Texture and Pattern

Texture and Pattern

Definition & Theory

Texture: Refers to the tactile qualities of the physical surface of the object.

The challenge of seeing and capturing texture is mostly based on one element - light.

Texture can be accentuated by the side light of early sunny mornings or early, evenings or by overhead light when the sun is vertical and high in the sky.

Pattern: Repeating shapes, colours or objects ordered in either regular or irregular formations.

As a photographer, using pattern is key to good composition and when used effectively, can transform an otherwise bland image into something dramatic and eye catching.

 Patterns are formulated all around us, in both natural and man made settings.

Research of artist

Ansel Adams was born on the 20th February 1902 and died on the 22nd April 1984. He was an American photographer and environmentalist. Most of his photos are black and white landscape. His black and white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters, books, and the internet.

 

All the above images are in black and white which means you can see more texture in the images. This makes the photographs more detailed and interesting as if there is a story behind the image. The black and white set a mood, such as sad or depressed, the black is a bland colour with lots of emotions behind it. Ansel Adams has a very interesting way of photographing what's in front of him, he manages to access the light and dark colours easily which makes the images riveting for the viewer. The first image is of a long road, because there are mostly dark colours, this brightens the white and makes the road look further away. The second image is of some leaves - I chose to present this one in my work as this is very basic and I feel I will be able to achieve a similar photograph to this, I like how the lighter colours are shown in the more visible leaves and the darkness emphasises this.

Image bank

The following images were added as part of my visual research...

The above are a collection of images that contain either texture, pattern or both. The reason I chose these images is because I feel I could capture similar photos around Harlow and elsewhere. I feel as if it will be difficult to capture both texture and pattern in one image but I will attempt to do so. The first image was chosen more for the texture of the wood and the pattern of them individually - I can attain something similar but I will be photography trees. The second image is of a drain and there is a very clear texture and pattern in this image, for me to do a similar style/type of photography to this then I will have to get on the floor and get the right settings. The last image is of what I think is a beach/sand, the the patterns are not as appealing but it gives the viewer a sense/knowledge of what the bumps in the sand would feel like.

(A01: You must ensure that several of the visual ideas/inspirations within the image bank are pursued)

Selected images - CONTACT SHEETS

I enjoyed taking pictures of textures and patterns because I feel that it is everywhere. So I took a variety of images. I found that some things were more difficult to capture as the texture was not clearly seen or focused. I'm pleased with most of these images because the texture came out really well. I feel as if I didn't get enough pattern images because I mostly concentrated on capturing texture. 

All of these images were taken according to what I thought texture and pattern was about and I am pleased with the outcome. By taking these photos, it has widened by opinion of texture and pattern as drastically changed as I am using my creativeness to show these formal elements.

My best images

This photograph shows pattern, you see this with the recurring pattern of windows which are all the same size and shape. I like this image as it shows that pattern is everywhere, and can be seen differently depending on how you look at an object. This pattern is very clear and noticeable as it is simple yet interesting. When editing this image I will crop out a bit of the road so the focus is more on the building, I will also use the filters to change the settings to black and white as this is what Ansel Adams has done to his images.

This photograph shows pattern. This is seen in the wheel and how the lines are all symmetrical and equally apart. This image was taken to capture the details of a car wheel, and how precise these details are. The details on the car wheel have to be precise in order for the car to be seen as "the best made". Also, these lines all combine into one blur once the car starts moving. This was taken in the Asda car park and I got level with the car wheel to get this photo, I am pleased with the outcome because you can see the detail on the tire and the rest of the wheel.

 This photograph shows texture. The visual texture is the roughness and unevenness of the bark. I really like this image as the surroundings really compliment the tree, so the tree is the main focus as the background is quite bright and the tree is grey/green. The colours on this image are very vivid and bright which makes all little details stand out the most. The tree is clearly the main focus as the composition was done well - the tree is centred. When editing this image I will turn this black and white so my final edited images are in a series, all linked to my researched photographer.

