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52 Photo Challenge: Week 41-Texture Overlay

“….he said it was interesting. He used the word ‘textured’. He said ‘smooth’ is boring but ‘textured’ was interesting, and the scar meant that I was stronger than whatever had tried to hurt me.” —Jeannette Walls

This week my assignment for the 52 photo challenge was to create images using a texture overlay. For those unfamiliar, it means after taking the image you add an overlay in the post-processing to give the photo a different texture.

I’ve never played with this feature before and had fun trying out different effects. Some of these I blended until they almost disappeared but others I made more obvious. Let me know if you have a favorite and what you think of this type of editing. Not sure I’ll use it often but it’s a great tool to add to my growing photography skills.

  • If you are in the mood for some reading, here’s a short ghost story I wrote this time last year. I’m proud of this one. Week 41: The Cornfield
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10
  • Photos were taken with Olympus OM-D  and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
  • If you want to join the 52 Photo Challenge, you can find all the information at nicolesy.com

52 Photo Challenge
Week 1: Bokeh
Week 2: Silhouette
Week 3: Black and White
Week 4: Motion Blur
Week 5: Texture
Week 6: Framing
Week 7: Leading Lines
Week 8: Negative Space
Week 9: Patterns
Week 10: Symmetry
Week 11: Green
Week 12: Sidelight
Week 13: Sense of Scale
Week 14: One Lens
Week 15: Series
Week 16: Flat Lay
Week 17: Behind the Scenes
Week 18: Water
Week 19: Blurry Foreground
Week 20: Unique Perspective
Week 21: Shadow
Week 22: Food
Week 23: Abstract
Week 24: Reflection
Week 25: Contrast Color
Week 26: Think in Threes
Week 27: Starburst
Week 28: Low Perspective
Week 29: Macro
Week 30: Backlight
Week 31: Big Sky
Week 32: Dominant Color
Week 33: Fill the Frame
Week 34: Spot Metering
Week 35: Handheld Long Exposure
Week 36: S Curve
Week 37: Shoot Through
Week 38: Faces
Week 39: Blossom
Week 40: Environmental Portrait

47 thoughts on “52 Photo Challenge: Week 41-Texture Overlay”

  1. The crispness of 2, 7 and 8 really enhances the nature colour contrasts & that vintage overlay on 3 compliments the rusting mailboxes well 🙂

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  9. All over best photos. Best your choice photography. Amazing colours pics. I like & Love much 2,7,6 & 9 . Have nice night’.

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  15. My second read of your story got me thinking. I think we assume that ghosts, spirits, fairies are just ‘there’ but with no human-like emotions. But maybe that’s not the case – they may feel trapped and frustrated. We’ll find out eventually.
    With the pics I’m not sure what is natural and what is overlay but maybe #5 enhances the natural best.

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    • Thanks for reading my story a second time. Yes, I suppose we will all find out at some point. I recently started watching a comedy show called “Deadbeat” on Hulu about a medium that helps ghosts finish what they need to move on. It’s ridiculous and very funny!

      Glad you liked #5. I tried to make it look like rain…not sure if I succeeded. Perhaps I should have included unedited versions of these photos for comparison.

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  18. Wow, your use of color in these makes my mental tummy go “yummy”! Being old school, I don’t even know if I use texture or not. I sometimes sharpen or blur, and reality just isn’t colorful enough for me: I pump the color up on 90% of my photos. Your grouping this week makes it impossible for me to choose one or two–they all grab me.

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    • I’m so happy you like these! I really like to play with the colors too. This is the first time I’ve done the overlays, it’s basically blending a texture into the picture. My editing software does most of the work for me, but it does open up some interesting possibilities moving forward. The one I didn’t play with yet because it didn’t’ fit these images is the scratched texture. It gives the picture the sense of being aged, as if you took a paperclip and scratched the negative before developing it. I’m planning on photographing a graveyard this weekend and I think I might use that effect on a few of them.

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      • In addition to the graveyard, back in the day I thought it looked good on portraits. Really, I would apply it to anything I wanted to carry an overtone of “old”. A historic building? A BnW photo of an aging barn? A photo of a relative from 40-60 years ago? You know… I might have to get a new editing program.

  20. It’s impossible to choose a favorite, I love something different about every single one of them! 💞💞💞 I thought #5 was a glass Christmas ornament at first glance.

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