Goosebumps

Emillie, Plymouth, 2008

It’s all about texture. I’m a lover of texture. It’s the main reason I love using shallow depth of focus so much — the details of the area in focus really ping out against the softness surrounding them.

And when the details reveal something about the person or add an element of intrigue to the situation being photographed, so much the better.

The goosebumps on Emillie’s arm in this image are a nice example of this. Without them, it’d still be a nice image, no doubt. With them, however, it becomes something slightly curiouser and holds the attention just that little bit longer… The image starts to feel a bit more ‘real’ and therefore more engaging.