This photograph shows pattern. Pattern is seen in the spider web and on the spider itself. The pattern on the web is disruptive because there are holes and some lines are uneven. There is a symmetrical pattern on the spider. The composition of this image was okay, but I felt that the spider could be more centred to be this photograph more pleasing - but how it turned put is good because you can the spider web clearly and you can see the detail on the spider. I will edit this to black and white and change the sliders on this filter so some colours are lighter or darker.

Images that require improvement

The first image is of a feather. The reason I dislike this image is because the camera did not focus properly on the feather and the my shadow was ruining the lighting. Also, I found it difficult to hold the feather and also try to focus & hold the camera to take the photo. During the taking of this photograph it was a windy day so the feather kept blowing and the camera was not able to focus properly, making it difficult to capture the photo that I wanted. If I were to re-shoot this image I would use a tripod so the photograph is not affected by the shaking of my hand, also I would wait until the wind stops because then I the image will be acceptable.

The second image is of a waterfall. This didn't turn out well because I didn't use the right shutter speed setting or I didn't have it on, so the water is blurry and not focused. This was taken in Gran Canaria when I was on holiday with my family, this is a swimming pool waterfall for decoration. I took this because I thought it would look interesting and you could see the texture and detail in this photograph - but sadly I did not have the settings correct and I was not able to capture the photo I wanted. If I were to re-shoot this image again I would concentrate on picking the right shutter speed and taking the photograph at the right moment. 

(A03: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress)

My idea of recording texture and pattern is to look at buildings, pavements, animals, etc in more detail and analyse where I can see a pattern or a texture that you can't see with just a quick glance. I was inspired by Ansel Adams and his way of photography, by looking at different angles. Also, because of his use of the black and white setting I am inspired to use this to make my images more textured. When first shooting texture and pattern I was concentrating on trees, leaves and flowers (nature), so I need to explore a wider variety of objects and items which I feel I can do. 

Even though Ansel Adams photographs a mix of things, his work nature work stands out the most to me because I like how, once the image is turned black and white, you can see the detail and the specific lines on the leaves which is interesting to me.

(A02: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops)

Most of these photos was taken using a Fuji Fineopix S9600 and the rest were taken with a Samsung NX20 20.3 MP SLR. I have got myself familiar to using the Fuji Fineopix camera so some turned out better than my previous work. I'm still working on improving my skills with the Samsung camera. I used mainly the manual focus. I need to start using a tripod more often because this will clearly refine my work as my hand shaking will not affect the result of the image. To improve my images I imported a few into photoshop, to make the textures and patterns more distinct...

The first image is of me using the blemish tool to get rid of the shadow behind the tree. Next I selected the tree and inversed it so the whole image is selected. I then used the black and white filter which turned the background black and white and left the tree as it is. After this I changed the hue/saturation of the tree so it is more vibrant and more detail can be seen. The last image is of the final product and I am pleased with it because the tree is clearly where I want people to focus on to see texture and pattern. Also the texture of the tree looks 'stronger' and you can visually see what the bumps on the tree more clearly. This image shows my ability of what I can do on photoshop by showing what colours I change and how I have done that. I feel I could have editing the black and white part a bit more by making the trees a bit more clearer and I should have used the spot-healing tool to get rid of any abnormalities.

I believe I have presented a really good image and I have very pleased with the outcome. Too make this image better I could have experimented with some of the filters and see which one appealed the most to me, so I can widen my skills. 

(A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding)

I found researching photographers for texture and pattern quite difficult because most of their work was very exotic and abstract. I feel like a photographers intake on texture and pattern is very unusual as they are very creative. I have not achieved that creativeness yet as this is my first time I'm being serious about photography. I was inspired by all of the photographers I looked at because they all had different intakes on how to capture texture and pattern. I enjoy researching different photographers and their style of photography because it inspires me to be more creative and try to come up with a similar idea or access new ideas. 
In this formal element I don't think I completely accessed my creative side as I am still looking at the basics and taking photographs of basic things - I can still maintain some really good images but I feel I need to focus more on what I am photographing and take my time so my photos are pristine. 

