One of the hardest things to convey in a photograph is three-dimensionality. One of the classic "photos that didn't work" is when you see a great pattern in a bare tree or bush. You take a picture and it looks like nothing. Why? Because all the spatial clues we get from seeing it in stereo are gone and now all those branches are just on top of each other on a flat picture. To see if there is still something interesting you can try previewing with one eye or just looking critically through the viewfinder.
What about something like the picture above, though. This is a detail of an ornate door with a very impressive raised latice on it. It is in a relatively dark display case so we have the opportunity to modify the light. Actually, you can often modify the light. With a high shutter speed and the flash held close you can often modify the light in broad daylight. But I digress.
For this shot I really wanted to see the relief and texture. I simply attached the flash to the camera with a cord (a so-called TTL cord) and held the flash so the light would rake across from the side. This makes small shadows at every hole and bump and helps our eyes to see the three dimensional shape and the texture.
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