All these elements enhance the formal elements throughout my photos.
Throughout my images I have focused on organic natural shapes and enhances the highlights, which creates a consistent warm tone throughout the group of photos. Throughout this collection I have also tried to achieve consistent shadows to add depth which also enhances the organic textures and shapes.
My first image I edited multiple times, this version is my favourite due to the use of textural lines that create a path that pulls you through the image. adding depth and perspective. The foreground of the photo has a darker tone of deep burnt orange which blends to a bright yellow towards the top (background) of the photo. This variation in tonal range adds balance to the composition. This creates a wide tonal range within the image. The lines also break up the texture of the sand by enforcing some areas to seem smother and others to appear more texturized. The bumps of sand exaggerate the shadows and highlights as they are raised and some areas are hit by the light and others aren’t, this adds to the overall texture of the image.
In contrast, this image has less depth to it and it’s been taken at a deadpan angle. Unlike the first image which takes you on a path, this image focuses solely on the shapes of the pebbles and the reflective surface of the water. The vibrant areas on the pebbles stand out which creates a bright formation of colours, beneath the rippling water. These colours are framed by the shadows around the pebbles, this creates texture and contrast within the image.
Adobe Lightroom is used to organize, store and edit images.
Importing Images
On Lightroom there is an import button in which you can import photos to store in Lightroom.
On Library mode, you can flag images and give them a rating out of 5 stars. This makes it easier to organize which images are the best or which images you want to edit.
Navigator Tool
Navigator tool gives you presets, which give you pre-made filters that you can add to your images.
Develop Mode
Develop mode lets you manually edit your images by adjusting the contrast, saturation ect.
Here is all my images in lightroom.
Here I made a folder for all my texture images, so my images are more organised and easier to access.
Shutter speed is the speed in which the shutter of the camera closes.
Fast Shutter speed
Shorter exposure
Lets in less light
No motion blur
Fast shutter speed image
Slow Shutter speed
Longer exposure
Lets in more light
Motion blur
Slow shutter speed image- motion blur
The difference between fast and slow shutter speed
Eadward Muybridge- fast shutter speed
Eadweard Muybridge was a groundbreaking photographer who made a name for himself in the late 1800s with his studies of motion. His biggest achievement was using high-speed photography to capture how animals and people move, which was pretty revolutionary at the time.
One of his most iconic works is The Horse in Motion, where he documented a horse running through a sequence of images. This not only highlighted how the horse moved but also prompted fascinating questions about the nature of movement itself.
Muybridge’s techniques opened up new doors for photographers. He proved that photography wasn’t just about snapping still shots, it could also capture movement and explore how things actually move. His work also impacted sport science, biomechanics and animation.
In summary, Muybridge’s clever use of shutter speed and his technique of capturing movement in a series really shook things up in photography.
Harold Edgerton- fast shutter speed
Harold Edgerton was an American engineer and photographer famous for his groundbreaking work in high-speed photography. He created techniques and gear that let him capture super fast events, allowing him to freeze motion like never before.
Edgerton created the electronic flash, or strobe light, which let him produce a quick burst of light. This was key because it allowed him to freeze motion in an instant, making it possible to snap photos of fast-moving things like bullets, dancers, and falling objects.
He used super short exposure times to reduce motion blur. By syncing the strobe light with the camera’s shutter, he could get exposure times in the microsecond range. This allowed him to capture details that you wouldn’t normally see.
By mastering shutter speed and lighting tricks, Edgerton really took photography to the next level, showing off the beauty and intricacies of motion like never before. His work opened up new paths for both science and art.
Hiroshi Sugimoto- slow shutter speed
Hiroshi Sugimoto is a famous Japanese photographer and artist known for his awesome and thought-provoking work. He often explores cool themes like time, memory, and how we see things in his photos. One of his popular series is “Theatres,” where he takes long-exposure shots of old movie theatres, really capturing the vibe of light and shadow.
Hiroshi Sugimoto plays around with slow shutter speeds in his long-exposure photography. This technique lets him capture moving light and shadow over a longer time, giving his images a cool sense of time and movement all in one shot.
In his “Theatres” series, for example, he keeps the shutter open long enough to let the projector’s light hit the screen while the rest of the theatre stays dark. This creates dreamy images that mix stillness with a sense of motion, making you think about time and memory.
In his “Seascapes,” the slow shutter speeds smooth out the water, creating peaceful, almost abstract landscapes that feel really calm and timeless. Overall, his approach with slow shutter speeds adds a lot of depth and a unique vibe to his work.
