Texture Project

Purely Chaotic:

Digital Contact Print:

This is my digital contact print for my purely chaotic texture pictures. This was important to me when I was working as it allowed me to look at all my favorite photos and then choose the best ones for editing. The objective of this part of the texture project was to learn how to take pictures of a chaotic texture. This basically means that there are all sorts of textures. For example, there could be leaves, rocks, and water, all in one photo. The photos I have chosen to edit are the third image in the second row and the fifth image in the third row. I will explain these images now:

• The first image I have chosen to edit is a photo of a pink flower with many green plants surrounding it. To take this image, I used a relatively low aperture (f/5.0) and focused in on the pink plant. This blurred out some of the plants in the back as well as some in the front. This represents chaos because first of all, the leaves are all crossing over each other and fighting for attention. Secondly, the plant is a different texture than the leaves and chaos is when there are many different textures. Furthermore, there is so much going on in the photo that it is basically just chaotic for the reader to view.
• The second image I have chosen to edit is a photo of a green plant on top of many other plants. To take this image, I went around my condo looking for plants and came across this. I wanted to take a chaotic picture and this image perfectly represents chaos as the leaves of the plants are all going in different directions and are causing confusion and they are also very messy. To create a scene of chaos, I took the image from a high vantage point (bird's eye view) and this led to the product which has plants all fighting for attention. Their leaves in different directions and the fact that they are on top of each other create a scene of chaos. 

Edited Images:

This is the first image I chose to edit. It is the photo of the pink flower with many green plants surrounding it. To edit this image, I used the editing techniques of high pass, gaussian blur, and the hue/saturation filter. I started off by using the high pass filter so that to make the subject (the pink flower) much more sharper and interesting compared to the rest of the image. This would allow the pink flower to have a much more detailed structure. The second step of the editing process was the use of the Gaussian blur filter. Although a few parts of the background were already blurred, I wanted to make the entire background blurry so that there would be a contrast between the plant and the background. This would start to establish the flower as the focal point of the image. The final step was to use the hue/saturation filter to finalize the flower's importance as the focal point of the image. I started by decreasing the saturation of the background so that the plants would have less color and the flower would have more. This would also increase contrast. Next, I decreased the lightness so that the background would be dull and the flower would be bright and aesthetically pleasing.

This is the second image I chose to edit. It is the photo of the green plant on top of many other plants of a similar type. To edit this image, I used the editing techniques of high pass, gaussian blur, and the black and white filter. I started off by using the high pass filter so that to make the subject (the green plant) much more sharper. This would allow the green plant to have much more detail and bolder compared to the rest of the image. The second step of the editing process was the use of the Gaussian blur filter. No parts of the image were blurred, so it was hard to see what the focal point was. However, with the use of the Gaussian blur filter, I was able to blur everything around the green plant so it would be clear that the green plant was the focal point of the image. The final step was to use the black and white filter to establish the plant as the focal point of the image. I selected everything around the plant and made it black and white. This would increase the contrast between the subject and the background. 

Harmoniously Disorganized:

Digital Contact Print:

This is my digital contact print for my harmoniously disorganized texture pictures. The objective of this part of the texture project was to learn how to take pictures of a disorganized texture. This basically means that there are is only one type of texture but it is shown in different ways throughout the image. For example, there could be a plant, and its leaves could be of different sizes and be facing different directions. The photos I have chosen to edit are the third image in the first row and the third image in the second row. I will explain these images now:

• The first image I have chosen to edit is a photo of a group of plants that are all the same type but they are facing slightly different directions and they are of slightly different sizes. To take this image, I found a group of plants in a bush and zoomed in and took a photo. I really liked how the plants were wet and how the raindrops can be seen on them. This really gives a different and much more interesting feel to the image. I feel this is a disorganized image because although the plants are different sizes and face different directions, they are still the same texture and there is an overall balance throughout the image. 
• The second image I have chosen to edit is of a green plant and there are other plants in the background that are of the same texture but face different directions. To take this image, I focused in on the green plant and tried to make the background blurry so that there would be a natural contrast and so that the plant would naturally be the focal point of the image. I feel this is a disorganized image because even if the plants in the background face different directions, they are the same type of texture.

