Photo Challenge 8 – Texture

This was a fun theme, and for mine, the hardest part of shooting this was trying to nail it down to one image. There are so many textures one could shoot.  The other thing this challenge did was make me realise how much I need a macro lens. In the end I had to crop my final choice as I simply couldn’t focus closely enough to compose it totally in camera.  Not the best way to end up with the result I wanted.  A confusing result from this challenge was the difficulty a couple of the other challenge participants had in shooting a suitable image by the deadline. Whilst I believe that I could take 60 quality shots on this theme within 60 minutes, others see the world around them very differently. I suppose it simply illustrates how uniquely each of our minds work.  I hope this particular challenge also helps some of us find a different way to look at our surroundings as fuel for photography.

Steve’s submission

My thoughts:

After a few of days of moping around the house reflecting on our horrific fire disaster, I realised that the texture of my own 3-day growth was waiting to be shot. After all, it’s at least as interesting as the study materials I’ve been staring at. So, being the very lazy photographer that I am, I grabbed my 350D with the 50mm 1.8 lens, shuffled into the bathroom and took a couple of snaps into the mirror, with careless guesswork being my means of determining a focal point (obviously I couldn’t look through the viewfinder). After shooting three images whilst trying to stifle yawns, I chose the last and dialed down the saturation a little.  The unnatural yellow you get from down-lights lends it some character, and all I really had to do was crop closely and fiddle with the curves to improve contrast.  To shoot this properly, I should have waited until daylight, used my 30D and the 70-200 USM 2.8 lens on a tripod, with a remote control and me sitting next to a window.  As I said, I’m lazy and that was way too much work. Hence this quick and dirty, hand-held marvel with my toy SLR.

ISO 200, F4.0, 1/30

Joepi’s Submission

Joepi says:

This Ao Dai is my favorite souvenir from my travels. I took this for the photo challenge to show the texture of the fabric and the embroidery. I love the details on the dress – the stitches along the edges, the colorful thread used, and the satin on the collar. This beautiful softness is offered to you for your viewing pleasure. Shot with my Canon 400D on a 50mm lens.F1.8 1/40 shot in natural light.

My thoughts: I love this photo. I love the Ao Dai (pronounced “Ow Yay” in the south and “Ow Zhay” in the north) – Joepi has immortalised her stunning garment just beautifully. I love the collar as much as I do the design, the composition is very good, and the image is so sharp I feel like I could reach out and touch it. This photograph successfully transfers the feeling of texture from my eyes to my fingers.

Mat’s submission:

Mat says:

I’ve struggled with this one for the last two weeks trying to come up with a concept I would enjoy shooting. The main problem I had is that to me texture is something you feel, not something you take photographs of! I’ve had this silly pun in the back of my mind for at least a week, and as I haven’t been able to come up with any better ideas I decided to shoot it. I fed the shot through some of the interesting texture effects in Paintshop Pro to give the smooth wood and wall a far more textured feel. I think I’ve surprised myself by actually coming up with an interesting photo and not just a silly pun, but here it is: Textchair!

My thoughts: Mat said it himself. This was a bit of a cheat on his behalf (so was mine last week), but in fact there is texture everywhere in this image, the most obvious being in the post-processing. However, the chair has texture in the grain and feel of the wood, as does the floor it sits on and the plaster of the wall behind it. I for one, have ignored his play on words and thought immediately of how smooth the polished chair feels in the hand as you follow the bumps, grooves and stretches of timber shaped by the lathe. No matter what the purpose of the image, it’s actually quite an interesting one to look at.

Ken’s submission

Nope, it’s not an error – there are two images for Ken. Read on, then make your comments as necessary.

