The Daily Texture for 12/30/2015 |
| Today's Daily Texture is all about the SUN, which we've seen so little of here lately during the early winter. I paired this texture with another photo of cute little Delta, a Chocolate Labrador Retriever puppy. On the day I was a photographing her, the sun was fleeting, only peeking out for small moments. I caught her as she turned upside down and she opened her paws as if to welcome it's warmth. I used this texture on top of her original photo, in two layers. One was a multiply layer at 100% with some of that layer masked off her face and belly. The second layer was a soft light one, also at 100% with some masked off her face and belly as well. This texture was the perfect choice to accentuate the glow she had on her sweet little nose. :) |  Like this texture? Buy it here. Commercial Use OK. |
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The Daily Texture for 12/29/2015
Dark Flight
Today's Daily Texture is dark, rich, and dramatic, and is an excellent one to really bring focus to your subject! I used this texture with my bald eagle photo below to help eliminate her background of branches and bright sky and bring the focus to her and the fish she'd just caught. This was one of those once in a lifetime shots because I happened to be in the right place at the right time, and I didn't want the impact of the scene to be lost in tree foliage.
I used the texture as a background, and then duplicated it, placing it on top as a soft light layer at 100%. I masked some of this layer off the bird's face, wings and fish to keep the lighting bright enough there. Then I duplicated the texture layer again and placed it on top in Color Dodge mode at 100%, which helped to brighten and add interest to the image as a whole. I usually only use that mode in lower opacities, but the 100% worked well for this image.
I used the texture as a background, and then duplicated it, placing it on top as a soft light layer at 100%. I masked some of this layer off the bird's face, wings and fish to keep the lighting bright enough there. Then I duplicated the texture layer again and placed it on top in Color Dodge mode at 100%, which helped to brighten and add interest to the image as a whole. I usually only use that mode in lower opacities, but the 100% worked well for this image.
Like this texture? Buy it here. Commercial Use OK.
The Daily Texture for 12/28/2015
Nature's Spotlight 2
| I had so much fun with yesterday's texture, I decided to make a second one in some different tones. I paired this one with a grizzly bear photo taken at the zoo. After masking away his background to reveal the texture underneath, I duplicated the texture layer and set it to multiply, which darkened things considerably. I liked the way it looked on the bottom, but masked away some of this layer on the top to keep the strong light on the bear. |  |
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The Daily Texture for 12/27/2015
Nature's Spotlight
Today's Daily Texture is a fabulous one to use with those subjects you may have photographed in direct sunlight. Because of the strong light source, it's easy to blend with a photo like the one shown below. I used the texture as a background for this tiger photo I took at the zoo. I also used the texture in two additional layers on top - multiply at 100% with some of it masked away, and soft light at 50%. Now my zoo snapshot has a much more artistic look, and will make a fine work of art to hang on the wall!
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The Daily Texture for 12/23/2015
Impending Storm
I am often inspired by the weather, especially storms, as they really make interesting things happen in the sky. Today's Daily Texture is inspired by our impending storm here in Tennessee. Yes, two days before Christmas, we are facing tornadoes and severe storms. I used this texture to make a composite image of some of my local wildlife, a whitetailed buck and some red tailed hawks I've photographed recently. I used the texture as a background, and also in a multiply layer on top {65%, with some of the layer masked off} and soft light {30%, with some of this layer masked off too}. After merging, I adjusted the brightness just a little to complete the image.
