Difference and Exclusion
I had so much fun on this little project I just have to share!
Every now and again when I just get the photo bug, but have no time to do any serious shooting, I grab my camera and head into the yard… LOOKING for photo opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise notice. These are times when my macro lens is my best friend. And I just know my neighbors must think I’m crazy as I lie there, nose to the driveway, photographing textures, or shooting the hood of my car (which makes for great texture overlays, by the way). Sometimes we have butterflies, sometimes there’s an interesting moss growing… in this instance, some rather scraggly looking rose bushes made for a challenging subject.
I’m not sure why I even kept this image as long as I have. I like the brightness and contrast and the composition. But it doesn’t exactly take your breath away, if you know what I mean. Yet this image has been sitting on my drive for moths now, taunting me. Almost haunting me. It just needed to become something…
So tonight I started playing. And playing. The more I tried to bring out the beauty of the flowers, the more it resisted. So scraped the pretty edits and I began a messy collage… exploring all the different blending modes with each added layer. In case you didn’t know, you can drag your Photoshop layers around, rearranging their order. Whenever you move a layer, it will affect your image. So play with layers and see if you end up with a unique combination you hadn’t originally intended.
This collage is a blend of different textures from French Kiss. These are fabulous texture bundles, although I can’t remember which collection I used. They may have even been freebies from their facebook page! I love free textures… especially since I am such a texture junkie! 
Tonight I discovered my love of the blending modes Difference and Exclusion. Of course, you can’t edit a family portrait session with these modes, but they do make for terrific digital art!
The fun is in watching the colors morph and blend as you add layers. I couldn’t begin to explain the steps it took to create this image. Just like working with paints, it was ” a little of this, a little of that” and voila. These little roses suddenly felt complete. I made two versions, one warm and one cool, and just cant decide which one I like best. What do you think?
very nice. I like the bottom one the best : ) So wish you were nearby still so you could teach me : )