Texture and Pattern

Texture and Pattern

Definitions 

Texture - the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance.

Pattern - a repeated decorative design.

Theory 

Texture can be accentuated by different amounts of light. For example at midday the light is vertically overhead. This could mean that the texture would be very visible. 

Pattern is the key to a good composition and when it is used correctly it can turn a very bland and dull image into something that is very dramatic and eye catching. 

Artist Research - Patrice de Villiers

Patrice de Villiers is an English photographer who is based in London. She specialises in food and drink photography. She emphasises on food inspiring art.

 Villiers takes photos of different types of food but she focuses heavily on the pattern and textures that have been created within that specific food. This photographer uses food to experiment with different compositions and is very creative in the way the objects are presented. The third image down is an image of a ------- with a sharp outer shell and it is smoothly textured inside. I really like this photo because I feel like it represents that thing or people may look dangerous but on the inside they are not. Also the fact that the two halves of the object are only just touching could represent that people are afraid to see what's inside a person just because of what they look like. I really like the composition of the photo because of the plain background. The fruit has a moist looking texture on the inside and a pale brown outer shell. The plain background draws your eyes straight tot the texture that has been created within the food itself. I think that this work has been achieved  in a studio because there is a lot of lighting and the shadow look as though they have been created due to where the light source is. I would also like to try and use this in my own work. The second image is a photo that looks at pattern and texture. I believe it is of the upper side of a mushroom. This image focuses heavily on the intricate detail of the food. Villiers has specifically chosen to use a dark background. I believe this is because she looks at the colour of the object she is photographing and then decides which colour background would make the object stand out most and in this case a darker background really makes the texture of the mushroom pop out. The repeated lines could represent the everyday use of the food. For example people would regularly eat food in their day to day lives however because of the slightly curved lines within the mushroom this could represent irregular things that happen in everyday life.      

Image bank 

This image bank has a range of photos that represent pattern and texture. Each of the images that I have selected have elements that I would like to incorporate into my own photographs. 

Contact Sheets

The intentions for my shoot were to create some different patterns and textures using fruit and vegetables. I wanted to be a little bit creative with the way I physically presented them because I believe that my artist does this. I believe that overall the shoot was successful however some of the images I took at home did not have enough lighting or a plain background. This made the composition slightly off. On the other hand I believe that the photos I took in the studio had good lighting and were set out in a way that draws your attention to the pattern and texture. Some of the images were slightly out of focus and this is because I moved the camera too close to the fruit however to overcome this I zoomed the camera out slightly and I plan to crop some of the background out in photo shop. I have annotated my contact sheet by ticking the images I feel initially look successful and I have crossed the images I feel were not as successful. I also made small labels on some of the photos as to why I crossed or ticked them.

  

My best images 

In reference to my best images...

The image of the slice of kiwi was taken specifically to portray the formal element of texture. This photo was taken by placing the slice of kiwi on a light box. I also used a tripod to support the camera as I was taking the photos. This allowed me to get the best composition that I could. I wanted the fruit to be the centre of the photo. I also increased the shutter speed slightly so that there was a longer exposure time. By doing this the light box looks pure white instead of being a slightly off white colour. 

The photo I took of the raspberries was very interesting because it closely looked at both texture and pattern. This photo required a lot of altering of setting in the studio and on the camera. I had to use extra external lights to get the image to be sharp and bright. At first the camera did not have a long enough exposure time and the top of the raspberries were very dark. This image was specifically inspired by my image bank where I gathered a very close up and detailed photo of raspberries. I really liked the texture that they create. 

The photograph of the mushroom, in my opinion, stands out amongst my best images. This is because it is the only one that I selected that is a vegetable rather than a fruit. I really like this because I feel as though a completely different texture has been created. Rather than it being slightly moist like the fruit it makes your eye immediately focus on the thin intricate lines in the mushroom. This image was fairly difficult to take because the stalk of the mushroom did not look very aesthetically pleasing and it got in the way of the fine details. To overcome this I used photo shop to crop the image. This made sure that the focal point of the photo was the texture.

My final best image was a specific photo I took that I believe was quite creative. The composition of the photo is very interesting because the fruit is not just directly in the centre. The fruit is introduced into the photo from the right hand side. To make the image more creative was an idea that I got from my artist research. Also there is a mixture of different textures all in one image. This makes it very interesting to look at and it is not like the rest of the images I have selected therefore I believe that it stands out.

