Assignment: Forms of Surface: Pattern

It seems the week got away from me.  Bicycled and shot through Abu Hail and Hor Al Anz, shot a bit in Dragon Mart, but otherwise didn’t much follow-up on specific assignments until Sunday, when I took a morning walk around the nearest bit of Nadha to our campus.  When I set out I was very much goal motivated, but fortunately I was able to relax by the time I got to where I wanted to start shooting and the morning was quite fruitful, with many interesting perceptions.  My intention was to look for light, texture, and pattern.  Here’s some of what presented itself.

Assignment: Forms of Surface: Texture

Texture is described as where vision and touch overlap.  In making or viewing images of texture, “the viewer should feel as if she is touching it with her eyes.”  The authors suggest that in exploring this aspect of the visual, one not look for objects you know to have texture.  These are the easy shots.  Look instead at objects that don’t appear to have discernible texture.

Exploring Texture 2

The authors of the text warn against shooting patterns, but isn't that exactly what texture is?   Everything has texture, but our experience is relative to size. A piece of glass feels smooth, for example, but under intense magnification is sharp and uneven. The authors of the text note that shooting texture requires getting in close. But how close?

Here are some examples from a recent outing. The image of the leaf is of interest because though it appears to be ribbed, it is in fact quite smooth to the touch.

Contemplative Photography: Chapter 9: Exploring Texture

The authors claim we conceive of texture as largely smooth and rough.  I hadn’t previously considered this, but it seems true.  I did a search for adjectives of texture and found a long list containing many words only loosely related, like angular, dreary, or dull.  Texture, it seems, should describe what something feels like.  Some words that seem relevant are included below.  (Unfortunately, blogger doesn’t allow columned text.)  Most of these could be categorized as varieties of smooth and rough, even adjectives related to the presence or absence of moisture, such as wet and dry.