In this post, I want to share with you some of my top tips for adding textures to your photos. I have been making and adding textures to my photos for more than 5 years and have some definite ideas on what works best after all of that practice and feedback over the years.
1. Your lens is important. Photos that contain a good amount of background blur or negative space tend to work better for adding textures to than photos that are busy and fully in focus. For that reason, your lens choice will determine how much blur you are going to be able to achieve when out photographing. I tend to go with a lens that has a fixed aperture option and goes down to at least f2.5. I also really like Lensbaby lenses for the beautiful blur you can achieve with them.
2. Shoot for the blur! You need to go out shooting, knowing, that you are going to be adding texture to your photo. This will help you determine what you should focus on and what should fall back into blur. The most frustrating thing when you are new to textures – is taking an existing photo that has too much in focus and trying your hand at adding textures – only to hate what you end up with. If you understand right from the front what you are looking for before you add a texture – you will be more successful with your efforts faster.
3. Start out with the best possible photo. Adding a texture to a bad photo doesn’t save it. It is just a bad photo with texture. You need to get out and practice. Really learn your camera and how it works. Choose a lens that is right for what you are looking to do.
4. Mask off your subject. Learn how to use a layer mask and be able to creatively remove the texture from your subject if it is detracting from it. You want your texture to enhance the overall image – not be competing with important elements in the photo.
5. Don’t be afraid to experiment with multiple textures. Sometimes you’ll add 1 texture and think you are finished – but if you will take some time to play and add some more textures in there – just experimenting to see what other looks you can get – you might end up with a happy surprise you weren’t expecting.
6. Your workflow is very important! My workflow is the following – Edit the photo for color and sharpness – I always sharpen before I add the texture. I want my subject to be sharp – not necessarily the extra texture I’m adding. After I have a fully edited photo – only then do I start playing and experimenting with textures. Once I am finished adding texture, I will then evaluate if I need once last sharpen for the photo overall or not.
7. Work in layers. I like to work in a non-destructive workflow method where I am not flattening my image. I save the image with all the layers I used so I can later go back and edit it some more if I need to. I also like to go back and try out other textures to see what different looks I might get.
If you work in layers – then when you learn new skills – you will be able to go back in and make things better also. If you flatten your image and then realize you needed to do something differently or you learn how to mask off a texture – you, unfortunately, cannot go back and change anything. You would just have to start from scratch again.
8. Manipulate your texture layer. I like to add extra contrast or desaturate the color out of a texture if it is creating an undesirable color cast. So I will select the texture layer and change the levels and the saturation of that layer to get the changes I want.
By keeping some of these tips in mind you will definitely be setting yourself up for success with working with textures in your photos. I’m looking forward to seeing what you create!
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I have a few free goodies for you – Photography The Basics eBook, Working With Textures eBook, a gorgeous texture sampler set, and a Lightroom/ACR – Sweet Lights sampler set to get you started. I cannot wait to see what you are creating!
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