Superhero Photo Challenge: Play with Textures

Textures. Actions. Everyone seems to be using them these days, right? Like most things technological, I am at first wary of any fancy pants tools. And when I say wary I mean totally intimidated. Then I warm up when I see that it's fun and relatively easy. The next step is to enter utter and total texture/action geekdom. Be warned people, you can spend hours on one photo!

At first it will feel like how photoshop did when you first encountered it. Overwhelming, boundless, how can you possibly try everything out? And after you get over the kicks of liquefying your friends' faces and turning your husband into a colorful mosaic, you get bored. And for me anyway, with the lack of expert knowledge, the images always turned out kinda corny. It became so much more about the effect than the image.

The same goes for textures. I'm learning that you have to start out with a good image or you don't have much to work with. That said, I have also transformed mediocre shots into something really special, and saved my sorry ass when the lighting wasn't quite right. Phew! The next trick is to not overwhelm the image with effects, but use the your tools and not let them use you.

I am not good at being subtle yet... I don't have command of my tools but I hope to. And I've gotten lucky a few times just the same. This week's challenge is to take a photo and use a texture on it! There are some free textures here and here, or the vintage background I used on this shot is here. I'm excited to see what you get! Here are some shots that will give you some inspiration.

Click here for simple instructions on how to use textures. You can also purchase some really affordable textures from the same person, Ash. If you've got the bug and you're ready for a little splurge, there are also gorgeous fine art textures available from Jesh de Rox. His work blows me away...

What are you doing with textures? Have you been playing with them? What kind of results are you getting? What about actions? What are your favorites? Looking forward to seeing what you create.

Comments

[Karen Walrond]

Oh man. I've never used textures before, and I keep hearing all about them. Perhaps this is the push I need to try this out ...

... thanks, friend!

[kali]

beautiful shot, andrea. i think the most fun is to walk around and take photos of walls, sidewalks, fences, etc. to create your own textures. you'll find yourself looking at your neighborhood in a whole new way.

[maya]

I've been playing with textures for several weeks now. At first, I only liked them to be slightly visible - I was thinking that otherwise we'll look back and find them really dated one day. Of course then I realized that that will probably happen regardless, so I started getting bolder and I'm experimenting with layering them.

They're sure fun to play with, but I'd really like to get into creating them too.

My recent favorites:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayaeh/2294565083/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23558661@N03/2299995037/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23558661@N03/2284585546/

[Christina]

I just discovered textures about a month ago, and I am so in love! Amazing how they can tranform a mundane photo into a work of art

a few of my favs:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnewell/2266991019/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnewell/2270075370/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnewell/2287220186

[toyfoto]

Holy cow! I'm hearing the twilight zone music. I JUST posted a Superhero (literal) image that also fits this theme. It was a painting we bought years ago - before kids - that has been adopted by my daughter. I asked her to pose with it today.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/toyfoto/2300612567/

"Batgirls"

[toyfoto]

Should mention that I don't do a lot of textures (as in actions) but I do love to play with the idea of them as they are found. Think sandwiching negatives, etc.

[Kate C.]

So fun! I've been thinking about getting into textures for awhile but didn't have any good (free) resources. Problem solved! Thanks.

Here's my first experiment: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katherinec/2300765405/

[Ginna]

oh my goodness, thanks for the info! A new toy for me to play with!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginnahendricks/2300793251/

[corey (giggletwig)]

This is my first attempt, ever, at playing with textures. It was fun, but I think it will take some getting used to looking at the end result...I can't decide if this is overkill, or if it works.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/giggletwig/2300864049/

[To Think is to Create]

Fun challenge! Thanks so much for the great links...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/percivale25/2300892347/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/percivale25/2301684780/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/percivale25/2300892551/

[Green Eyed Girl]

Thanks for posting all the links for backgrounds and different pictures! I can't wait to work more with textures!

