Post pobrano z: How to Photograph Textures for Designers

As a designer, you might be looking to photograph textures in a different way than a photographer would. While a photographer might be focused on things like composition and visual interest, you may be looking for versatility and symmetry. It might be a mix of these things, but whatever your need for photographing textures, this article will give you all the information you need to go out and start making your own.

All About Textures

Why Use Textures?

Textures come in useful for a whole range of work in both design and photography. You might want to include textures in your own designs, for use as a background, or as part of a mock-up, for example.

Finding Textures

You might decide not to start photographing textures until you actually need one, but if you can, then it’s often useful to snap them out and about as you find them and build yourself a little stock library.

As you’d expect, texture is everywhere, and once you’ve photographed the everyday stuff, like brick walls, tree bark and the like, then you may want to start thinking about capturing some unusual textures or ones that aren’t around all the time, like ice crystals.

Some unusual places often turn up great, original-looking textures. I once visited a train station which has a reclamation yard behind it, full of rusting trains and other paraphernalia. It was a texture photographer’s paradise, so hunting for places like that in your local area can pay dividends.

How to Photograph Textures

A DSLR and Macro Lens

One of the most important things you’ll need to do to photograph a texture is get up close. With DSLRs, the minimum focus distance to your subject is between that and the focal plane on the camera body, so a lens can’t focus at distances shorter than the minimum focus distance. Don’t worry, you won’t need to do epic amounts of maths to work it out, as, usefully, it’s written on the lens.

Macro lenses are designed to let you focus up close. They’re also what’s known as flat field lenses, meaning that when you’re close to an object to photograph it, you shouldn’t see your image curve as you would if you used a regular lens. This should mean sharper focus right across your photograph.

Macro lenses tend to be prime lenses, at a fixed focal length, rather than a zoom lens. This means they’re generally sharper, faster, and tend to break less often! For a budget macro lens, I highly recommend the Tamron 90mm f/2.8. A 50mm is even cheaper and will do a nice job, but you won’t get as close to your subject as you would with a macro lens.

Macro Setting on Your Camera

If you’re not ready to purchase a DSLR and/or macro lens just yet, then you’ll probably want to investigate macro mode on your camera. This is usually denoted by a small flower icon and will allow you to focus closer than you usually would. Be wary, though—it usually also tells your camera to shoot at a lower aperture, and that could result in softer images. I’ll go into this further, shortly.

• 

  Macro Equipment: Getting Started With Close-Up Photography

  An introduction to popular macro photography methods and choosing lenses for close up photography.

Get Your Lighting Right

As with just about all aspects of photography, lighting is crucial in getting a good image. There are some key points to consider with lighting.

Is There Enough of It?

If your subject isn’t adequately lit, then your camera may bump up the ISO, creating noise. You might need to think about using an off-camera light, particularly when photographing indoors.

Which Direction Is It Coming From?

If you’re shooting something reflective, you’d need to avoid direct sunlight shining on it and also unwanted reflections.

If you’re indoors and there’s a lack of light, then set up any external lights to the side, at an angle, to replicate natural sunlight as closely as possible. A single light source is enough for much of the time, but if you find yourself creating harsh shadows, then you may need to place an additional light to balance it out.

How Good Is the Light?

This may all depend on what you want, but if you’re shooting during golden hour, for example, it may cause your texture to differ in colour. Golden hour is generally a photographer’s favourite time to make photographs, as the quality of light is lovely.

Harsh light may bring out the texture of rust or bricks nicely, but wouldn’t work as well for water.

Avoid using your flash, as harsh, direct light like this is rarely flattering and will create a dull, flat look to your texture. Although certain shadowing should be avoided, you still need an element of shadow/shade in your image to avoid it looking flat.

Getting Sharp Shots

Macro mode may not work well for you if your camera opts to shoot wide open, i.e. at a lower aperture. If you’re not comfortable shooting with the camera on Manual, then getting used to Aperture Priority mode (usually denoted with an A) is the next best bet.

