Queens Head, Yehliou, Taiwan

I’ve spent the past few days fighting off a cold which has meant the cameras haven’t really been out for awhile. So I’ve spent a bit of time playing around with a few textures. I’d originally had the intention of putting together a more detailed tutorial about the use of textures but ultimately decided against it. Why? Simply because Trey Ratcliff has already created the ultimate texture tutorial and so rather than try to reinvent the wheel, I’ll just send you over to his site where there’s a choice of three different texture tutorials. Click here to go to his tutorials.

Like any other photographic technique, textures are ripe for abuse. You can easily go too far and produce work that is quite ridiculous. In general, I prefer to use texture in a subtle way that doesn’t overpower the image. The Queen’s Head photograph above is an extreme example for me. More to my taste is the portrait below. There’s a hint of texture in it but it isn’t the main focus of the photograph.

Newari Man

One thing that texture should not be used for is to rescue an otherwise poor photograph. A lot of people tend to resort to some kind of tricks or special techniques to try to squeeze life out of photographs that simply don’t work. HDR is a prime example of this but there’s also black and white conversions, oversaturation, fake tilt-shift and so on. Not a day goes by where I don’t see a photo enthusiast post something online that uses these techniques that should never have seen the light of day. Texture should be used in order to enhance a photograph that is already strong rather than to salvage one that’s weak.

The image below was shot with the intention of using a texture in the processing. The location ultimately didn’t quite match what was in my mind so it’s sat unpublished until now. I want to share it now to highlight the point that it’s often better to have a plan before you shoot rather than simply winging it and relying on Photoshop techniques to save you.

China Girl

Textures do have their place in photography but like any other technique, they should be used as part of your overall vision not merely a crutch to lean on when things don’t work. Check out the tutorials and share your results with me. I’d love to see them.