Ken says:

I set out to photograph some familiar rock formations along the coast for this weeks challenge. However, as i was getting into the processing, I kept glancing up at a postcard I’ve previously printed and pinned on my wall. It was from a set of the very first photos when I began getting back into photography in August 2004. I had just bought a Nikon D70 kit with an 18-70 f3.5 lens. The lens was terribly slow but still very sharp. This is a small alley near the Prahan Market on a very wet day. My original goal was to shoot the whole alley which was lined with plenty of graffiti along the walls. My favourite of the set ended up being this shot for its simplicity and texture. The addition of the sepia improved the contrast and mood.
…..whilst digging the alley photo out of the archive I have come across another which also fits very well with the challenge. I will let Stephen decide if two photos would be appropriate. This was a crab net on the docks in Port Fairy. I was travelling back from Adelaide and stopped in Port Fairy to spend the night. I was delighted to come across this old net on the dock. It lends itself well to being black and white as there is little contrast in the colour shot with the rust blending in with the background dock

My thoughts: I know sometimes we have a lot on our plate, so I’m OK with archival shots every now and then – this time Ken submitted two from his archive. One I’ve seen before and absolutely love, but I initially picked just one – the crab pot because it’s new to me.   Then I saw how much Ken wrote, and I know he doesn’t like putting pen to paper so much. I didn’t want to edit his submission, so here you are – two images.  As I said, they’re both awesome images, but I’m concerned about starting a trend in shot selection, so let’s hear your feedback first.

I use the word challenge because I want people to think about the theme for the best part of 2 weeks and actually get out there and shoot a new image.  Another part of the challenge is to be able to select and edit – I know how hard that is for me, and Ken’s got a lot more good stuff coming out of his camera than I do.   Ken, I know your busy, but am I going to have to pick you up and take you away from the house, camera in hand, a couple of hours a month?  Actually it would do me some good and get me some Vitamin Sun.

Katy’s submission

Katy says:

I’ve always been a texture enthusiast. Yes, I’m that kind of nutcase who goes shooting for textures every so often, especially during the rainy season – don’t ask me why as I can ramble on that for hours.

Looking back on my previous photo database, I could discern that every other image I took had been strewn with layers of textures ranging from fur to parched paper. Unluckily, most of them were merely experimental and not prone to be ever displayed in public. For what it’s worth, I’ve got a reputation to uphold.

For this shot, the aperture was at 9.0 and the shutter at 1/160 setting focal up to 55mm on me amid pine trees on a bright sunny day of Sunday.

My thoughts: Well, the timing on this is perfect – Survivor series 18 started yesterday, and it’s set in Brazil.  Katy looks like one of the competitors after a tough immunity challenge.  And if it wasn’t for the strap of her singlet I could imagine she is the wild woman of Borneo running and hiding in the forest whilst trying to remain a myth.  I’m glad someone photographed a pine tree. They are about the most enduring memory of texture I have from childhood. Most country schoolyards had them, I think.  One thing I’d really prefer to see here is a sharp crispness of the tree, as that is actually what my eye is drawn to. I suspect it was there in the original, but might have been lost in post-processing? Katy – any thoughts on that?

Next Challenge

It’s time to give Katy a go. She came up with a real doozy and I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this exactly.  The theme is “Seven Deadly Sins“.
For those of you not up with sinning, and I sure as hell (oops) am not, here’s what they’re said to be:

1. lust
2. gluttony
3. greed
4. sloth
5. wrath
6. envy
7. pride

Personally, I can’t see anything wrong with any of them.

Now, I’m not going to ask you to submit seven photos, nor am I going to spread this out over 14 weeks.  So, you have two choices.  You may either shoot one image that encompasses all seven, or you may pick your favourite sin and make it happen in a glorious 2D photograph.

IMPORTANT – I hate censorship as much as the next person, however this blog is read by people of all ages and I’m not quite ready to introduce password-protection or adults-only sections.  So, if you just can’t help yourself, send those images to me separately for private evaluation, but I can only publish the PG – M rated shots.

PLEASE submit your images by just after sunset on Sunday March 1st (Australian Eastern Standard Time for you internationals).
Most importantly – have fun shooting!