Something different? Post your working with textures shots here.

[Antonio Correia]

Hello Elise
In my monitor is looks a bit too bright.
However, the image is quite interesting. You have used some kind of very soft texture on it, haven't you ?

[maloufn]

I have seen some beautiful images here
Last week I was trying to make something composed with layers and I came to this.
It is supposed to have the meaning of ruins and decay. I learned something here.
The texture was a shot I made of a pigeon witch had been "ironed" by a car. Heavy images according to my state of mind at the moment.
They are supposed to be seen as a hole, at the same time and in the presented order.
Clicking on them will not make them larger.

Excuse me if I have posted 3 images and if Elise doesn't like I will erase them. No problem.
Thank you for your (eventual) comments.

Antonio,

These are fantastic. I love them. I just wish I knew how to do it.

Nasseem

[maloufn]

I don't think the ethics question is something to worry about -- most people who offer textures, either free or at a price, do so with the intention that others will use them in their photographs. I happen to love the work that Jill and Paul do over at Flypaper, but there are other free sites that have great textures too. Of course, you can create your own -- taking pictures of tree bark, sand, etc. -- but it's harder than it looks to get really good ones, IMHO. Skeletal Mess does nice textures, and his are free (and he specifically says that his textures are available for use both personal and commercial, as long as you don't redistribute the original textures themselves).

Wendy, I'm happy to help, once you get going on it.



I agree -- it's a lot of fun.

Elise,

I download some textures from Skeletal Mess (Flickr) by R-Clicking and saving to my desktop but when opended in Photoshop they were very Pixelated and could not use them in a seperate layer. Would you have any clue why??

Nasseem

[Antonio Correia]

Antonio, These are fantastic. I love them. I just wish I knew how to do it. Nasseem

Nasseem,
Have a look here if you please

[mythlady]

Naseem, I don't right-click and save, I go to the pull-down "Actions" menu and click "View all sizes," then download the original size, which are usually quite large (I just looked at one of Jerry's square textures and it was 2000+ on each side). I've had trouble with other people's textures being small, but not Skeletal Mess's.

I'll try a less-saturated version of the tulips today -- I think one problem is that I was editing on my laptop, which I prefer to do, but the colors are not right -- for "serious" editing, I have to use my desktop. I think the laptop undersaturates, so things come out looking oversaturated on another monitor. I should have thought about that . . .

Antonio, I used Flypaper textures (my favorite), four or five of them with very intense colors (and names like "Balthamos Blue" and "Absinthe Vert"). I kept layering them (and turning the various ones on and off, taking other layers away) until I got something I liked.

[Antonio Correia]

... Antonio, I used Flypaper textures (my favorite), four or five of them with very intense colors (and names like "Balthamos Blue" and "Absinthe Vert"). I kept layering them (and turning the various ones on and off, taking other layers away) until I got something I liked.

[maloufn]

Naseem, I don't right-click and save, I go to the pull-down "Actions" menu and click "View all sizes," then download the original size, which are usually quite large (I just looked at one of Jerry's square textures and it was 2000+ on each side). I've had trouble with other people's textures being small, but not Skeletal Mess's.

I'll try a less-saturated version of the tulips today -- I think one problem is that I was editing on my laptop, which I prefer to do, but the colors are not right -- for "serious" editing, I have to use my desktop. I think the laptop undersaturates, so things come out looking oversaturated on another monitor. I should have thought about that . . .

Antonio, I used Flypaper textures (my favorite), four or five of them with very intense colors (and names like "Balthamos Blue" and "Absinthe Vert"). I kept layering them (and turning the various ones on and off, taking other layers away) until I got something I liked.

Thank you Elise. I actually went to the rocky beach near my house yesterday and got some beautiful textures. I am not quite familiar with the process of layers/masks/blending which this is all about. I can only appreciate the possiblities one can generate using this technique. Any way I tried one yesterday. Its lousy but I was only happy to be able to complete the process.

Thanks

Nasseem

[mythlady]

Nasseem, if you're using Photoshop and are used to using layers, it's quite easy. Start with your main photograph on the "bottom," then add textures, each on its own layer (use the move tool to move each layer on top of the main photo). Then you experiment with 1) the different blending modes (try "Overlay," "Soft Light," "Multiply," etc.), 2) the opacity of the texture layer, and 3) using the brush tool to "brush away" some of the texture on the main subject, if that seems appropriate (using a layer mask), and you can vary the opacity of that too (up at the top of the brush tool). Other things you can experiment with are adding gradient maps in various colors, solid color fill layers and "exclusion" layers, and so on.

If any of this doesn't make sense or if I can help you with it, let me know via PM. I'm happy to help.

[maloufn]

Here is my first attempt using a texture of mine off a beach rock. The soft look. Please feel free to rip it to pieces.

Nasseem

[mythlady]

Naseem, it looks really nice. I wish I could see it larger on flickr, but it looks great. I like that the center looks sharper and less textured. I like the soft colors.

[maloufn]

Naseem, it looks really nice. I wish I could see it larger on flickr, but it looks great. I like that the center looks sharper and less textured. I like the soft colors.

Thank you Elise. I wonder how Antonio or Steve feel about it.

Nasseem

[Antonio Correia]

Naseem, it looks really nice. I wish I could see it larger on flickr, but it looks great. I like that the center looks sharper and less textured. I like the soft colors.

A completely agree with Elise Nasseem !
Very nice indeed.
So, was it that difficult ?

[maloufn]

Thank you Elise,

Its certainly my next area of interest. I just need to do more layers/ masks etc before I feel comfortable with it.

Nasseem

[maloufn]

A completely agree with Elise Nasseem !
Very nice indeed.
So, was it that difficult ?

No but room for improvement. Ive got the basics only.

Nasseem

[Camellia]

[Antonio Correia]

Very sensual Raylee Nice

[Wirefox]

Here is my first attempt using a texture of mine off a beach rock. The soft look. Please feel free to rip it to pieces.

No need to rip it to pieces it works very well indeed. A bit like viewing through old glass. The only crit I have is that the buds on the right are distracting but very easy to remove when using these techniques. Composites and textures are very forgiving to a bit of cloning.

Raylee, I have commented on the sensuality of the original image and you have managed to retain that here also. I think I like the original best but I love your presentation with the wide border. This is definitely a wall hanger.

Still working on my bouquet of tulips -- I was trying for a kind of Impressionist feel on this one. Is it too bright?

Elise, I think this works really well with the vibrant colours the strong structure of the tulips suits this treatment. Having seen Raylee's presentation I think that a bold border would work wonders here too.

[mythlady]

Thanks, Steve -- I have rarely thought about putting borders on my pics for the web, since I'm always thinking in terms of prints.

Raylee, I like your picture very much -- the only suggestion I have is to (if possible) brush most of the texture off the left side of the stamen (I think that's a stamen . . . ). Just MHO, but I like to see the texture more on the background and less on the main subject (to varying degrees, of course).

[maloufn]

Dear Raylee,

Beautiful simplicity (shot/borders and colours). I would use a mask to get rid of the texture not only on the (style/bud??) but in the cavity around it so you can get a sense of depth looking at it. Good work.

Nasseem

[MiniChris]

This is not made up of two different things put together, but rather a Nandina bush through the backside of the cloth I was using as a backdrop to capture the rich red, fall leaves. This was done in Silver Efex Pro with a selenium tone. I like the simplicity of the shot.