Posted on Jan.17, 2011, under Travel

(Nikon D700, 28-300mm at 58mm, ISO 200, Exposure 1/500 sec @ f/5.6)

This shot was taken in St. Thomas, USVI on a recent trip. One of the things I was hoping to find was some brightly color boat which would make for an interesting picture. Didn’t find any of those. Instead, what I got was this gritty looking thing. The light was pretty bright and flat but I decided to take the shot anyway just for fun. When I looked through the days shots I wasn’t thrilled with what I had taken, so I decided to work on images that I liked better. After making another pass through those shots I decided to see what could be done with this image. I liked the gritty texture of the boat, especially the way the paint is all chipped and faded. I thought it might be nice to try adding some additional texture to the image through some image overlays.

The first thing I did to the image was crop it down to create a more abstract shot. It’s obviously still a boat, but I think the crop helps you focus more on the details and less on the fact that it is a boat. I then used a couple of texture overlays in Photo Tools. I had an earlier version which used ‘cracked paint’ among other things that I actually kind of liked, but I also thought it looked a bit silly to have cracked paint in the water. Instead I used a film scratch effect and a grunge vignette instead. The vignette made the bumper a bit too dark so I added a curves layer and made the bright area a little larger. I finished things up with a simple edge treatment.

Remember to click on either image to see them in lightbox mode.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Copyright © 2010 James W. Howe – All rights reserved.

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3 Comments

  • Gene says:
    Hey there James. I like that you’re trying out the world of textured photography. I’m full on in love with it. Your comment about not wanting to make the water with cracked paint made me want to write and point out that with more finece (no idea how to spell that)… cracked paint in water looks very cool.

    Check out this textured piece of Italian Venetian Gondolier Artwork. the entire image is based on cracked paint and rotten walls blended into the scene.

  • A very effective experiment! I love what you’ve done with the top shot (although I’m not sold on the border effect).
  • Great stuff. I love how you brought the colors out on that boat. Also, you def. have a talent for picking the best possible cropping! I need to get better at that. Love the texture! Great job, James!

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