Grunge Bluebell

It's midwinter here in New Zealand so this one is from last spring -I'm counting the days (or maybe months) till they're in flower again, in fact I'm looking forward to having any flowers in the garden. There are some weeds still flowering (must be why weeds are so successful) so I think I'll have to resort to photographing them soon :-)

Now onto the processing.
Apple Blush @ Overlay 100%
Fly Edge 18 @ soft light 58 % -this was stretched over the image so its edges weren't so prominent, it's' this layer that gave most of the grunge.
Ming @ Soft light 100% which gave much of the bluish toning.
Ming @ Soft light 100% Don't be afraid to try doubling a texture layer at the same opacity, doing this here added lots more depth and enhanced the blue tone. I removed some of the texture from the focus flowers in these two ming layers using a layer mask.
Curves layer to tweak tone and contrast.

See the photo on Flickr

Our single packs are all still available (click on the sidebar links) but due to popular request we have introduced a triple deal, all three packs for $100!

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Tex Box One and  Tex Box Two

Fly Edges Pack

Only $40

Please note that this is big, almost 400 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads!

Curious Cows

This is part of the large herd of cows from the dairy farm across the road from our country hut. In that area there are almost more cows than sheep now, something that makes me sad as I much prefer the traditional sheep farm than intensive dairy herds. Cows however are such photogenic beasts and lend themselves well to textures :-)

I processed these ones as follows
Concorde @multiply 40%
Antique Liaisons @ soft light 100%
Muscatel @ overlay 44% desaturated slightly using a clipping mask hue saturation layer . I then added a mask to the hue saturation layer so that only the sky portion was desaturated. This layer also added the slight vignette effect you can see.
Necropolis @ Overlay 53% toned slightly blue/green using a hue saturation adjustment
I finished with an unnamed flypaper from the new pack we're working on @ overlay 71 % , it added subtle depth and interest. It's going to be a great one to use, so watch this space :-)
I finished with curves layer to brighten things slightly.

See the photo on Flickr

Our single packs are all still available (click on the sidebar links) but due to popular request we have introduced a triple deal, all three packs for $100!

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Tex Box One and  Tex Box Two

Fly Edges Pack

Only $40

Please note that this is big, almost 400 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads!

dune daisies

Its nice when we can show an image that has really been brought
to life with textures!
Taken on our local beach sand dunes with a hazy late afternoon sun.
I wanted to bring the fresh tones out. The fact that the sun was weak helped stop blow-outs and of course the trusty old polarized lens filter also helped.

The original picture is in a landscape format, but this square crop was taken from the center, thus the texture edges, notably, Labyrinth with its dark moody edge effect has been mostly lost.

Apple Blush - Soft Light @ 74%
Necropolis (desaturated) - Soft Light @ 77%
Labyrinth - Overlay @ 37%
Raw Linen - Soft Light @ 100%

After I had finished I decided I wanted more brightness, so just for a change after saving all the layers and merging, I tried Auto brightness and Contrast. I saved just 50% of this brightening effect.

Our single packs are all still available (click on the sidebar links) but due to popular request we have introduced a triple deal, all three packs for $100!

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Tex Box One and  Tex Box Two

Fly Edges Pack

Only $40

Please note that this is big, almost 400 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads!

Flypapers on Getty!

click for a bigger view

No before after or recipe today but something exciting. Flickr has just launched a "licence with Getty" button where prospective buyers can click through if there's a photo they want to license. They also revamped the  Flickr/Getty launch page. One of the images they show is this one of mine, textured with Flypapers naturally! You can find it on Getty here

Our single packs are all still available (click on the sidebar links) but due to popular request we have introduced a triple deal, all three packs for $100!

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Tex Box One and  Tex Box Two

Fly Edges Pack

Only $40

Please note that this is big, almost 400 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads!

the waves

We already spoke about three objects being better than two in an image,
so I'm pleased to be able to put this maxim to use once again.
Here two buoys wouldn't work quite as well as the three buoys!
Overall we counted nine buoys.

