Adding Texture

Texture can take an otherwise good photo and raise it to an extraordinary level. It can also rescue a boring one. Picking the right texture to add is an art form...one I can easily tell you that I am no where near mastering. ;)

I can be found lately, in my spare time, snapping close-up pictures of my driveway, tree bark, the barn siding, even Cody's fur and the treadmill track. There are so many interesting textures all around us, a bevy of canvases to work with. I am starting to become a woman obsessed and it's scary just how much of my scarce free time is taken up learning how to be one with adding texture.

Here are my first attempts... I have mixed a few, added a vignette or two and went crazy. Photoshop is a tough beast to tame - it's knocking the crap outta me! So much to learn, so little time... Anyway, here are my first results of the lesson:

OOPS! I yanked most of these photos to rework them again. Learning a very good lesson here, photos in Photoshop appear more subtle than they appear online. So, I am going back to have another go, this time a little less obvious and heavy.

Jimmy


Cody and Jimmy with the treadmill track:


Then Cody's fur added:


Then the side of firewood and a vignette added:


And then Alex, a fav pic with the side of firewood:


Then Cody's fur added:


I have more, but I want to work them a little before I share. Tell me what you think!