Textures can be anything, really. I went out (out of my room) and photographed this small collection today. Cracks and stains in the concrete, the marks from a vine on my front wall, a quickly-swept dirty floor, and a part of my studio wall I decided to roughly paint about ten minutes earlier (hopefully Koshi won't notice). Other good sources of textures are: the beach, old stucco / rendering, driftwood, stone, faded wallpaper, old curtains, woven materials, and anything that just happens to grab your attention. Colour doesn't matter so much (we'll get to that).
If you haven't read my blend modes tutorial, or if you don't know much about blend modes, go and read that first: http://365project.org/discuss/tips-n-tricks/7058/how-to-photoshop-blend-modes
My first step, once I had them all in Lightroom, was to choose one that I liked. I picked the one of the dirty swept floor (top left), and opened it in Photoshop.
I don't want an orange-ish grey texture today - I want a purple one. So, I created a new layer, grabbed my paint bucket tool, chose a nice purple, and filled the layer. Then, I changed the blend mode to "soft light". My texture is now purple!
It should be noted that you can take any texture you've created, at any time, and switch colours in Photoshop. You are not stuck with whatever you create. But, it sure is easier if you create the ones you think you will want.
I saved the last one, but decided I want a second version with a vignette. First, I made a new layer. Then I used the elipse marquee tool in this case, but usually I'd just freehand it. Then I selected "feather" as shown, and maxed it out (250 pixels). Then, with the new layer selected and the marching ants active, I took the paint bucket tool again and filled it in with white. I then changed the blend mode to soft light again, and dropped the layer opacity down until I had a nice vignette.
If you already have a light texture and want to do this, simply invert your selection so the outside part is selected, and fill that in with black instead of the inside with white (thus darkening the outside instead of brightening the inside). You can also try different blend modes to find the one that works for your texture.
This time I want a "golden" texture. These are great for warming up skin tones, brightening up underexposed skin etc. So, I chose another shot (this one is one I'd done on the tripod at 4 seconds exposure, and pressed down slightly on the end of the lens during the shot, causing some vertical blurring). The original colour was red-ish.
I've opened it up and created a hue/saturation adjustment layer. You can see how I've adjusted the hue and saturation on the sliders.
I then made some more adjustments, saved, and then added a vignetted version like last time.
I wanted something a little different for a piece I'm working on, so this time I've taken the last texture, made a slight adjustment for a more earthy tone, and I've also taken one of the concrete crack shots and placed it over the top. I've then chosen blend mode "darken". It would be no trouble to combine several of the "cracked concrete" shots for a series of cracks, but this time I just want one.
And here's the "cracked" texture, complete with vignette, in a nice earthy tone. This will be great for my still life photo!
Next time well have a look at Textures Part B: Uses
wow, thanks for taking the time and making this.
i saw your texture teaser image and tried on adding texture to one of my photos.
Did i do this correctly ?
@jinximages Cool, thank you for the info, I keep meaning to try something like this, now I have some ideas where to start. Oh and I love love love that purple texture!
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I've opened it up and created a hue/saturation adjustment layer. You can see how I've adjusted the hue and saturation on the sliders.
I then made some more adjustments, saved, and then added a vignetted version like last time.
I wanted something a little different for a piece I'm working on, so this time I've taken the last texture, made a slight adjustment for a more earthy tone, and I've also taken one of the concrete crack shots and placed it over the top. I've then chosen blend mode "darken". It would be no trouble to combine several of the "cracked concrete" shots for a series of cracks, but this time I just want one.
And here's the "cracked" texture, complete with vignette, in a nice earthy tone. This will be great for my still life photo!
Next time well have a look at Textures Part B: Uses
i saw your texture teaser image and tried on adding texture to one of my photos.
Did i do this correctly ?
@kezzam Thanks Kerry! :)
@kjarn I promise I'll write something non-technical soon! ;)
http://365project.org/taidster/365/2011-09-04
Thanks @jinximages. You rock!