Images that require improvement

The images above are two of the images I felt needed improvement. The first image of the lemon and lime slices was very over exposed. The camera was set on a longer shutter speed than needed. To take the image the fruit was placed on a light box and used overhead lights in the studio. Due to this and the thickness of fruit the exposure did not need to be very big as there was a lot of excess lighting. The longer shutter speed there was too much light and the fruit was washed out. To overcome this I needed to use a shorter shutter speed. Once I realised this I continued using a shutter speed of 1/50 instead of 1/100.

For the second image that I feel needs improving, firstly I do not feel as though the composition of the photo was correct and, unlike the first image this was under exposed. There was not enough light captured by the camera meaning that the shutter speed was too short. The detail within the lime wasn't clear because the whole image was darker than I wanted it to be.

AO3:

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

The ideas for my photos mainly came from my artist research of Patrice de Villiers. I feel as though her images were slightly more experimental than mine. By this I mean that the way she places the objects in the photo were very creative. Although I did try to experiment slightly with how I placed the fruit and vegetables I found it difficult to make them stay in the same place unless they were flat on the light box which I photographed them on. If I were to reshoot these photos I would try and use other people to help me compose the fruit and vegetables in a more creative way. Some of my ideas also came from my image bank. Within this I looked at some images of fruit creating texture and pattern, I really liked this because the texture is very unique for each particular fruit. I took some of my images at home however most of them were taken in a studio within my college. This was very beneficial to me because I could use extra lights and the fruit and vegetables were placed on a light box which really made the texture of the fruit visible. Most of the images came out as expected however some of the images I took at home did not have the composition that I would have hoped for. I believe this was because I did not have a tripod to position my camera and keep it very still. This meant that I couldn't perfectly centre the fruit in the frame of the image. Once facing these struggles at home I decided to use the studio because I felt like I would produce better quality photos. For this reason I believe all of the images I took in the studio turned out better than the ones I photographed at home. Using a studio was an idea that I got from my photographer research because I believe that Villiers used a studio to place the light source where she wanted to and so that she could create the exact composition she was looking for. 

AO2: AO2:Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I used a canon 400d to take all of my images. Before altering any of the camera settings I put the camera in manual mode and it was on a shutter speed of 1/100 and the f-number was f/5.6. Before taking any photos I changed the iso down from 1400 to 200. This was because there was a lot of lighting. When working in the studio I had to alter the camera setting depending on what I was photographing. For example, when photographing the kiwi I did not need to use any extra exterior lights however I wanted the background to look a crisp white colour. This meant that I had to have a longer shutter speed therefore I changed the shutter speed to 1/120. This allowed a slightly longer exposure time meaning that there was more light allowed into the photo. When I was photographing the raspberries they looked very dark when using these camera settings. To overcome this problem I used extra lights to brighten up the photo. Due to the extra lighting that I used I lowered the shutter speed to 1/50 as I didn't need as long of an exposure time. If I would have left it at 1/100 then the light would have flooded the image and it would be too bright. I also adjusted the aperture to an f-number of f/8. I used a light box the place the different types of food onto. I used this because the light shining upwards made the texture of the fruit very visible. I also used a tripod to adjust the camera positions. This was very helpful as in many situations I only needed to make slight adjustments. If I was holding the camera I may have not been able to achieve the correct composition. This is what I believe happened with the photos I took at home with no access to these extra resources.  

To improve my images I used photo shop in a number of different ways. Each photo was slightly cropped. For the image of the mushroom below I cropped out the stalk because I didn't feel as though it was necessary however some of the other images were only cropped slightly just to remove some of the background. This was because I didn't want to take the photos too close to the object because then there would have been a chance it would have been out of focus. I also used the curves tool and the brightness and contrast tool to adjust the colours within the photo. These tools just slightly enhanced the colours. For the image below I also used the auto tone tool. This adjusts all of the tones within the photo and balances them out. Also when editing the photo of the kiwi I used the healing brush tool to get rid of some of the small black dots which were on the fruit. This made the image look a little more professional and neat. 

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

My artist research helped me to gain ideas on how to physically place objects within the composition of the image to make it more creative. This helped me to come up with some unique ideas of my own, for example I the image of the different fruit skins and the image I took of cut up banana piled up into a tower. Although some of these ideas did not come out the way I wanted them too I do believe that I tried to be experimental. Also due to the photos being taken in a professional studio I was able to use the correct amount of lighting to bring out the detail in each photo I took. In addition my artist research helped me to focus on how a plain background can make one object the main focal point of the image.

My final images 

I believe that my final edited photos represent a very healthy lifestyle and they show the textures and patterns created within fruit and vegetables. I feel like this could be because I have used a number of saturated colours. I also feel as though they directly relate to m artist research because they are all images of some kind of food. Also they look at the different ways that fruit and vegetables can be arranged and organised.

