Life-n-Reflections: Your one stop source for High Quality Textures

When it comes to photo editing, one must be careful on the decisions taken.  Each little tweak brings its own flavor to the mix, adding a different dimension to the image.   Adding texture to a photograph is just one of the many options one has, and when employed correctly, it will transform a simple shot into a great photograph.

I fell in love with textures after discovering Wazari's work.  I understood right away the endless possibilities one has with this technique, and went on to discover one very important thing: quality is the key.  Textures come as key players in your composition, and quality is highly important.

I met Kristy while networking around Etsy.  We are both bloggers, and roam the virtual halls of Etsy along the same circles.  I found her work as a Texture designer, and was immediately interested in her art.  We've been talking a little bit about her work, and I want to share it with you all.

Q: Kristy, I am curious.... when did you start making textures?

A: I started creating textures in the fall of 2010.  When it comes to arts and crafts, I dabble in it about everything.  Photography has always been my best subject, and  when I saw the idea of photo textures popping up all over the internet, I thought , " I can make that!".  So, I combined many things I already learned - like oil painting, hand-making paper, tea staining fabrics, and metallic stamping.  Then I scanned in my "works of art" and applied my Photoshop skills to design high quality textures.

Q: How do you describe your work?

Modern meets ephemera or Vintage Urban Country

Q: In your experience, which images are better suited for texture application?

A: It really depends on the light and subject.  Landscape photographs can turn into a fine art painting with texture or the textures can be lost in a busy background.  The same goes for still life and portraiture.  I think allowing for a neutral space around the subject is best.  This gives you place to really play with light, hues, and textures!

Q: What inspires your work?

A: I am an artist inspired by aging structures, thunderstorms, letters from the past, fields of rolled hay, rusting tractors, patterns of perfection imprinted on leaves, everyday items of yesterday, and the wild tangling branches of old oak trees.

Q: Where can we find your High Quality Textures:

A:  You can find my work by visiting any of these places:

Life-n-Reflections Etsy store -   http://lifenreflection.etsy.com

Life-n-Reflection Graphic Design Boutique - http://lifenreflection.bigcartel.com/

Kristy has given us an easy to follow recipe, as well as a coupon to use at her store and a FREE high resolution texture.  Here it goes...

To apply the same texture finish as the picture above, follow the following steps:

1. Bleach your images with the antique cool texture blended on linear burn with a 60% opacity.

2. Add song to the wind with the windsong texture, blended on soft light.

3. warm your edges with the worn paper texture, blended on soft light at 50% opacity.

If you wish to buy any of these textures, you can use coupon code "rustika" to receive a 20% discount.

And here you can find the FREE high resolution texture.  This is the Windsong Texture.

The art behind newborn photography

You guys know how I am getting involved more and more with maternity and newborn photography.  They are truly beautiful subjects to capture, but I have come to the conclusion that newborn is one of the trickiest to accomplish.

My friend Wazari Wazir shared this video this morning, and it's been a blessing.  Not only because I got to see the behind the scenes of two brilliant photographers at work, but mainly because I realized that is hard.  So I have to give myself credit for feeling so overwhelmed, now that I have two mothers to be wanting my photography for their newborns.

For me, the hardest thing, believe it or not, is feeling relaxed.  I am not used to be around babies, so I think my first task would be to just relax. Ufffff....

Enjoy the video and take as much as you can.

Mastering Textures with Wazari Wazir

There are very few photographers out there that in my opinion can be labeled as masters.  Today I am presenting you one of those few.  Meet Wazari Wazir.

I found Wazari through my endless searches around Flickr.  It was about a year ago when I decided that it was time for me to learn Photoshop and get a hold of the endless resources this powerful tool offers.  If you are considering going professional, you MUST learn to manipulate your pictures correctly.  It will make a huge difference in the quality of your work.

Wazari has since been part of my daily Facebook feed and point of reference whenever attempting something new.  He is a photojournalist in Malaysia, and he breaths photography on a daily basis.  It is was he does, and he does it with a passion for educating fellow photographers to achieve their best quality work.  He has produced several e-books regarding texture and color manipulation that are essential for anyone attempting to develop their own photographic style.

"You can do texture in so many ways, you can do it with just one single layer of texture or you can use more than just one, two, three or as much as you like. For me doing a Photoshop Texture editing is an art in itself. You need to “feel” it to make it happen." - Wazari Wazir

I am very excited to have Wazari as part of Soulful Colors' network.  You can discover his work by following any of the following sites:

Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wazari/

Blog:

http://www.wazariwazir.com/

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/wazari

You can also access the Textures E-Book by clicking on the images or by going to this site:

http://www.wazariwazir.com/2010/05/31/photoshop-texture-ebook-is-here-how-to-play-with-texture/

Soft Waters: Shutter Speed Manipulation

My sweetheart and I go to watch the sunrise quite often.  I took this picture the last time we went, and I just finished working with it.  It was an experiment.  I slowed down the shutter speed to the slowest setting I thought of, even though the camera's light meter was totally against it.  To no surprise, the picture was totally blown up.  It was all white.  I left it like that and continued working on my sunrise photography session.  You can visit my store to see the really good ones I took that morning.

The shutter's speed is one of the many settings you can manipulate to achieve a specific look.  In this case, I was looking for a soft brush effect in the water.  Since the shutter speed was at low speed, it allows the effect of time to be captured in the picture.  Think of it as the blinking of the eye.  The slower you open and close the eyelid, the more information you can capture from a scene.  The same thing happens with the camera.

I really like the look of this picture.  The cold tones and the soft water makes for a very soothing image.