This stormy sea picture was great fun to do,
I had a whale of a time going through the Flypaper texture packs.
Many textures would work on this kind of image, as the sea is very forgiving with overlays. However, sunless days tend to work better than bright sunny days when you get too much contrast and blown-out areas.

To start, I doubled the image and enhanced, with my usual slight painterly effect.
I then beefed this second image even more in curves.
This is a good thing to remember, when you intend to use several textures, it helps stop that overall muddy effect if your base image is very strong.

Just over the top sky, I pulled;
Lavender Skies - Soft Light @ 100%
leaving a pale line above the seas horizon and overlapping the sea itself in an effort to soften the line.
One top of this I placed;
Sunflower Sky - Normal @ 95%
Over the rest of the picture I opened a second;
Sunflower Sky - Soft Light @ 62%
The top was pulled to just below the waterline, I think I added this to help add richness and bring some of the new skies tones into the water.
On top of those layers I made a new copy of the base background enhanced layer:
Background copy - Normal - @ 67%
This pulled it all back together, the sky part was entirely removed to show the new textured sky.
To finally soften the remaining waterline, I opened;
Lime Plaster - Screen @ 42%
I softly removed all of this, and just left a little on the waterline, like a line of mist you would have on a really rough day.
Next I wanted to brighten and soften the whole image, I dragged;
Apple Blush (desaturated by 50%) - Soft light @ 32%

Here I first saved, then merged the whole lot before adding the finishing touches of a final texture.
Because although I liked it, I found it just a little too green, so I opened my old favorite;
Necropolis - Soft Light @92%
This was pulled down over the whole picture, and lightly removed with a small soft brush from several areas, like the white foam and the horizon, as I didn't want to lose those fresh whites.
This final tweak gave the image a rich old painterly effect and helped pull that sky together. Sure its a little over textured, but sometimes you've just got to push the boat out!

You can see it bigger and clearer on flickr Here

Our single packs are all still available (click on the sidebar links) but due to popular request we have introduced a triple deal, all three packs for $100!

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Tex Box One and  Tex Box Two

Fly Edges Pack

Only $40

Please note that this is big, almost 400 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads!

Butterflies

Last week when the sun finally came out after several days of rain I paid a visit to my favourite plant at the local botanic gardens, as I've mentioned before the plant has been pruned more heavily this year so I have to stretch to find any of these dried beauties to photograph.
It took me ages to process this one, I kept adding textures and taking them away trying to get the balance of texture and tone just right. 
In the end I settled on this combination.
Tarte tatin @ soft light 33%
Fly edge 18 @ screen 3% you'd think that such a low opacity wouldn't make much difference but even at 3% it adds a certain subtle softness.
Basalt @ Overlay 59%
Peach blush @ hard light 30% with some of the texture removed from the focus flower using a layer mask.
The result was a little too green so I used a curves layer to tweak the tone.

Our single packs are all still available (click on the sidebar links) but due to popular request we have introduced a triple deal, all three packs for $100!

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Tex Box One and  Tex Box Two

Fly Edges Pack

Only $40

Please note that this is big, almost 400 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads!

beach theater

Here for a change, I'm showing an image that has already been desaturated and then textured.
Its also been treated to give a slight painterly effect and tower blocks have been removed from the horizon.
Taken in the very early morning, with a telephoto, these early fishermen on the horizon like to get in well before the sunbathers arrive!
Beach joggers and dog walkers are next, followed by the little boats. Finally the sleepy vacationing sunbathers.
By midday this beach theater has completed and everybody has left for the sacred French lunch.
Nothing much has changed at the beach in France since Jacques Tati made 'Les Vacance de Monsieur Hulot' !
After 2pm the matinee show starts, with the slow return of the slightly tipsy sunbathers, who will stay until 6pm when the fishermen arrive to take over whilst the vacationers dine and will stay until well after sunset.