[mel from freak parade]

Your use of texture was beautiful in that shot. I just started experimenting with textures about a month ago.
Here is my first attempt....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/muckyyuck/2252312330/

and one I did this week....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/muckyyuck/2298627653/

I used the free textures from here...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beapierce/sets/72157601574009156/

[Meg]

still very new at textures, but love what they add to photos :)

http://whimsy.typepad.com/knittens/

[marné]

Wow, I just discovered textures too! This is a photo by my sister, that I played around with (this post includes some very basic instructions too): http://heylucy.typepad.com/photoshop_sisters/2008/02/playing-with-te.html

[Melody A.]

I can't believe how much texture use has exploded. I've been playing for awhile and love it. I like the texture you used in that photo.

Here's mine:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hipmommatexas/2278742894/

[Mrs. Eaves]

I struggle with textures - so I appreciate the challenge. It's good to learn something new!

[LaundryGirl]

Textures are too much fun. I had a blast finding pictures to use as textured backgrounds last night.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wantuhere/2301079183/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wantuhere/2301871076/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wantuhere/2301871454/

Thanks for the challenge! I think I may now be an addict!

[Melissa]

What a great challenge. I've been seeing lots of textures being used, but had no clue how to do it until just recently. Today is the first time I tried. I think they are okay, need to grow on my a little.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24035778@N04/2301687161/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24035778@N04/2302481266/

The textures came from here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beapierce/sets/72157601574009156/

The textures and originals can be found here together:
http://aphotomom.blogspot.com/2008/03/superhero-challenge-textures.html

Thanks for such a great challenge. I'm hooked.

[megan]

textures are definitely a blast!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meganmona/2301405002/

[vivienne]

i only just got photoshop last month and am deeply in love with it...specifically working with textures. i love how each photo calls for something different, subtle, a texture with edges or even many many layers!

here's a few of my favourite so far:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/missvivienne/2283613208/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/missvivienne/2299107607/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/missvivienne/2224529515/in/set-72157603003552413/

and i'm also loving being far from subtle with textures, completely transforming the images!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/missvivienne/2298617492/

[tracey]

I could lock myself in my room and play with textures all day without coming up for air. Very dangerous but soooooo fun!
I came up with this one last night.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maypapers/2302647212/

[Kristin]

I find that's all I want to do with my photos lately is add textures. I've almost gotten to the point that I have to add a texture or the photo looks boring to me. I've got so many on my Flickr account with textures, but I guess the ones I love the most are these. I'm happy to see so many people sharing their textures free so the rest of us can play without breaking the bank!

http://kphotodesign.typepad.com/photos/photo_art/img_6420scrtext.html
http://kphotodesign.typepad.com/photos/photo_art/img_5906scrsm.html
http://kphotodesign.typepad.com/photos/photo_art/100_4894post.html

[Mrs. Eaves]

Here's a try:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrs-eaves/2302796338/

[natala]

It's my first try... My husband (who loved photography) suggested keeping the texture off a persons skin - do the texture on a different layer, but keep the person natural.

Anyway - here is my try: http://atheart.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/textures-and-holding-on/

[Tanya]

You guys have inspired me to try out textures. I just posted my first attempt:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanyamills/2302275913/

[Shalet]

I'm having great fun with textures and definately still learning.
Here's one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peculiarmomma/2296446072/

and another...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peculiarmomma/1925422276/

and another...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peculiarmomma/2271487977/

[Liz]

Okay, this will easily become addictive! I haven't done too much of this but we're having a blizzard here, so what better time to experiment? For me, the best part of this challenge was finding the right match-up between the primary image and the texture to convey my thoughts about the subject.

A friend's daughter is an outstanding young violinist. I combined a shot from one of her concerts with an image of campfire flames and arrived here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizgrandmaison/2303309172/in/set-72157603920357752/

Thanks for the inspiration!