(A04: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements)

I found texture and pattern quite easy, as nearly everything has different textures and patterns. The camera and composition is really important because if the camera does not focus properly or doesn't have the right settings then the photo won't turn out right and you won't be able to see the details of the pattern/texture. I feel that I could have taken more texture photos but I found it difficult as I wasn't to sure how I could describe a specific texture, or if the camera would focus on the texture. I made some edits of my images, I attempted to make them relate to my photographer Ansel Adams. I believe I have achieved this as most of Ansel Adams' work involves nature (leaves and plants) which is what most of my images are. The more I learn about these different formal elements and these different photographers, the more I want to understand the distinctness between these photographs and how they make/do what do. The following images are the edits I made... 

Colour

Colour

Definition & Theory

Colour: The property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light.
Saturated colour: The term hue refers to the colour of the image itself, while saturation describes the intensity (purity) of that hue. When colour is fully saturated, the colour is considered in purest (truest) version
Muted colour: When you take a colour tone and you mix it with white or grey, so it dulls it down to make the colour less bright or mute.
Complementary colours: Pairs of colours which, when combined, cancel each other out. This means when combined they produce a grey-scale colour like white or black. When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those particular two colours.
Analogous colours: Groups of three colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel, sharing a common colour, with one being the dominant colour, which tends to be a primary or secondary colour and a tertiary.

Colour affects us emotionally with different colours evoking different emotions

This photo is by David LaChapelle and it shows a young Britney Spears. There is a lot of colour in this image. Most of these are colours are bright, the main colours you can see are reds, yellows and blues. These colours make the viewer feel happy as the colours are vibrant and people are smiling in the image. 

This is an album cover of a blues album. Blues music is known as soulful so the album will need to present that. Blue is the colour of this image and can make people feel calm and will then listen to John Coltrane's music in depth. Also, the look of Coltrane's face is quite emotional and thoughtful, almost sad, which compliments the whole aspect of the album.

Research of photographer

My research will be on Robert Cartwright. Robert Cartwright is a professional wedding and corporate event photographer based in London with a passion for street photography and urbex. He also specialises in portraiture. His work has a variety of different themes and types of photography. Below is just a view of his work that includes colour.

(A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding)

The above images are all very basic and easy photographs that I feel I could achieve in Harlow. The first image is of some lights but by using the shutter speed setting on the camera the light has been made to look dragged and stuck in place. The second image is a more dark photograph. Even though your eyes draw to colour of the yellow lines, the darkness or shadows round the edges add a sort of spooky/scary sense. It is as if Robert Cartwright waited for someone to walk past so he could capture this photo. The shadow of the man and the way it is all dark around him, it is as if Robert is trying to show that there is a darker, greater person in all of us - hinting that everyone has a bad side but some are bigger than others. The third image is of a man selling flowers, this shows a man selling flowers in Columbia on the street market. This shows how people make money and he seems to be yelling to get attention from possible buyers. The last image was also from the Colombian Street Market, this shows the natural feel of a street. The leaves have most likely been cut off the plants and the rubbish is from the locals or visitors. Robert Cartwright has his own website and he uploads all of his images. He has a wide range of images which are all very inspiring to me. The images that I have included on this page are the ones that stood out to me because they show different kind of colours, he shows bright/vibrant colours and cool tone colours.

Image bank

The following images were added as part of my visual research..

The above images is a collection of colour images, there is used of saturated colours and muted colours. These images are all very achievable, because they are all on a beginner level and I am a beginner photographer so I should attempt to take similar photographs. These images are edited to make the features and colours either brighter and darker. The first image are of parrots which are already very colourful, so their aspect of colours make the viewer happy. The second image was edited so one strawberry is red and the rest are dark, black and white, the editing makes the colour of the one strawberry obvious. The last image was supposedly taken in London, the person who took this and edited this made it so the landscape is in focus but the focus is on the telephone boxes because they are the only things in colour. I am mostly influenced by muted colours because the photo is underexposed and looks more calm or sad - depending on what is in the image.

