Texture is emotion in close-up

Get close enough to a subject that texture fills the frame and the image stops being about 'a thing' and starts being about a feeling.

Wrinkled fabric, peeling paint, rough stone, rain on a window — close-up texture makes a photograph tactile. You almost feel it.

Texture close-ups reward directional light. Side or raking light catches every bump and ridge, so the surface reads clearly in the final image.

Fill the frame completely. Use a guide to keep the texture running in a pleasing direction, and let the detail be the subject.