 

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

AO2:Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

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

    

Colour

Colour

Definitions

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

-

 When color is fully saturated, the color is considered in its purest version. Primary colors red, blue and yellow are considered truest version color as they are fully saturated.

This is an example of a photo that uses saturated colour.

Muted Colour - Any highly saturated colour with a tint, tone or shade to make it less bright and more subdued.

This is an example of a photo that uses muted colour.

Analogous - Colours that are adjacent (next to) to each other on the colour wheel. 

Complementary - Colours that are opposite from each other on the colour wheel. 

Theory

Different colours can have different connotations depending on where and how they are used.

Red - passion, love, strength and anger

Orange - energetic, pleasant, movement

Yellow - warm, cheerful, bright, lively

Green - friendly, calming, neutral, jealousy, envy

Blue - Isolated, peaceful, cool, calm

Purple - spiritual, creative, calming, magic

Analysis of photography

This is an image by Nadav kander. Most of his photography uses muted colours. I really like this specific photo because it immediately makes you feel slightly cool and calm. There is a slight hint of pink and green within the womans clothing however a dull tone has been placed over the top to make it more subdued. This could be the photographer trying to represent that not all brighter colours need to stand out. His images create a slightly calming atmosphere. 

This is a photo of Britney Spears that has been taken by David LaChapelle. This particular photo has a lot of saturated colours. I believe the yellow stands out a lot in the image. I feel as though the photographer is trying to portray a summery atmosphere and he has subtly incorporated things that are typically American. He is representing the singers background and where she was born. 

Artist Research

The artist I have looked at is Robert Cartwright. Cartwright is a professional wedding and corporate photographer however he has a passion for street art which he incorporates into a lot of his photography. He is based in London so many of his images are taken in the city.

I really like the first image that I have looked at. This is the image of the water dripping down the window. The objects beyond the window are all out of focus and I feel as though this draws you in because you aren't completely sure what it is. The colour red is generally a saturated colour but the water dashing down the window makes the colour fade slightly. This is very intriguing because your eyes are drawn to that area of the photo. I feel as though the fact that the bright colours are still standing out even in the dull and dingy weather could be trying to imply that people should not let things bring them down and they should continue to stay strong throughout harder times. I have also looked at the image of the many lights. This darkened background makes the bright lights stand out even more which draws you into the colours that the photographer has created within the photo. I think that the fact that he chose to use so many different lights, moving in so many different directions could represent a busy city like London where his photography is based. the darkened background shows that although it is night time the city is still alive and many people and vehicles still move constantly. From looking at Cartwrights photos, overall I think he likes to use darker backgrounds to make the colours pop and stand out. I would like to recreate this within my photography by taking photos at night. Also I would like to incorporate a skill in photoshop called 'colour popping'. This will emphasise the colour that I have within the photos I will take. Finally by using a long shutter speed on the camera I can recreate the final image I looked at of all of the lights. 

Image bank 

The images above are a selection of photos I have gathered from google. They all represent the formal element of colour and each of them have specific parts that I would like to incorporate into my own photography. For example I would like to use the colour pop effect. I particularly like this because it focuses your attention on a specific element of colour in a photo. These images have a mixture of saturated and muted colour within them, I would like to take a similar approach when taking my photos. 

Contact Sheet

The intentions for my shoot were to focus specifically on light painting. Although the photographer I have focused on only takes a few photos based on light painting I wanted to experiment with this technique and adapt my ideas. Some of the photos were unsuccessful because there was some background lighting that made the background visible. This took away from the effect of the light painting. Also it was hard to create some of the shapes that I wanted to however to overcome this I tried the different shapes more than once to get the correct composition. The photos that were taken in the studio were more effective than the photos I took outside because I had full control over the lighting of the photo. Some shots were very effective because I incorporated more than one coloured light which made the photos a lot more eye catching. I would also like to adapt my own responses to my photographer and complete one or two more photo shoots focusing on other elements of Peter Cartwrights photography. I have annotated my contact sheet by ticking the images I feel initially look successful and I have crossed the images I feel were not as successful. I also made small labels on some of the photos as to why I crossed or ticked them.

My Best Images (first photo shoot)

For my first shoot the first two images that I chose as my best were created in the studio. I liked these photos in comparison to the other ones that I created at home because I used different coloured paper to place over the flashlight on mobile phones. This created the different colours which I love because it draws your eyes to disorganised spirals that have been created. When looking at editing these images I may adjust the brightness and contrast however I do not feel as though they need to be strongly edited because the photo is very good quality within itself. 

