Texture can be used powerfully in photography. The texture of bark, sand, skin, hair, and so forth can be used as a focal point. In landscape photography texture can often be found when things are dry. Texture is brought out with very low light creating longer shadows that contrast with streaks of light. This is what gives ripples in sand dunes their texture. Sometimes we do not have much texture in an image when we want more texture. Here is an image that is similar to last week's image:

This image was obviously taken at about the same place as last week's image but this is a different tree. The light is also very different. We can start to see some glow but full sunlight is not out yet. This made the tree trunk dark. Since the background does not have the punch that last week's image has I wanted to focus more on the tree. I remind you that it is best that the tree does not touch the river.

          So how do I place more emphasis on the tree, especially since the tree was darkish? My whole foreground was darkish. I decided to really highlight the tree in post processing. The two weapons of choice were light and texture. I brightened the tree and foreground considerably. I wanted to draw attention to the tree and the trunk. Next I used texture. Luminar is my photo-editing software of choice, yes, I still use PhotoShop for certain things but most of my work is done in Luminar. There are a few sliders that really bring out the texture of images in Luminar.

          The first one is called "Detail Enhancer." Please do not over do any post processing. We want to let things look natural. We do not seek to place in an image what is not there. We just want to highlight what is there by making it more visible. The next slider is "Structure." The last one I use is "Micro-Structure." I just play around with these sliders to see which one does a better job specifically on the area I want effected. The nice thing about Luminar is that you have layers. So then you just paint the effect in on the tree trunk and branches. The character of the tree just comes to life.

          To me this image is all about that tree (the green) and the texture of the trunk. Learning better processing skills is necessary in today's world if you want to compete. Give Luminar a try. The software is cheap and amazing. Click on Affiliate Discounts (top right of screen) for a discount (and I also get cup of coffee - not that I drink coffee).