Then because the photo with the girls in front of the old tractor just BEGGED to be converted to black & white, I also ran Andie’s “Wild West Action” on the photo and here is the result:

If not for the clothing style & Ugg boots, you’d never know this wasn’t taken many many years ago.

That’s all for now!  Happy shooting all!

Kathy

As a painter at heart, I’ve always loved everything about texture.  I love it in fashion, textiles, wall finishes, gardens…. you name it!  So of course I love to use textures with my photos as well.

I admit that when I use textures with my photos, a lot of times I do it as a bit of an extreme technique or just for fun.  The beauty of using textures, especially if you use them with different opacities, layer masks, and blending modes, is that you can really create a custom look and go as bold or as subtile as you like.  I personally tend to be a bit more heavy handed than other people might do, but for me, that’s part of the fun.

For my samples today, I used Andie’s Rachel Texture Pack and her Ashley River Road Backgrounds pack.  So let’s get on with it, shall we?

First, I want to show you the original photo of lovely Allie:

Then, I gave her a quick texture make over with one of the Rachel textures, using two different blending modes.  The first one is pretty middle-of-the-road, and the second…well, it looks like I spilled my coffee on an actual print.  I like it, however.  It’s a bit more radical.  And yeah, I realize that it might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but I kind of dig the results.

Here are a few more that I like.  In the next one, I left a bit of texture on her shirt, just for fun!  It makes it more interesting.

I love how this one looks kind of like a painting. Doesn’t Allie have the most amazing blue eyes?

And finally, I love to use damask as a photo texture, so in the next one, I used one of her damask backgrounds.  I recolored it, and left a bit”painted in” her hair for some warmer hair highlights.  I also left just a touch in her shirt as well, to counteract a very “blue” looking white.

Well that’s it for me this week.  I don’t know about you, but we’re seeing peeks of spring around here and that is SO nice! Have a super week and try out those textures!

Here I used Browns Background – A great way to make a site really stand out!!

One of the things we chatted about was background….and how to use them…. here is a sample using the 12×24 #4 Storyboard and the Marina backgrounds.

I used the 16×20 Shana Storyboard template (which is super simple to use!) and the Summer Breeze background collection to create this adorable collage for this little doll’s nursery! I added a bit of border around each image for more definition, and lowered the opacity of the main background just a tad.

And the winner of my $25 GC is Sherry Lu!!

Andrea xo

I never got a chance to tell you about March’s “We Can Help” product.  It is the 20×20 Dorian Gray Canvas Template all sales for the month go to Special Olympics.

I am sad to say there were no sales of Feb “We Can Help” product.

I do a lot of charitable work in my community.  I’m involved with Texas Cares, Help-Portrait and at least until graduation, the Coppell High School Band!  For fund raising gift certificates, I use, almost exclusively, the Melani storyboard.  Why?  It’s 8×10 (easy to include a frame as part of the winner’s package) and it’s so nice and clean that with the right photos you can demonstrate your work and still have room for a bit of text.

Here’s one I did for the Texas Cares Silent Auction.  Texas Cares is a cat rescue which does fabulous work!  The fun part was that this function was attended by pet enthusiasts so a gorgeous black lab rescued from Hurrican Ike was the winner of a photosession!

And this is the one I’m running up to the high school this afternoon as part of the band fund raising efforts!

I love giving this instead of just a plain gift certificate.  I also happen to sell many of these to clients – I just love that it is so simple and clean.  And you can move the little pictures around if you like.

So – there you have it.  The Melani Storyboard can be found here.  I promise to be back this week with all the playing (actually working with) Andie’s amazing WorkIt Presets.  I’m afraid I’m not very good at remembering to write down “the recipes”, and when I go back to figure out what I did I discover another look which I just totally love.  It’s tough when your tools are that GOOD!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

  how fun is this one. 

go grab your storyboards now. 

Thanks andie for making my job easier! 

Emily

www.flomdesigns.com