Simply processed with these two textures, first listed used to the last.
Raw Linen - Soft Light @ 100% desaturated
Necropolis - Overlay @ 99% brushed/removed from the water

Our single packs are all still available (click on the sidebar links) but due to popular request we have introduced a triple deal, all three packs for $100!

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Tex Box One and  Tex Box Two

Fly Edges Pack

Only $40

Please note that this is big, almost 400 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads!

windowsill jug

This small, high situated window is at the side of my fireplace in my little old french corner house.
I'm lucky having these side windows, as its a great source of fresh cross air in the hot summers. The view is a dud though, as it just points towards next doors green shutters, and not much light as its around two feet thick, having the chimney next to it inside the wall.

It used to be above a lovely little sink, and was sealed shut when I bought it with the skeleton of a long dead pigeon.
I guess the little Dutch professor never saw it as he wasn't very tall!
Surrounded by red and white antique French tiles, alas, all are gone as I had to relocate the ridiculous 3 foot wide kitchen to the ground floor when I first moved in. Its now all Ikea stainless steal.. hay hoe!

So, this little window is where the old timers few dishes were dried!
I was thus inspired to dry my brushes there!
The original antique Cornish-ware Jug was textured with several Flypapers.
Listed from the first used to the last.

Raw Linen - Soft Light @ 80%
Antique Liaisons - Multiply @ 26%
Antique Liaisons - Hard Light @ 26%
Lime Plaster - Soft Light @ 100% flipped vertically
Lost Void - Soft Light @ 71% flipped vertically
Ming - Soft Light @ 56%

Our single packs are all still available (click on the sidebar links) but due to popular request we have introduced a triple deal, all three packs for $100!

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Tex Box One and  Tex Box Two

Fly Edges Pack

Only $40

Please note that this is big, almost 400 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads!

Pastel Blues

The teapot in this photo is my newest acquisition, bought from a local charity shop especially for photographic purposes -always a good excuse :-) I'd been taking photos of it by itself but then I spied my hydrangeas and voila!

Processing for a change was relatively simple. Only two textures.
Ming @ Overlay 38% this gave most of the bluish tone
Fly edge 18 @ screen 33% toned slightly bluer with a hue saturation adjustment. This layer added the softness.
Copy of background @ Soft light 33%
Curves layer for a final tweak of tone and contrast.

Our single packs are all still available (click on the sidebar links) but due to popular request we have introduced a triple deal, all three packs for $100!

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Tex Box One and  Tex Box Two

Fly Edges Pack

Only $40

Please note that this is big, almost 400 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads!

A new dawn !

I'm back after two weeks with only a sometime Iphone connection,
and goodness, it was like the dark ages!
Many thanks to Jill who has been a star!:-)
One of the byproducts of being almost web free was more time, and I tried to be productive, a couple of days, even getting up before dawn to capture sunrise over poppies etc. The great thing about doing this is it gives a new lease of life to tired old photo haunts!
This was shot a few mins after sunrise over a green wheat field and a vineyard on the horizon. The camera was very low, almost in the wheat, and I shot on automatic in raw mode.

Processing was simple, I used just one texture,
Muscatel, desaturated, Hard Light @ 100%
And a base copy which was altered in curves, changing the saturation to more of a purple tone. This final top layer was Normal @ 44%

With this new dawn, we have the pleasure of introducing a new total Flypaper Texture deal of 100USD.
The other deals of course will remain, but due to popular request we think this will be helpful! :-)

Flypaper Triple Combo Deal
$100 for Tex Box One and Two and the Fly Edges

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Tex Box One and Two!

Fly Edges Pack

Only $40

Please note that this is big, almost 800 mb file so the download may take a while. Average reported download time for this pack varies from 15 to 20 mins, perhaps a coffee break would be a good idea between downloads! If you experience trouble with downloading we recommend you update to Firefox :-)