Q: What Are "Fine Art Textures"?

A: Any texture image that you sandwich on top of another, then fade so that the MAIN image is what remains the most visible.

For example, here I took THIS original image and then added THIS and THIS texture. The portrait remains the most visible image, but the textures show in ways so subtle that they almost look like part of the original image...

Q: How do you use textures?

A: There are two ways to add textures to an image. You can simply put them on top of another image and then lower the opacity, or use a mask to "erase" parts of the texture so that the image underneath shows.

AND/OR, you can also play with the texture's blending mode, so that even at 100% opacity it will still reveal parts of the main image.

Usually, I use a combination of everything. I like to lower the opacity of my textures to between 50-75%, and then I like to use a layer blending mode like "overlay" or "soft light". Lastly, I'll usually have to mask or clone some of the texture, to get it just right.

Q: Are textures just images? What makes your texture images special?

A: Yes, textures are just images. You don't need to know any other programs like Adobe Illustrator or Indesign, nor do you need to know any sort of web-based stuff like flash. Just photoshop.

But, I believe my textures are notch above what most other photographers can capture. Why? The images in my online portfolio are 17 megapixel JPG files (quality 10-11) created from my 12 megapixel D300, shot in un-compressed 14-bit RAW, and processed perfectly in Bridge CS3 to be as high-quality as possible.

Also, I shoot most all of my textures with the Sigma 150mm macro lens, which is rated as one of the sharpest lenses ever made. Just compare it's lab test to Canon's closest lens, the 180mm L macro... (I told you it was sharp!) I do shoot some textures that require a wider angle with my Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 at 55mm, which also delivers the highest quality...

For EVERY image, I use my sturdy tripod and a cable release plus mirror lockup. With my roots squarely in nature and macro photography, I'm pretty obsessive about image quality! ;-)

Q: Do you JUST use textures and nothing else to achieve your fine art look?

A: NO! I don't want to mislead anyone here. Textures are only a part of the creative process. I also use Bridge CS3 or Adobe Lightroom to process my images a little before I open them up in photoshop to add textures. Also, AFTER I add textures, an image often needs further work in curves or color balancing.

So, you should expect to develop your own personal style of image processing, and let textures be just a part of that style...

Q: Actually, I already know all about textures and I'm ready to dive in. Got any more detailed advice on how to make fine art images?


A: Alright, here we go!



~ I shouldn't have to tell you this, but you can't use textures and fine art processing to turn a bad image into a good one! You MUST start with a good foundation if you want to create a stunning final image. True, sometimes an image that doesn't catch your eye at first may have potential when processed as a fine art image, but that takes lots experience. 99% of the images that I process as fine art were already "keepers" before I thought about making them into fine art...


~ Make an action that helps you load your textures. Click the little dialog button so you can pick a different texture with the same action. (Tutorial videos on how to make actions are coming soon!)


~ It is obviously a good idea to keep the original, high-resolution texture file somewhere safe, preferably in TWO safe places. Then I'd recommend re-sizing the texture to the resolution that you're going to usually use it at, maybe 8, 10 or 12 megapixels, and save it to a NEW folder that is as easy to access as possible. For the kind of purpose that these texture files are going to serve, I'd say that you could save it as a JPG 9 and still not notice any difference at all. Other than your textures will LOAD faster, which is the whole point of re-sizing and compressing them...


~ Frequently use more than one texture on an image, and don't be afraid to rotate, flip, transform etc. to get something different every time. The textures in my portfolio are here because I use them consistently; they work well on many different images...


~ You can use textures to COVER distracting parts of a photo, sometimes. THIS photo for example used to have a distracting highlight on the front of the brick wall, so I added THIS texture to mask it...


~ Most of the time, a texture will NOT look good over a portrait with smooth skin, and you'll need to tweak the texture so that the subject's skin looks nice again. You have two options for the first step: Either mask the texture, or clone in a different part of the texture that is more smooth.


~ Secondly, if you've masked a part of a texture, over skin for example, often it will be very obvious that you've erased something. The best ways to avoid this is to use curves / color balancing to re-create any special hues that you've lost.


~ Of course lastly, the absolute best advice I can give is to take a WORKSHOP given by one of the true masters of fine art photography, such as Jesh De Rox, Scott Robert, and others...