Try to shoot at least at f/8 or above to keep everything in focus and avoid a shallow depth of field. This does have a knock-on effect with other settings, though. For example, if you’re in fairly low light and you use a low aperture, your camera may adjust the shutter speed, slowing it down and thereby blurring your shot, or hike up the ISO and add noise to your image. You can combat this by using a tripod and experimenting with a longer shutter speed. 

When using a tripod, touching the camera to trigger the shutter can itself cause shake. If you don’t have a remote shutter release, then try using your camera’s timer to delay the picture being taken.

Try Different Angles

Mostly, designers will require the shooting of a subject to be straight on, to be the most useful. Don’t limit yourself, though, and don’t be afraid to experiment with different angles. You can always fall back to your straight-on shot if that works best, but at least you’ll have the choice. You’ll learn over time which angles work best with which textures.

As a designer, you’ll know how valuable it is to have packages of similar items to use as textures or even brushes. If you see a great texture, shooting it from different angles or even at different times of day could make a nice package item later on.

Take Your Shots at the Highest Quality

If your camera can shoot in RAW, then it’s always advisable to do that. RAW retains a lot more of the image data than a JPEG, but you may need to install additional software in order to process your RAW files.

• 

  Adobe Camera Raw in 60 Seconds

  Do you struggle with shooting RAW or JPEG? Here we’ll look at the features of photographing and editing in Camera Raw, in 60 seconds.

Compact cameras sometimes have a RAW + JPEG setting, which means you can shoot in both formats and then decide which to process later.

Post-Processing

When it comes to post-processing, as much or as little as you’re comfortable with is fine. You’re not trying to turn the texture into something it’s not. If you’ve taken your shots in RAW, they can look a little flat and boring, so you might want to think about boosting things like saturation, contrast, and sharpness.

Hopefully, you’ll have got enough right in-camera to mean your shot is good to go and you can simply tidy up any imperfections with spot removal or clone tools.

If you’re fairly confident with post-processing photographs, then you might start to mix it up a little by swapping out colours, enhancing reflections, or even combining multiple textures. 

How much or how little you do all depends on what you want to achieve as your final result.

Leave It to Someone Else

If you really don’t feel like photographing your own textures, or there are things that are tricky to photograph for you, then not to worry. There are plenty of great images available from stock sites like our sister site GraphicRiver.

Jeans Texture Backgrounds by Ufydesign

Jeans can look faded really quickly. This selection of denim textures gives you a variety of options, all in high resolution. 

6 Packs Artificial Grass Texture by Keattikorn

If you want neat, patterned grass then you ideally need to find somewhere that takes good care of their lawn, like a golf course, and then shoot from above. This pack offers a selection of grass patterns—much easier!

6 High Resolution Metal Textures by Riddy

Metals are really hard to photograph well. Unwanted reflections, blemishes, and shine make it tricky to get a picture suitable for use as a texture, so you can take the effort out of it with this handy pack of six.

Conclusion

Photography and design go hand in hand in many ways, and photographing your own textures is a great way to increase your skill set, try something new, or even just to give you complete control and inspiration.

Here are some key points to remember when photographing your own material:

• Check out the macro mode on your camera, or invest in a budget macro lens.
• Make sure your light is right. If there isn’t enough, add your own.
• Shoot at a fairly narrow aperture (f/8 or above) to ensure everything is in sharp focus.
• Use a tripod to avoid camera shake and to allow you to shoot in lower light without compromising.
• Try different angles or even shooting the same thing at different times of the day, to give you options and the possibility of creating ‘packages’.
• Shoot in RAW for the best quality, if you feel comfortable doing so. If not, make sure your image type and size is set to the best your camera can take.
• Do as much or as little post-processing as you feel confident doing. Usually, a tidy-up of imperfections, saturation boost and some sharpening will do the job.

