We celebrated my nephew's birthday at the
Bandon wildlife park and I snagged a few fun pictures of the animals. I had taken a few shots of different textures from around my yard a couple of weeks ago and these animal shots were perfect for layering textures with.
To make your own texture overlays all you do is take a full frame shot of whatever texture you want (cedar tree, pavement, cement, chicken wire the options are endless). Open your subject picture and your texture picture in the same window of your
photoshop (I am sure other editing software can do a similar layering technique) and layer the texture on top of the subject. Then adjust the opacity to your liking and I usually erase the texture from the face of my subject to keep it crisp and clear.
This first one I used a wood texture from a cedar tree and I decided to use it ever so lightly.
This one I just used the texture that was present in the surroundings, in this case the chain link fence, to add depth and variation to the shot;
So next time you are out and about, camera in hand, keep in mind the textures surrounding your subject. Think about how they might play into creating a more artistic shot whether it is simply adjusting your composition to include an element or in using a texture during the post processing of your images.