In reference to my image of the angel wings I feel as though this contrasts the photos that I took in the studio because the composition is very simple and the frame is not overcrowded. I feel as though this highlights the light painting which is what i wanted to portray. This image was taken using a shutter speed of 8 seconds. This was because the people moving the flashlights had to have enough time to create the shape and the camera had to capture this shape fully. I believe the unsuccessful thing about this image is quite zoomed out so I would like to crop this when editing it to get rid of some of the negative space that is not needed. 

Image that require improvement  (first photo shoot)

I have selected the above images as images that I believe need to be improved.  The ideas I had for creating the first image was a heartbeat. Firstly I do not think that the composition was correct within the photo. I would have liked the photo to be more zoomed in on the light pairing rather than including the background that surrounded it. I was not able to achieve this because the camera was searching for a focus point and it could not find one as it was dark. Once I noticed this issue I changed the camera to manual mode. I also believe that the camera was not on a high enough shutter speed. I took these images on a shutter speed of 4. This was not enough time for the camera to capture all of the light that I wanted it to.

For the second image I feel like it lacked colour and excitement. I only used one light in this photo and I think this looks slightly boring. I do not think this focuses heavily on colour or resembles Peter Cartwrights photography because his light painting incorporates a lot of different colours and patterns. If I were to reshoot these images again I would use a tripod. This would allow me to adjust the shutter speed to a larger number without the photo becoming blurry or out of focus. I would also try to incorporate more coloured lights into my photos to make them more interesting to look at.

Contact Sheet (second photo shoot) - 2nd Nov 

I have added this shoot in at a later date because once looking at my final series of images I did not feel as though I had enough photos for a strong series of photos. My intentions for this shoot were to complete a small scale shoot which was specifically based on the movement of cars. This is because the images that I have already created are all due to the way people have moved in relation to the shapes created so I wanted to show some natural light painting that has been created by moving vehicles. 

My best images (second photo shoot)

For my second shoot I have only selected one image that I feel have been successful. This is because the shoot was very small and it was based on one specific thing so the photos are roughly the same. When selecting these images I based it on composition, camera quality and how clear the line are that have been created. For the first of my best images I used a shutter speed of 10 seconds. This resulted in the camera capturing more light and this made the road visible which I felt was quite effective as it allows people to understand what they are looking at and people can make a connection between the image and movement of vehicles. In contrast the second image was taken with a shutter speed of 8 seconds. This meant that not as much light was let into the camera but I also liked this because it gave a sense of mystery as people may not realise what the lights actually are. I really like these images because they use a saturated colour (red) which really draws your eyes into the image. Also the fact that the red really stands out could represent danger or anger. These images can have many connotations and this is why I like them so much.

Contact Sheet (third photo shoot)

My intentions for this shoot were to create a series of photos that had saturated colours within them. I also wanted to make the flowers the focal point and express the colours within them. I have annotated my contact sheet by ticking the images I feel initially look successful and I have crossed the images I feel were not as successful. I also made small labels on some of the photos as to why I crossed or ticked them.

My best images (third photo shoot)

For my image of the very close up rose I focused in on the individual flower to try to portray the small, intricate details that are created within the flower. I was inspired to look at this individual flower from Rober Cartwrights photo of a lady with a flower in her hair. The saturated colour of red makes this the focal point of the image. I really liked this and therefore decided to expand on this idea of looking at the flower within colours. I will also crop this image to draw your attention deeper into the flower.

My photograph I have taken of the bouquet of flowers is quite different to the other images that I have selected. This photo focuses on the effect that the flowers have when they are altogether. I really liked this because it gives you a lot of things to look at. Also there are complimentary colours within the photo (pink and green) which draws your eyes into the image. I would like to edit this image by using the curves and brightness and contrast tools to enhance the colours within the photo. This is because the photo was shot in unnatural lighting so it was hard to fully capture the colours within the flowers.

The photos that I took of the dying flowers were very effective because the fine detail of the crisp petals was shown very clearly. My inspiration for these images came from my image bank because I really liked the photo of the dying flower that has darker and more muted colours in comparison the Robert Cartwright's image of a healthy flower that uses bright, saturated colours. I found this very interesting to look at and wanted to show the comparison within my photos.

I decided to take one image of a bunch of flowers which are very healthy and another of the same kind of flower but dying. This is because I have tried to show to contrast in the deteriorated petals compared to the bright and saturated coloured petals. In the second image there is unnecessary background however I feel as though the detail within the flowers is very good so I would like to edit this in photoshop and make it look like a professional image. 

