Using digital textures and overlays

5 years 4 months ago #616398 by alee
I'm often asked how I create my photography backgrounds so I wrote up a blog post that shows the basics. I often photograph my clients on a plain grey background and then use digital textures and overlays to add interest during the editing process. This not only saves money but also minimizes the amount of space in my studio required to keep traditional canvas or paper backgrounds. It also saves so much time during sessions as I don't have to switch out backgrounds - I just use my library of digital textures and overlays to quickly and easily add them using layers in photoshop during the editing process.  Click here to read more about it on my blog post .

Make: Canon
Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Lens: EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
ISO: 320
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter speed: 1/100 sec
Captured: Sun, 11 Nov 2018 11:53am


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5 years 4 months ago #616611 by garyrhook
1) Trying to drive traffic off-site, as a newbie, is uncool. Just sayin'.

2) The problem with that background is that it's in crisp focus. For me, if it were behing here it would be soft or blurry, and more convincing. I would also suggest that if you're going to add texture to a background that you go much further and add layers of textures with colors and such. For me it's more interesting.

I could be wrong.


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5 years 4 months ago #616650 by alee
Oh I totally don't want to be uncool.  :unsure:  Thank you for your feedback. I can't figure out how to edit the original post to remove the link off site.... 


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5 years 4 months ago #616745 by garyrhook

alee wrote: Oh I totally don't want to be uncool.  :unsure:  Thank you for your feedback. I can't figure out how to edit the original post to remove the link off site.... 


That's the nature of a forum: you can't. Allowing things to go away is the biggest problem with things like Facebook.

That said...

No worries, and welcome. Yes, we like discussing images, technique, whatever. So let's go back to my comment about the image above. I stated that I didn't care for the focus on the texture being sharp. What are your thoughts about that? Have you tried softening the new background, or used other techniques?


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5 years 4 months ago #616788 by alee
This all makes sense. I'm learning!

Yes I do see your point that the texture is very sharp. I will go back and re-edit to bring it more in line with the focus to match her back shoulder where the depth of field drops off and will post an updated version. Thank you :) 


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5 years 4 months ago #617797 by The Gardener
Would like to see the re-edit, I think what Gary brought up about the back ground is a very valid point.  


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