Post pobrano z: How to Create a Valentine’s Piglet Illustration in Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial, we’ll go through the process of
creating a lovely illustration for Valentine’s Day. We’ll create an
adorable piglet angel character, which you can later even turn into
another animal. You may want to browse GraphicRiver to see
different characters and be inspired!

We will use basic
shapes and apply various effects for modification. In the end, we’ll
have a sweet illustration, which you can send to your Valentine! Let’s
get started!

1. How to Create the Head

Step 1

Create a new document (File > New) with 850 px width and 850 px height.

Let’s
start with the head. Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and create a pink
ellipse that almost resembles a circle shape. Next, we will apply the
Inflate effect to this ellipse. Go to Effect > Warp > Inflate.
Enter the options you see below.

Step 2

Now, let’s create
those lovely googly eyes. Create a white ellipse with a black stroke
using the Ellipse Tool (L). This black stroke will later be removed, but
for now, let’s keep it black so we can see better. Add a brown circle
inside this oval. To make an even circle, draw an oval using the Ellipse
Tool (L) while holding down the Shift key. Rotate the white ellipse
slightly to the left. Rotating is totally optional—I just like the way it
looks!

Step 3

For the bright spots on the pig’s eyes, let’s add some heart shapes.

You
can start by creating a rounded rectangle by using the Rounded
Rectangle Tool. But let me show you how to make it with the Corner
Widget, which is available in the later versions of the Illustrator. It
will be easier to adjust the roundness of corners by using this tool.

So
create a regular rectangle by using the Rectangle Tool (M). Be sure to
check View > Show Corner Widget. Now, near each corner of the
rectangle, you have a tiny circle. Move these circles to the middle of
shape and the corners of the rectangle will gradually become round.
(Just as a practice, try moving the circles out, and the corners of the
rectangle will be sharp again.)

While keeping the rounded
rectangle selected, press the Rotate Tool (R). In the pop-up window,
enter 90 degrees and hit Copy. Arrange these two shapes as shown below.
The red shaded area on the image will show the heart area. Next, take
the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M), select the two rounded rectangles, and
swipe on the red marked areas, thus forming the heart shape. Using the same
tool and holding the Alt key, click on the unmarked areas to delete
them.

For older versions of Illustrator: select both rounded
rectangles and press Divide on the Pathfinder panel. After that,
right-click your mouse and hit Ungroup. Select those three parts of the
rectangles marked red in the image below, and press the Unite button in
Pathfinder. Now just simply delete the excess to have the heart shape.

Your heart is ready!

Step 4

Place
the googly eye on the left side of the head and delete the stroke from
the white ellipse. Don’t forget to place the white heart above the
brown circle.

Let’s finish the eyes. Keeping the left eye
selected, take the Reflect Tool (O). Hold down the Alt key and click in
the middle of the head. In the new dialogue window, select Vertical,
Angle 90 degrees, and press Copy. For the right eye, move the white
heart to the right side, because the highlights should always be on one
side. You should now have two of those adorable googly eyes.

Step 5

Let’s
create the snout. Copy the shape of the head and make this shape
smaller and lighter. You may also slightly flatten the top of this
shape. Add two tiny dark circles for the nostrils. 

Select the snout, make another copy of it and place it behind the
original one (Control-C, Control-B). Turn this copy upside down (stretch
it in the opposite direction using the Selection Tool (V)), shift it down
slightly and make it darker. The pig’s snout is ready.

Step 6

For
the ears, let’s start by drawing another ellipse. Using the Direct
Selection Tool (A), move down the left and right anchor points. To
create the shape shown below, move the handles by using the Direct Selection
Tool (A). Make another copy of this shape, change it to a slightly
darker color, make it a bit smaller, and place it inside the larger
one.

Step 7

Place the ear on the left side of the head.
Rotate it a bit to the left. Take the Reflect Tool (O) and while holding
down the Alt key, click the forehead. In the new dialogue window,
select Vertical, Angle 90 degrees and press Copy. Our pig’s head is
ready!

