April 8, 2008

• Texture Tuesday #2

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  I'm updating the Texture Portfolio with loads of samples, and I'm having such a blast getting deeper into fine art processing!  This week, I had a little fun with doing some extra burning and dodging to give photos that "singed edge" look...

  
  

  Sort of the look you might get if you were shooting film in a cheapo "lomo" camera, and the photo lab totally ruined your processing...
  Created from THIS image, using THIS and THIS texture, plus some "texture enhancement" actions I made and some burning / dodging...
  (Remember, all my textures are straight captures, procesed only in Bridge.  That blur is 100% natural!)

  

  Created from THIS image, using THIS texture, plus some "texture enhancement" actions I made and some burning / dodging...
  (By the way, how do you like my slightly different web presentation image format?  The camera info is built in!  I love actions...)

  I used the texture in "hard light" blending mode.  Don't know what blending mode is?  Well,  blending modes might be one of those things that we just never learn about if we are self-taught in photoshop.  One of  those boring / intimidating little options that you think "gosh I don't know what the heck that is, I'd beter not touch it!" hehe...  (There are still features and things in Photoshop I feel that way about!)

  Well I'd better save the super-geeky stuff for a full-blown article on CameraTalk, but I'll at least show you where you can find the layer blending mode...  Personally, for texutres I find that usually one of the settings in the "Overlay" category works best.  (Overlay, Soft Light, Hard Light, etc...) ...That's why they call them texture overlays, DUH!!!  The simplification of it is that different textures work best with different blending modes, so experimentation is of course the best way to get good at it...

  

  

  As I first said, I did a little extra work on today's two fine art images, mostly burning and dodging.  I like to do very obvious vignetting sometimes, and do it in a jagged way that creeps into the image more in certain spots and less in others.  It gives it that "light leak" look that you would get if you shot film and maybe you didn't get your film holder into the magazine perfectly, or the film magazine itself hada light leak.

  (You see, every effect that you create in photoshop probably has a real-world equivalent / background in film photography, and that's what I love about it.  I'm so grateful that I got to learn about all the old methods of photography, using those old cameras where you really DID have to worry about light leaks, film processing accidents, and the like.  From a technical AND a visual standpoint, I find it all completely fascinating...)

  And so, the texture of the week is:

  

  If you want to download the texture of the week, CLICK HERE.  It's free!

  It's important to remember that this is just another creative tool, and it doesn't have to be an absolute style that you adopt.  Many viewers will forever prefer the "original" versions of these fine art photographs, and that's just fine.  It's not like one version is BETTER than the other, they're just different.  It's a different form of art.  Just like posing your subjects is an art, framing your shot is an art, operating your camera is an art, and perfect color correctness is an art.  Taking images from a $1700 camera and making them look like they came out of a $17 camera is also an art.

  So be brave, go crazy, be experimental, be unique, and most of all, have fun and follow your passion!

  Take care,
  =Matt=

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  Photographers- bookmark this page
  if you need fresh, high-quality, TEXTURES to use in your FINE ART
  photography...  New textures and samples added almost daily!  You can
  license individual high-res images for unlimited commercial use!  Or go
  HERE for more info...

  • 4:03 pm
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