The same Viola Image as above but with a different texture applied

In this mini-tutorial I will walk you through some creative texturing applications as well as multiple filtering applications to bring your textured images to life. Adding texture to an image can really change the look of it. Knowing how to blend an image with the right textures and learning some highlighting techniques can really improve your final product and that is what we will be discussing here. Most of the things you will need to create textured images can be found in Photoshop, however there is a cool program out there called Dirty Pictures by Totally Rad. It allows you to very easily change out the texture backgrounds by blending them automatically for you. This is by far the easiest way to apply the textures. But convenience comes with a price. The software is not free it costs $149.00. You do not need to buy this program to apply the textures- it just makes it easier. You don’t even need to buy the textures; they are available all over the web for free. All of the textures that I used here are from Shadowhouse Creations they offer lots of great free textures and tutorials.

Choosing the Texture:

When choosing a texture to use for an image there are some considerations to think about. First of all you never want your texture to completely over power your subject. For example, if you are applying a texture to a dainty flower you don’t want to choose a texture that will be too strong either with its color or its pattern. Heavily raised textured looks can be very nice for the right image but a dainty flower needs a softer approach in my opinion. Use complimentary colors but don’t be afraid of strong contrast, just learn to use it well and you can create some dynamic images. Always try several out before you settle on one. Also some of the textures have brush strokes going in a vertical or horizontal direction, you can always change the orientation in Photoshop so don’t let that stop you. Another thing that I do is change the hue and/or saturation to suit my image. Below is an image that reflects a hue and saturation change to the texture layer.

Pier Pilings, Coquille River, Bandon, Oregon 2010

When composing this image, I wanted to show both the ethereal foggy mood and the depth of the posts fading out into the mist. I shuffled my camera position until I found a good rhythm of spaces between each line. This spacing accentuates the fascinating graphic structure because each space defines a post, and avoids the merging of that shape. For this image, I used the Singh Ray Vari-ND to lengthen the exposure. This technique does a great job of simplifying the overall image since the blurring “washes away” the textures of the water. To me, this heightens a feeling of the piers floating in space.

William attended the University of Colorado and graduated with a BA degree in Environmental Conservation in 1976.  The connection between William's formal education and his images is pervasive.  During summer breaks from college, he worked in Glacier and in North Cascades National Parks.  William spent those summers backpacking extensively and began to carry a camera to record his treks.  A year after graduation, he began working in Yosemite, and never left.