(A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding)

Selected images - CONTACT SHEETS

Most of these photos were taken in the Harlow town centre, where I walked around and took photos of things I found colourful. The Harlow town centre is not very colourful, it is quite a dull area, but there are a lot of flowers especially around the pond and outside a few cafes and restaurants. Some of these were taken in Spain, when I went on holiday and there was a lot of colour there so I took a few photos and chose my best ones. I believe my images show the formal element colour which I am pleased with. The aspects of colour in my images are mostly in flowers because I enjoyed taking photographs of flowers as you can see more detail the closer you get. Flowers are very general and common to have colour so my ideas went towards concentrating on photographing flowers. I feel I could have however generate a wider range of photos as it is quite repetitive.

My best images

I like this image as the red of buses are more vibrant than the other colours in this photo. Even though there is a lot happening in this image, but there is a limit of colour so the bright red is very distinctive compared with the grey. By using photo shop I will edit this so the red stands out even more, making the viewers eyes draw to the red buses straight away. This image shows how Harlow is urban, this is seen by the buses looking a bit old and by there not being many people about. This area is not very visitable as it is hidden away and not many people know about this area. The urban feel of this image gives the viewer a sense of what Harlow is like, Harlow has a lot of buildings and car parks - as it is quite populated and there is a shopping centre for people. This was inspired by Richard Cartwright as he took photos of places and what happens on an everyday bases, this is what happens on an everyday bases in Harlow - buses go and return with new passengers. People walk to and from college this way, this environment there are lots of shops and cafes so there are people walking to there or getting off the bus to go these cafes and to shop in these shops.

I found this image very easy to take as the ducks were just standing and doing nothing. I like this photo because the camera focused really well on the duck in the centre so you can see the many colours a duck has. I like how the background is quite blurry as well which makes the focus on the duck better. Also, there is a contrast between the green and yellow & the brown on the duck, this makes the primary colours seem more clear and bright compared to the brown feathers. The background also relates to the duck as it shows what conditions the duck lives in. This was inspired by my image bank, in my image bank there was an image of parrots, so I decided to take photographs of animals (ducks) to have the same concept. To edit this image I will make the background the duck quite muted and pastel so the concentration is more on the duck in the middle, I will also select the duck separately and make the duck more vivid and vibrant.



By there being a single red flower, there is no distraction of multiple flowers. Also, as the background is dark green, it makes the red more distinctive and detailed. The detailedness of flower is also clear as you can see every layer of petals, which makes the photograph even more beautiful. This image was taken in the town park where there is a lot of colour to take pictures of. It is surrounded by darkness so the red is the main colour. The colour red emotionally shows love and passion which what is presented when someone gives a loved one or a friend a flower. This image was inspired by Robert Cartwright - even though he does not have many photos of flowers and my photographer image bank does not show his flower photography, he has still inspired me when he took photos from the Columbia Road Flower Market (which is one of the photos in my photographer research) because he used muted colours which I really like and the colours were muted but still very noticeable and eye catching.



This image was taken in the Harlow town centre at a food stall, where the man kindly cut open a lemon for us to photograph. I like how all the other lemons are the same so they're all yellow and smooth, whereas the lemon in the centre is cut open and you can see the detail inside the lemon. This can be a metaphor about how everyone can be the same but you can be different. My idea of editing this image is to select the single lemon that has been cut in half and make it stand out more by changing the other lemons/background black and white. I would then make the lemon slightly bit more vivid. This would give the image more of an in-depth meaning and it will be more noticeable for viewers.



This photograph was taken in Spain when I was holiday. This was directly in front of my hotel room balcony, so I took the opportunity to take this image. I feel as if this presents a happy day as the colours are vibrant and compliment each other.  This is also inspired by Robert Cartwright and his Columbia Road Flower Market. The whiteness of the clouds makes the pink on the flowers more bright. The colours in this image represent happy things, such as: happiness, joy and peace. The colours can represent a 'holiday feel' as the colours are very bright and the sky is clear - the composition of this image is, in my opinion, very satisfactory as the pink and green in the bottom left corner compliments the blue and white in the sky.