2. How to Create the Bow

Step 1

Start with a blue
rectangle, which you need to create with the help of the Rectangle Tool
(M). Go to Effect > Warp > Arc and enter the following settings:

Step 2


Expand
the shape (Object > Expand Appearance) and draw an overlapping
rectangle as shown in the image. Select the two shapes and on the
Pathfinder panel, press the Intersect button.

Step 3

Hit the
Reflect Tool (O) and click on your artboard while holding the Alt key.
In the new dialogue window, check Vertical and press Copy.

Step 4

A
slightly lighter blue rectangle will make up the middle part of the
bow. Enter the Warp Options (Effect > Warp > Bulge) with the
settings you see below:

Step 5

Using the Reflect Tool (O),
make a Horizontal reflection of the bow wings and set the fill color
presented below. Don’t forget to put them behind (Control-X, Control-B).

Step 6

Take
one of the bow wings and make it slightly bigger. Rotate the wing to
the left. Then place it behind everything (Control-C, Control-B) and
change the fill color. Make a vertical reflection with the Reflect Tool
(O). Now our bow is ready. Set it aside for now.

3. How to Create the Body, Arm, and Leg

Step 1

Using
the Ellipse Tool (L), draw an oval. Take the Direct Selection Tool (A)
and move the handles of the anchor points to create a pear-like shape
for the body. Place the body under the head (Control-X, Control-B).

Step 2

To
draw the arm, start with an oval again. Using the Direct Selection Tool
(A), move the handles to create the shape shown below. To show the
boundaries of the arm, create another copy of it behind the original one
(Control-C, Control-B) and make it darker.

Step 3

Let’s
draw the leg. Create another ellipse. Using the Direct Selection Tool
(A), move the handles to create the shape shown below. Make another
darker copy in the back (Control-C, Control-B) to create the boundaries.

Step 4

Next,
we will make the hoof. First, we need two brown ovals, which overlap in a vertical direction. After that, go to the Pathfinder
panel, press Unite, and you will get one shape from these two ovals. 

Then
remove the anchor point located between the two ovals. To remove the
anchor point, you need to use the Delete Anchor Point Tool (-). After
that, delete the two top anchor points, and you’ll end up with one shape
which resembles a hoof!

Step 5

Place the hoof on the pig’s foreleg and adjust its size. Now put the hoof on the hind leg and make it slightly bigger.

Let’s
draw a tail. For this, we will use the Pencil Tool (N). But first, we
need to get the same pink color as we did for the body and set it as the
stroke color. Click on the pink fill color, and then click on your
artboard, because nothing has to be selected. 

You will notice that on
the Tools panel (Windows > Tools), you still have this fill color.
Click on the button called Swap Fill and Stroke (Shift-X)—you’ll get a
pink stroke color. On the Stroke panel, adjust the Weight of the stroke
and check Round Cap. Grab the Pencil Tool (N) and start drawing a curly
tail.

Step 6

Take the bow that you set aside before, and place it on the piggy. Our pig is almost ready!

4. How to Create the Wing

Draw
a set of blue ovals, which are positioned as shown in the image below.
Select all of them and on the Pathfinder panel, press the Unite button.
You will get a single shape, which looks like an angel’s wing. 

Place the wing behind the image of the pig (Control-X, Control-B).

5. How to Add the Heart

What’s a Valentine’s image without a heart! Let’s take a copy of the heart which
you created for the eyes. Make it bigger and change the color. Place it
behind the pig so that it looks as if our piggy is holding the heart! Add
two white circles as highlights.

6. How to Add the Background

Step 1

Let’s draw a large square by using the Rectangle Tool (M). Click on your artboard and enter the Width and Height at 850 px.

Step 2

Place the Piglet Angel with the heart on the background. We are done!

Awesome Work, You’re Done!

Great
job! I hope you’re very happy with the results, and perhaps you’re already
thinking about sending this image to your Valentine!
Remember, you can also transform the pig into other cute animals. Happy
Valentine’s Day!