[pooky]

Here's what I've been doing:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yellowpooky/2272912726/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yellowpooky/2292649132/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yellowpooky/2292691884/

[stacelet]

I've been playing with them a bit, I'm still trying to be subtle with using them... I need to find some more to play with, but here are two:

more subtle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stacelet/2270061319/in/set-72157603926039489 (only is obvious when youu zoom in)

and less subtle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stacelet/2303771456/

[nicole]

i think i'm in love. i just got photoshop and was dying to learn how to use textures. thanks for the info. here's what i am starting with.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/n_elle/2303006943/

[Raven]

Okay here are mine. We don't have photoshop on the Mac so I used pixelmator. I've never used textures before, I really enjoyed playing with them!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justexpressive/2303801514/

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justexpressive/2303003669/

[Amanda]

I'd never tried this before today. So much fun! Thanks for the inspiration.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amgreco92/2302972385/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amgreco92/2303766496/

[Marcie]

How about the textural overlay that mother nature provides?

http://marciescudder.blogspot.com/2008/03/la-belle-neige.html
http://marciescudder.blogspot.com/2008/01/two-oranges-winter-swan-series.html
http://marciescudder.blogspot.com/2007/11/safe-harbor.html
http://marciescudder.blogspot.com/2007/11/safe-harbor.html

[Jenna Nelson]

I too am at texture fan. Have you seen the group NinianLif's Textures? Lots of great ones there- free.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22555250@N05/2295889789/in/set-72157603954606950/

[Raven]

Okay, I did another one late into the night and thought I would share.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justexpressive/2304776676/

[ginny]

I'm still having a tough time with textures, don't know why...I do kinda like the way this one turned out...

http://monkeymemories.blogspot.com/2008/03/another-attempt-at-textures.html

[Jen]

I just "discovered" textures and I'm having a lot of fun playing around with them. Thanks to everyone for the links to the free textures -- you can never have too many:)

Here are a few recent experiments:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24279798@N03/2303059479/in/set-72157604027066413/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24279798@N03/2303059479/in/set-72157604027066413/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24279798@N03/2305206018/in/set-72157604027066413/

P.S. - I'm loving Shutter Sisters!

[pen]

thanks for giving me the excuse to play!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsicalviews/2305188214/

[Lawyer Mama]

I love, love, love, love textures. I'm addicted. A few of my recent favorites:

http://flickr.com/photos/lawyermama/2218259832/in/set-72157603789211478/
http://flickr.com/photos/lawyermama/2217107601/in/set-72157603789211478/
http://flickr.com/photos/lawyermama/2217203190/in/set-72157603789211478/

[leslie]

this was fun!
my first attempt here:
http://flickr.com/photos/lesophiephoto/2305660321/
thanks for this one Andrea :)

[ginny]

I decided I wasn't pleased with the one I posted above, I like this one better!

http://monkeymemories.blogspot.com/2008/03/successful-texture.html

[allie]

this is my feeble attempt:) it was fun!

http://simple-pie.blogspot.com/2008/03/shutter-sisters-challenge-playing-with.html

[Thea]

Oh I just love all these textures. I can't seem to get the look I want with them yet. Still practicing.

[Sarcomical]

i love actions for their ease and pliability, and though i dig textures, i haven't used them a whole lot so far. i think sometimes it's just a very specific photo that lends itself to using one, but when it does, it's such a fun effect.

here are a few of my own favorites:
a piano gets an antiqued look:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarcomical/2051212222/in/set-72157602445053102/

this teeny-tiny lizard seems to pop more:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarcomical/2047552969/in/set-72157602445053102/

this little girl at a wedding becomes more ethereal:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarcomical/1639204431/in/set-72157601621035409/

[Christina]

orchid with texture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacobsfam/2296529351/

[Missy]

This is a challenge for me. Definitely not something I have used much, yet.
http://missymckerroll.blogspot.com/2008/03/another-photo-post.html

[Di]

You generous creature! These textures are stunning fun and I feel like they're taking my photography to another place ... thank you!

[Jeanine]

I recently started playing around with textures. So. Totally. Addicted. I love the vintage feel they convey. Thank you for the new resources. Here are a couple textured shots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15607464@N03/2207566826/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15607464@N03/2207567250/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15607464@N03/2172676213/

[kirida]

Here are my attempts:

http://flickr.com/photos/suddenfiction/2310164107/in/photostream/

http://flickr.com/photos/suddenfiction/2310164057/in/photostream/

I'm a bit afraid that it will look "too photoshopped," but I guess that's what the trick is.

[Kayleen]

This was my first try! I'm new here, but I love the site.

http://mkfuller.blogspot.com/2008/03/texture.html