Francesca Woodman
Francesca Woodman was an American photographer known for her haunting, dreamy black-and-white shots. She often used herself as the subject and explored themes like identity, femininity, and the passage of time. Her work really captures feelings of vulnerability and has a unique vibe.
Francesca Woodman often played with slow shutter speeds in her photos to create a sense of movement and a dreamy vibe. This technique let her blur parts of her body or the background, giving her images a magical quality. By capturing herself in motion, she highlighted fleeting moments and the passage of time, which really adds to the emotional punch of her work.
In a lot of her shots, the long exposure creates ghostly effects, since she’d move around or let the light linger in the frame. This not only brings attention to her presence but also adds a layer of vulnerability and depth. The mix of sharp and blurry elements in her photos makes you think about identity and existence, giving her work that haunting, personal touch.
Manual Focus– close ups and fine detail ( use the focus ring on the end of the lens and adjust for each shot)
Auto Focus– general focus
What is focal length?
The focal length of a lens is the optical distance (usually measured in mm) from the point where the light meets inside the lens to the camera’s sensor.
When light enters the lens, the light gathers at the focal point. Light travels in a straight ray whereas, when it travels through a lens it refracts.
What is Aperture?
Aperture is the opening in a lens which light passes through.
Aperture is like the “pupil” for your camera system, it can open and close to change the amount of light that passes through.
What is Depth of field?
depth of field is how much of your image is in focus. Its the distance in an image where objects are acceptably in focus.
Saul Leiter
Saul Leiter was a photographer who used abstract expressionism. He started out as a painter and he was influenced by shapes and colours. He used photography to create his own visions using reality.
He used depth of field in order to have different parts of his image in focus and others out of focus.
Here are some examples:
Lots of his images use large amounts of out of focus areas, drawing our eye to a particular detail or splash of colour.
A window covered with raindrops interests me more than a photograph of a famous person.
Camera obscura is a dark room with a hole in one wall. When it’s light outside, light shines into the hole and projects an upside-down image of the outside world onto the wall. The image is projected upside down due to light travelling in a straight line through the hole.
Camera obscura built the groundwork for light and optics used in photography. Due to it being a natural phenomenon it makes it hard to pinpoint the exact origins of photography.
Henry Fox Talbot
William Henry Fox Talbot was made the British inventor of photography. Photogenic drawing paper was invented by Henry Fox Talbot in 1834. Silver Nitrate and Sodium Chloride were used to make the light-sensitive Silver Chloride. Before he got into using small wooden cameras, nicknamed mouse-traps by his wife, he made images using plants (he studied plants). Unless it was fixed, the image would fade as fast as it was created. He used Sodium Chloride, Potassium Iodide, and Potassium Bromide for his early fixers. His Early images are very rare and priceless.
Daguerreotype
Daguerreotypes are direct positives, made from copper plated with silver without needing a negative.
The Daguerreotype was not as successful as Talbot’s system because it had serious limitations, the mirror like surface of the image could only be viewed from a narrow angle and the process produced a one of a kind image that did not permit printing duplicates.
George Eastman
George Eastman was born on July 12th 1854. He was an American entrepreneur who introduced the first Kodak camera.
He formed the company Kodak by spending decades developing a camera that was much smaller in size and accessible for everyone to use. He publicly launched the first successful roll-filled hand camera in 1888. Which was known as the Kodak camera.
Kodak (Brownie)
The Brownie was a series of cameras first released in 1900 which were developed by Eastman Kodak. These cameras were so significant as they were the first to allow average middle class people to buy and use them. People would take photographs then return them to Kodak where the images were developed and printed. Kodak would re-fill the film and return the images and camera back to the owner. This created a sustainable system for the general public to create their own images.
Digital Photography
The first digital image was created by Russell Kirsch in 1957.
First digitally scanned image of Walden Kirsch.
The image was of Kirsch’s son Walden, the image only measured 176 pixels on a side and was just 5 cm by 5 cm.
The foundation for digital photography was built in 1969 by the Eastman Kodak team. Engineer William Boyle and Physicist George E. Smith created the charge-coupled device (CCD). This enabled electronic images to be captured.
In 1975, Steve Sasson invented the world’s first self- contained digital camera for Kodak, which changed the future of photography. He made the camera using a movie camera lens, a handful of Motorola parts, 16 batteries and some electronic sensors.
William Collie
In Jersey, William Collie was most likely the first to use Fox Talbot’s calotype process. He was from Scotland but had business in Jersey in Belmont road and Bath street from before 1850 to 1878. He held an important position in Britain’s early development of photography but sadly, he isn’t well known and very few of his images are available.