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The Daily Texture for 12/22/2015
Glory
 | If you have an image which is backlit and you want to keep that lighting in your final art, Today's Daily Texture will do just that! I paired it with this photograph of a deer who was in a field with backlighting. It blended perfectly in this scenario! I used the texture as a background, and also as a soft light layer on top at about 50% to enhance the glow already present in the original photo. |
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Today's Daily Texture
The Glow of Nature
| If you wish to add a lovely, antiqued glow to your photos, you'll love Today's Daily Texture. I used it as a background for this composite work, and I also used it as a multiply layer on top {masked off the bird and nest} and as a soft light layer to boost the glow and deepen the color a bit more. Using Topaz Lens Effects, I also added a gold reflector light to the left side, and in the same program module, I used the graduated neutral density filter to darken the bottom edge of the merged image. |  |
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The Daily Texture for 12/18/2015
A Christmas Rose
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| Today's Daily Texture is filled with wonderful golden tones, along with some splashes of rose red and a touch of light olive green. I had a vision here of what I wanted to do with this one - I wanted a dog holding a rose. Looking through three years of dog photos, I can't believe how difficult it was to find a dog with his/her mouth closed so I could insert the rose! I finally found a dark colored Cairn Terrier in the perfect pose. As an added bonus, I'd photographed a light colored Cairn Terrier at the same time, in the same light. So...I got more adventurous and decided to add this second dog into the art. Both photos were beyond horrible. Too much noise. Weird lighting. The kind of stuff you get when you're photographing a dog show indoors where it's about as difficult on the photographer as it can get! I had to make a lot of adjustments on this one. |  The art ended up being a composite of three images - both dogs and the rose, paired with the texture as a background. I used Topaz Lens Effects to play with lighting on both the dogs. After merging, I darkened the area around their feet more to ground them, since I had masked away a large portion of the weird looking floor. |
After merging, I realized I still had too much noise present in the dogs. It was then I decided to take this image into Topaz Impression, and run some custom presets I've made, which give the image a SLIGHT painterly look, removing the noise, but leaving enough detail. This program is wonderful for things like this, especially when used in a light application and on layers! If you haven't purchased Topaz Impression yet, you can do so here. It can be used as a stand-alone program, or as a plug-in other software applications. Be sure to read the system requirements first, as you will need a graphics card which is Open GL 3.2 or higher. The program is very intensive, so that's something you'll want to check before you buy it. P.S. Topaz Labs is having a holiday sale until December 31, 2015, where you can get 35% off anything in the store! Use Code: TOPAZ2015 at checkout.
The Daily Texture for 12/17/2015
December River Runoff
 | Today's Daily Texture is a cool, wintery one, with just a touch of warmth on the right side that can be enhanced when layering the texture on top in various layer modes. I used this texture with a nice shot of a bluebird I acquired last week. He sat in shadow in a tree right above me on a cloudy day. I had to raise up my exposure to capture his details, and in doing so, I totally blew out the sky, so it was bright white behind him. I decided he needed some color, and this texture was the perfect one to add in with him! I masked away his white background, revealing the texture underneath. Then I placed the texture on top, setting it to overlay layer mode at 100% to complete the image and give everything a nice glow. |
Like this texture? Buy it here. Commercial Use OK.
The Daily Texture for 12/16/2015
Here Comes The Blue Sky
| You know that moment when the gray, dark, stormy clouds open up and that hint of blue sky appears once again? That's what Today's Daily Texture is all about! I used this texture with one of my buffalo photos taken at the local safari park. Despite the fact the bison had direct sunlight on him, this texture worked really well! I used the texture as a background, and as a multiply layer on top set to about 60%, with the left side and top side of that layer masked away to keep the light on the buffalo's face and back. |  |
Like this texture? Buy it here. Commercial Use OK.
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You may find these two links useful:
• Frequently Asked Questions
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The Daily Texture on Facebook
...and join the Daily Texture Mailing list.
You may find these two links useful:
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Helpful Links and Information
My completed art may be viewed in more detail and purchased online at JaiArt.Com.
Want to see how the textures and backgrounds offered here look printed? Grab a copy of my new catalog to get an up close and personal view of 148 pages of art, all created using these resources!
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Recommended Tutorials on You Tube
I have found a number of great video tutorials over the years on working with masking, layers and working with textures in photography. These are some of the ones I've watched which I recommend:
• Blend Modes & Masking in Paint Shop Pro
• Photoshop Tutorial: Layers and Layer Masks for Beginners
• Layer Masking in Photoshop With Textures
• A Breakdown of Blending Modes | Photoshop Tutorial by Aaron Nace
Be sure to read My Workflow & Advice: Find a software & workflow which works for YOU!
I have found a number of great video tutorials over the years on working with masking, layers and working with textures in photography. These are some of the ones I've watched which I recommend:
• Blend Modes & Masking in Paint Shop Pro
• Photoshop Tutorial: Layers and Layer Masks for Beginners
• Layer Masking in Photoshop With Textures
• A Breakdown of Blending Modes | Photoshop Tutorial by Aaron Nace
Be sure to read My Workflow & Advice: Find a software & workflow which works for YOU!
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