Images that require improvement (third photo shoot)

The images above are the photos that I have chosen as needing improvement. Firstly for the image of the boquet I do not feel as though the photo has the correct composition.  When taking the photo I did not have access to natural light therefore some of the flowers looked slightly darker and more dull. I believe that to overcome this I could have taken the photo in daylight. Also there was a lot of background showing that was not needed and took the focus away from the flowers and colour within the photo. Although there is colour within the photo I feel as though it was taken too far away for the colour to be the main element of the photo.

The second image that I feel needs improvement is due to the focus point of the image. The focal point is the pink flower and although it is in the centre of the photo I would have liked it to be in the middle of the photo.  Due to the f-number being small I was able to make the background blurry however whilst doing this it also made it slightly darker and more dull. This is another reason why I wanted to change the focal point and make it centred because the pink flower is one of the only bright colours that is in the image.

AO3: AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

I have gathered my ideas for my photographs mainly from the photographer that I researched names Robert Cartwright. I decided to take his photos and focus in on small details that he has included to make my images slightly different and more unique. The first and second photo shoot that I  completed I based on Cartwright's image of light painting. I really liked the idea of this as I was able to create my own shapes and when photographing in the studio I used different coloured lights to bring more colour into my images. In addition I liked the natural, straight shape that vehicles created when moving. I also gained inspiration for this when looking at images to place in my image bank. This inspired me to complete a shoot just focused on this area of photography. My third photo shoot was inspired by one photo of Robert Cartwrights, the image of the woman with a red rose in her hair. I wanted to capture the colour that natural forms like flowers can produce. This inspired me to complete a photo shoot when I focused on different types of colourful flowers.  I completed this photo shoot because I didn't feel as though I represented the formal element of colour as much as I could of done so I wanted to look at shooting some photos that included saturated colour.



In reference to my images that I felt need improving there were issues with the focal point of the photo. I believe that as I improve my skills using a camera I can set the focal point myself to ensure that it is in the place I need it to be. This will avoid any incorrect compositions that I may have created. I also had issues with the lighting however this can be easily overcome by shooting outside in natural daylight.



A02: AO2:Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I used a canon eos 400d to take my photos. I took the images of the rose with a small f-number. This was taken with the f/5.6. I ensured that this was a small number so that I could make the background slightly blurry. On the other hand when taking the images of light painting I used a shutter speed of 5. This allowed a longer exposure time for the camera to capture the moving light within the photo.


To improve my images I decided to use photo shop. When editing the photos of the light painting the main thing I was able to do was to crop them however on the image of the angel wings I altered the hue to make the light appear to be a pinker colour. I used the colour popping effect on photo shop to edit some of the images of flowers and I also adjusted the curves, brightness and contrast. Below are screenshots showing some examples of how I edited my images.

Firstly I cropped the image to take away some of the background. 

I then used the magnetic lasso tool to select the flower.

I then clicked select at the top of the screen and selected inverse. 

I selected the black and white effect and this kept the flower red and changed the background to lack and white. 

For this image I did not like the background because it didn't fit with the image as it had objects that were not needed. To overcome this I decided to use the brush too to paint the background black. This allowed the flowers to be the only thing in the photo meaning they are the main focus. 

AO4: AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.
My artist research has helped me understand the theory on the different types of colour and how they can be used to reflect different emotions in images. I believe I have gathered a lot of new information on focal points in photos, specifically form my research on Robert Cartwright because he uses a specific element of colour in his photo and draws your eyes to it. This was extremely useful to me because it gave me an immediate foundation of how to structure the objects I was photographing to ensure that my images would intrigue people into looking at my images. I was also able to use this research to edit my photos. For example I was able to use different skills of photo shop to make the colour immediately stand out. I also cropped a lot of my best images because this cut out irrelevant background which was not needed. When using my camera I tried to zoom in as much as possible so I could capture the detail within the flowers. I also did this physically by placing the flowers in specific places.  I took my images at home and bought specific flowers that I felt would work well in my photos. I chose flowers that I felt had a range of saturated and slightly lighter colours and ones that I knew I would be able to create different compositions with.

My best images 

With regards to my best images I have decided to create two different sets of images. This is because I took images using the light painting technique however I also took photos of flowers. To ensure that I can create a series of strong images that link together I have decided to create two different series based on the formal element of colour.

Flower series of images

I feel as though this series of images can represent the life cycle of a flower because I have set out the photos from being alive and fresh to gradually becoming slightly more weepy and crispy. 

Light painting series of images