In this video, we are going to take a look at what type of photos work best with textures. While there are many varying opinions on this subject, after years of creating textures and adding them to photos – I have come to some very definite conclusions on what works and what doesn’t work for me.
I find that the more blur/negative space your photo contains – the more opportunity your texture will have to enhance your vision instead of competing with it. I like to “shoot for the blur” I like to say. Having a clear, sharp subject and letting my background fade into some blur with the lens I use and the aperture settings I set.
For this reason, I usually shoot wide open with a large aperture or with an art lens like Lensbaby. Using an inexpensive zoom lens with a variable aperture setting usually does not produce good results for this.
If you have a fully in focus photo with a busy background – then all of the elements will be competing with the texture for attention. When you are just getting started – this will be the thing that causes you the most frustration – selecting a photo that just isn’t appropriate for a texture and trying to add textures to it.
By knowing right up front what you might need to be looking at and shooting for – you will have a much easier time and get fantastic results faster with less frustration.
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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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