Texturized!

Some days I love photos that are clean, crisp, and vibrant, but other days, I can’t get enough of artsy textures! Textures are super fun and can transform so-so photos into "fine art" images. Or, they can fake bad photos into something presentable with all that muted colors and patterns.

Take this one for example: We were walking around the colorful town of Kenmare when this window caught my eye. Without much of a thought, I put my big camera to my face and basically pointed + snapped.

I like the composition and the "Live Music Tonight" sign, but other than that, it leaves much to be desired.

I applied a graffiti texture that I found online and played with blending mode + opacity of the layer. Then I changed the colors a bit by testing out hue, saturation, and lightness (I used 0 for hue, -35 for saturation, and +3 for lightness). Finally, I added a yellow-ish solid color layer and adjusted the blending mode + opacity until I got the look I want.

This is what I got:

Much better, in my opinion! I like it that it's a bit of antique-y and vintage-y. And you can also see slight graffiti.

Here is another one, also taken in Kenmare. I used a different texture I found online, but adjusted hue/saturation/lightness very similar to above.

Hmm...I really like the After.

I think I will be doing lots of texturizing from now on. Yipee, one more photo editing technique under my belt!

PS. I am in no way think that I am proficient at this technique. Art is so subjective that it's really up to what you like personally. I do think it's a difficult thing to master - to know how to mask properly, to use textures in a way that they enhance the photo, and to know when enough is enough. I am still learning.

PPS. Want to learn how to add texture to your photos? Look no further than here.