Images that require improvement

This image was inspired by Robert Cartwright and his light photography (as seen in my photographer research), I didn't like how this turned out because the yellow light is not seen and the lights just look a mess. I wanted to get the 3D feel from the lights as all three were supposed to go from large to small. The composition is very unsatisfactory because the white and yellows lights have been cropped by the size of the camera lens. This image can be seriously improved when I have the ability to retake this image or create a similar one. If I were to reshoot this image again, I would make sure the lights are in the camera area so all lights can be seen and then I would think of a creative idea on what they should do with those lights. 

This image was taken in the Harlow library. This is a painting on a wall in the children's reading area. I was attempting to get an image of this painting and make it look like a 'realistic' painting by taking multiple photos, but I only did it at one angle and the light glare was not much help towards creating this image.  I don't like this image as there is a light glare which makes the photo look tacky and unprofessional, I don't think I would attempt to reshoot this image as the glare would keep ruining it. However, if I were too I would get a different angle of this image and get the composition right in order to get the perfect image.



This last image is of some flowers outside of the Esquires cafe, the problem with this image is that the camera focused on the flowers in the background rather than the flowers in the front. I could edit this and crop it so the focused flowers are the main flowers for this photograph - then I would just edit it how I usually would with my other photos. I believe I can improve this image a lot if I reshoot this - I would make sure the composition is correct, is the focus is on the right thing and my aperture is low (so it blurs out the background).

(A03: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress)

My idea of recording colour, was too take pictures of everything with colour in it. Most of my photographs for colour is of flowers, but I feel I need to further my ideas and take pictures of a variety of objects, buildings and nature and use photoshop to make some colours more saturated or muted than others. I now understand what different colours mean, as I feel that I did not know that different colours mean specific things. This has made it easier for me to look at different photographs that represent colour and write about what I see and what it may mean. My photographs are all very average with the occasional admirable one, this allows me to access what formal elements I am more interested in and which ones takes my interest - I have decided to take more interest and time in what I am photographing as this will be my way of gathering a good set of images and my editing on photoshop (which I have really improved on) will go towards perfecting my photographs.

(A02: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops)

These images were taken using a Fuji Fineopix S9600 and a Samsung NX20 20.3 MP SLR. The Samsung camera is a new camera so I am learning how to use it and how to change some settings. When I was using the Fuji Fineopix camera I was using the auto focus setting, which may have explained why a few of my images were out of focus so next time I will make sure I will always use the manual focus setting as it will be easier to take photographs. By using the same camera I am able to improve my handling of the camera and follow/understand the settings properly. To improve my images I imported a few into photoshop, to make some colours brighter and some darker. Below are screenshots of how I did this on one of my best images...

The final image was created by selecting the single cut lemon too make the rest of the lemons black and white. The next two screenshots are of how I made the background lemons have a different contrast of black and white and the main lemon stand out more. I am pleased with my final edit because the yellow is very bright, even though I lowered the saturation a little bit the colour still 'pops'. The yellow makes people emotional feel warm and cheerful. By changing these filters and changing some colours I have achieved a new affect on this image, it is now more eye catching. The lemon is now standing out as I wanted it too and the background is darkened to emphasise the single cut lemon.

(AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and 

other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding)

I felt that researching photographers and looking at their different work inspired me to take a few of these photos. By looking at the different photographers' work I was able to concentrate on what I was photographing and what colours I could see. Around Harlow there are mostly lots of greens because of all the fields and trees, etc. I feel as if I could be more creative and just take pictures of whatever I see and then further them by using my explanations and photoshop. Colour is an aspect that can be achieved very easily when doing photography, you can change the way a colour looks by editing it and by doing this you can change the meaning of the whole image. Colour has given me inspiration to have colour in almost all of images because colour can tell a story and gives the photo a different meaning from black and white - the colour expresses different emotions in the image which can show the viewer a more in depth narrative.

(AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements)

I found it quite easy to take a few photos but I just needed to find the right object and to take it at the right angle to get the perfect photograph. I feel that I look at colour differently now because of all the different terms I've learnt about and what different colours mean. For example; Orange can be a behavioural view of fast food, because it is welcoming and noticeable as it is overly used. Below are some edits I made of my images based on colour...