Slightly Beyond Photography Basics – Intro to Textures
by Mickey Rountree
As I usually do, I’m calling this article beyond basic because it involves Photoshop rather than Lightroom or other basic editing programs.
In this article, I’m going to touch on the basics of using textures, but more importantly I want to encourage you to try adding textures in your own images. By now I’m sure there are whole books on using textures and hundreds of videos on the web, so if this sparks your interest, there are lots of resources out there.
There is no real mystery to using textures; it’s just adding one or more images in layers over your main image, adjusting blending modes, opacity and masking until you get a look you like. On the other hand, I went to two different full day workshops on textures, and still took years to actually start using them in my own work. And when I first started, I used a Topaz Texture Effects, which is no longer available, for essentially a one click way to add textures. Now I’m much more adventurous and have hundreds if not thousands of images in my textures file.
When these articles are converted to PDF and sized for the newsletter, the resolution and quality of the images is seriously degraded. If you would like to read the article and see the images as I did, you can see this article on my website at this link.
https://mickeyrountree.smugmug.com/Articles/Basic-Photography-Series/
Below is just part of one folder of my textures.
Part of what really makes the use of textures work is the blending modes used for each texture, as well as the ability to mask and vary the opacity of each texture layer. It’s worth trying several blending modes to see what you like best, but there are some general guidelines and modes you will use more frequently. For adding a texture to a white or light background Darken and Multiply work well. For adding texture to a mid-gray background Softlight and Overlay work well. And for adding a texture to a black background Lighten or Screen work best. If you use multiple textures, you can use different blend modes for each texture.
Here are a few reasons to use Textures.
PORTRAITS For years I shot portraits on a white background. It works, just look in any magazine. It draws you right to the face, but after a while all of those white backgrounds get boring. Same shot with two textures shot in Chattanooga. I think it’s more interesting.
Obviously from the example above textures can work on white, but I feel I have more options on a medium gray, so I started shooting subjects on a gray background. If white is boring, gray is even worse. But textures work wonders.
LANDSCAPES Textures can add a mood to landscapes. They can help disguise flaws, or, as below, add some interest to a bare sky.
STILL LIFE and PRODUCTS In magazines and ads you usually see products shot on a solid white or color background. That is to draw your eye to the subject and allow space to add type. But when is the last time you saw an old master’s still life painting with a white background? Below is an example of using a more recognizable image rather than a pattern as a texture. It may be blurring the distinction between composites and what most people think of as textures.
COMPOSITING It’s often difficult to composite a subject into a different background. There are usually problems with color, lighting and overall feel or mood. Using a texture can help pull the elements together. In a composite I mask the subject, but usually only about 80% and I often decrease the mask opacity all around the subject’s outline to blend the two together more smoothly. Here I used a grungy texture that fit the mood of the scene, and left some texture on my subject.
In this example I added a texture, and then also added the blue color grading using a color lookup table adjustment layer for the spooky night effect.
Here are a couple of more detailed examples. This is my starting image. It has already been edited, but no texture has been applied.
This is my favorite texture for portraits. It has 4 or 5 (a slight variation) layers with different blending modes. I have it saved as a Photoshop file with layers, so I can open it, select all of the layers and copy and paste them to my new image.
Here is my 5 layer version added. The next thing I do is select the textures layers and create a new group from layers. That lets me mask or change the opacity of the whole group rather than each individual layer.
Here I masked the texture from the subject at about 80%, and then added an adjustment layer to brighten the image as the textures darkened it too much.
And here is the final image with textures and levels adjustment.
Here is an example of using textures on a black background. This is the original image, and again all of the basic editing has already been done.
Here I’ve added two textures, and since these are going over black, I used the Lighten blending mode. I created a mask by going to the base layer, selecting the selection brush and using “select subject”. With the subject selection active I clicked on the first texture layer and held down “Alt” while clicking the mask icon, creating a perfect mask around the subject. I copied that mask to the next texture layer. I also used Infinite Color to create a color grading, and copied the mask to the infinite color group and decreased the opacity of the mask to let some color to show on the model. And in the final image I applied a Gaussian blur to the two textures layers so they were less intense and didn’t compete with the model.
Where do I find textures?
Shoot your own. Look for patterns, light or even subjects you like. Search for “Free photography Textures download”. I like concrete, cement, stucco, adobe (mud walls) and wood textures and I shoot whenever I see good examples.
Which texture should I use?
Try several, alone or in combination. There is no right or wrong here as long as it suits your vision.
Which blend mode should I use?
Try lighten, screen, darken, multiply, overlay and soft light.
How do I know when to stop?
Don’t ask me. I’m not known for my restraint. Maybe when it looks “Overdone” back off a layer or two, and/or try decreasing the opacity.
I added textures and now my picture is too dark.
Try decreasing the opacity, mask key areas, and/or add a levels adjustment layer.
I have hundreds of textures. With just one image, this could be endless.
Absolutely. But now you never run out of things to try. I have about 1000 textures, so that’s 1000 possible variations, not counting blending modes and opacity. If I use two textures, that becomes a million possibilities. Add three textures and it becomes a billion possibilities. Even at just a million possibilities, you could spend the rest of your life working on just one image.
I’ve added a texture I like, now what?
Try another texture layer. Try color grading in LR, or using look up tables in PS.