texture tuesday

I have two images to share for Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.  {ED -oops - I just went to post my link and it's a black and white day!  I got my wires crossed somewhere.  Sorry, but I'd already done these, so my theme is... yellow?}

The ubiquitous flower picture - obviously I chose daffodils for spring and used Kim's texture Phoebe two ways (she offers free ones regularly).  I converted one layer to black and white and the second I changed the hue to a pinkish tone, blended one at hard light, one at soft light and reduced opacity.

I tried again trying for that whitewashed look Kim seems to achieve so effortlessly - me, not so much.  For one thing I tend to gravitate toward saturated colors but sometimes that white look is kinda cool.  I still don't quite know how to achieve it....maybe I need white flowers?  Above I added another texture layer Stamped Softly at linear light 30% and it became somewhat whiter/brighter.  Instead of being romantic and soft it just seems a little blurry and washed out....hmmm.

This second image is a photo I took on a trip to China and I used the rusty vignette texture at vivid light 100% and erased the coverage over the building.

Be sure to check out other texture offerings at Kim's site.

By the way, I've added some new images and collages for purchase in my ETSY shop - hope you'll visit and check it out.

texture tuesday

I can't believe it's Tuesday already and I forgot to work on my digital Texture Tuesday images.  Since I am up SO early this morning but in the interest of limited time, I got busy and have an experiment for you.  I took the same image and added adjustments and textures from Nancy Donaldson and then redid it using textures from Kim Klassen - both of whom sponsor Texture Tuesday roundups.  Which do you prefer, or, like my husband, do you prefer the original?

Original image:

Nancy Donaldson texture encaustic circles at vivid light 35% and a new one from her friend Marie, venetian (the letters) soft light 86%.

This one uses two Kim textures:  pourvous (text) at hard light 40% and autumn burst at soft light 55%.

And just for chuckles, here's the image with all 4 textures activated......a bit overdone, but interesting.

Visit Kim and Nancy's sites to see more.....

texture tuesday: vermont bridge

Anything goes today over at Kim Klassen's Cafe blog - add any of her textures (lots of free goodies) to any of my photos.  Sometimes wide open is more challenging because I don't know where to start.  I randomly selected a vacation photo from Vermont and started playing.

Starting photo:

I started by duplicating the photo & applying soft light to boost the contrast.  Then I applied two PSE filters - paint daubs and cutout to give it a somewhat painterly look.  I then added two of Kim's textures - the free one from this week, Revolution, and Ugg Love with various opacity and blending modes used.

Final image:

Ugg love is a great crackle texture that kind of filled in the darks as if it were an old painting and the Revolution added that signature Kim light/bright warm coloration as well as vignetted the corners.

See what others have come up with at Kim's Cafe.  And check back on Friday when I'll use the same image but with Bonnie's textures and come up with a totally different effect!

texture tuesday: celebrate

Kim Klassen is once again hosting her Texture Tuesday with the theme of celebrate.....I started the holiday season off with a traditional-to-us games night for friends and family (we played bunco for hours).  I made a couple of flower arrangements to add to the decor so my celebrate photo is a macro of part of the arrangement.

Just a simple processing was all this shot needed I thought - first I duplicated the image and used soft light at 80% to up the contrast.  Then I used Kim's Music Lovin' texture at color burn 50% to pump up the color and add those grungy edges.  Those ornaments are pretty reflective and caught my tripod, my kitchen lights & cupboards, etc.  I'll really have to work on positioning them better next time :)

Be sure to visit some of the other links to see what creative photographers are up to.

Then I participated in Nancy's Texture Tuesday with a different prompt - she added some new freebie textures (visit her on flickr) in a garage series and wanted to see what could be done with those.  I used 2 of her garage textures and arrived at this:

starting:

Addition of 2 of Nancy's textures:

One of her textures used at saturation, really reduced the saturation and the other one brought in all the grungy spots.  I erased (at 40%) much of the spots on the white wall and side of the boat - it was a bit strong on this particular image.  Visit Nancy at All Pulped Out on Tuesday to see how others used her garage series.