Edited Images:

This is the first image I have chosen to edit. It is the image of a group of plants that are all the same type but they are facing slightly different directions and they are of slightly different sizes. To edit this image, I used the editing techniques of high pass and the hue/saturation filter. I started off by using the high pass filter so that to make the subject (the light green plant) much more sharper. This is why the light green plant is so detailed (with its texture, shadows, etc.). The second step of the editing process would establish the light green plant as the focal point of the image. No parts of the image were blurred, so it was hard to see what the focal point was. I started by first decreasing the saturation of everything around the plant and followed this up by decreasing the lightness as well. This would make the background dull and boring whereas as the plant would be bright and colorful. This would also increase the contrast between the subject and the background. 

Final Image

Photos of Editing Techniques Used

This is the second image I have chosen to edit for the harmoniously disorganized part of the project. It is the image of the green plant in which there are other plants in the background that are of the same texture but face different directions. This is also the image which I have chosen to show the editing techniques used, which I will describe now. I have used the editing techniques of high pass, gaussian blur, the hue/saturation filter, and the filter gallery to edit this image. I started off by using the high pass filter so that to make the subject (the big green plant) sharper. The next step in the editing process was to use the gaussian blur filter. This would start to establish the plant as the focal point of the image. By using the gaussian blur filter, I was able to blur everything around the green plant and increase the contrast between the background and the subject. The next step was to use the hue/saturation filter to finish the editing of the plant in terms of making it make the focal point of the image. I started by first decreasing the saturation of everything around the plant and followed this up by decreasing the lightness as well. This would make the background dull and boring whereas the plant would be lighter and the attention would go toward the plant. The final step of the editing process was to use the filter gallery to add more texture to the plant which would essentially also increase the attention towards the plant. I used the filter of "texturizer" and this would give the leaves a different feel which would make the picture more interesting.

Harmoniously Organized:

Digital Contact Print:

This is my digital contact print for my harmoniously organized texture pictures. The objective of this part of the texture project was to learn how to take pictures of an organized texture. This basically means that there is only one type of texture throughout the image and it is repetitive or shown in the same way. A pattern is a great example of harmoniously organized, for example. The photos I have chosen to edit are the first and third images in the third row. I will explain these images now:

• The first image I have chosen to edit is a photo of some of the patterns along a road. To take this photo, I stood near a road and bent down so I could take it from a relatively low vantage point. To make the photo more interesting, I tried to take it from a different angle. I feel the angle gives the photo a very different and interesting feel that is also very aesthetically pleasing. I feel this is organized as the squares are in a repeating pattern and the same texture is constant throughout the image.
• The second image I have chosen to edit is a photo of some bars/pillars outside of the Prada store in Orchard. I really thought the pattern was cool and I also like how it was quite organized. To take this photo, I used the +/- dial to adjust the exposure because there was too much light coming into the camera. Doing this would also reduce some of the glare coming off of the pillars (as they were metal). I think that this is organized as the pillars are in a repeating pattern and the same texture is constant throughout the image.

Edited Images:

This is the first image I have chosen to edit. It is the picture of the square patterns along a road. To edit this image, I used the editing techniques of high pass and the black and white filter. I started off by using the high pass filter to make the subject (the yellow square) sharper compared to the rest of the image. This would establish a little contrast. The next step was to use the black and white filter to make it clear that the yellow square was the focal point of the image. 

This is the second image I have chosen to edit. It is the picture of the bars/pillars outside of the Prada store in Orchard. To edit this image, I chose to use the editing techniques of high pass and the hue/saturation filter. I started off by using the high pass filter to make the subject (the gold pillar) sharper compared to the rest of the image. The next step in the editing process was to use the hue/saturation to establish the pillar as the focal point of the image. I started by first decreasing the saturation of everything around the pillar and followed this up by decreasing the lightness as well. This would make the background dull whereas the pillar would be lighter and this step would ensure that the viewer's attention would go towards the pillar.

Successes and Challenges:

This project was a major success for me, but I also faced a few challenges along the way. My biggest challenge of this project was getting proper harmoniously disorganized photos. It was a complex topic which I wasn't able to understand too well, and it took a lot of time to get proper pictures which would fit in the category of harmoniously disorganized. Often when I was trying to get disorganized photos, I ended up with chaos photos. This was frustrating, but with practice, I was able to get great disorganized photos.

Although I faced many challenges, I had many successes. My greatest success of this unit was learning about how texture impacts photos in many positive ways. I learned how texture can help to make photos much more interesting and pleasing to the eye. I learned how to look for certain textures and how to classify them. Another success I had was learning how to use editing techniques to help create a focal point for an image. Often in images, there is no clear focal point. However, with the use of editing techniques, we can easily establish a focal point which can make the photo much more interesting.