Art Beyond the Lens

Art Beyond the Lens

by Sarah Gardner
Released November 2012
Publisher(s): Routledge
ISBN: 9781136108693

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Vintage-looking, dream-like textures can open up a whole new world in your photography. However, there is much, much more to working with textures than simply merging them with an image via Photoshop. In this gorgeous new guide from texture guru Sarah Gardner, you'll learn everything there is to know about how to maximize the potential of these exciting tools. In addition to hundreds of beautiful example images, this book is also packed with practical advice on what makes a good texture, and how and when to use them. How an image is initially captured and processed has a significant impact on the effect a texture will have, so you'll also learn what to consider when composing and shooting (rather than simply relying on post-processing) and how to use lighting and background considerations effectively for later work with textures. Workshop notes and a supplemental website will help you put Sarah's techniques into practice immediately. Beautiful enough to sit on your coffee table yet practical enough to store near your computer, this book will show you everything you need to know to get that coveted vintage-feel in your images, whether you're a casual family snapper or a seasoned professional.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Full Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. Introduction
  7. Chapter 1 Back to Art
    1. An artist’s journey
    2. A question of art
    3. Painters who influenced my style
    4. Minimalism: Hidden in the absence of detail
    5. Painting with a digital canvas
    6. Discovering textures
    7. Gaining confidence to work intuitivelys
  8. Chapter 2 A Working Style
    1. How textures bring nostalgia and emotion to my work
    2. A question of inspiration or influence
    3. Developing a signature style
  9. Chapter 3 Shooting with Textures in Mind
    1. Negative space and the right composition
    2. Backgrounds
    3. How light and dark backgrounds work differently
    4. From plain to textured
    5. Working with boke
    6. Shooting with natural light
    7. Why is it important to shoot with textures in mind?
  10. Chapter 4 Digital Textures Explained
    1. The right textures
    2. What is a digital texture?
    3. Don’t judge a book
    4. Making textures from the right source material
    5. Processing textures
    6. How scale is important
    7. Varying scale
    8. Layers, blend modes, and opacity
    9. Blend modes explained
    10. Tints and color casts
    11. Pictorial layers
  11. Chapter 5 Processing Insights
    1. How to prepare an image for texturing
    2. Identifying my image
    3. Lightening with a Screen Blend
    4. Reducing image contrast
    5. Increasing clarity
    6. Final adjustments and fine tuning
    7. Levels Adjustments
    8. First Save
    9. Processing with textures
    10. Pure texture
    11. Effective texture removal
    12. Using a mask layer effectively
    13. The “paint away” technique
    14. Processing example
    15. The “paint away” technique on a single texture
    16. Layering multiple textures
    17. The “paint away” technique on multiple textures
    18. Flatten
    19. Beyond the textured
    20. Gradient Fills
    21. Processing example
    22. Introducing Gradient Fills
    23. Gradient fills on extreme backgrounds
    24. Levels RGB tinting
    25. Black-and-white conversion
    26. Desaturating Textures
    27. Solid color layers
    28. Background color layers
    29. Finish with a curves adjustment
    30. Final sharpen and save
    31. Example recipes
    32. Last word on processing
  12. Chapter 6 Photography Insights
    1. ISO settings
    2. Keep ISO settings as low as possible to reduce unwanted image noise
    3. Aperture priority
    4. Work in AV (aperture priority) mode to ensure shallow depth of field
    5. Prime lenses
    6. Get moving with prime lenses and vary shooting angles
    7. Exposure
    8. Slightly overexpose to keep photograph’s light and colors vibrant
    9. White balance
    10. Customize white balance to avoid overly warm or “yellowed” greens and skin tones
    11. Lighting
    12. Identify the right light for the job
    13. Composition
    14. Consider backgrounds, middle grounds, and foregrounds
    15. Focus
    16. Self-select the auto focal points for precision focusing
  13. Chapter 7 Presentation & Design Work
    1. Introducing digital papers and design ideas
    2. Client storyboard presentation
    3. Client work, weddings, and portrait shoots
  14. Endnote
    1. Special thanks
  15. Index

Product information

  • Title: Art Beyond the Lens
  • Author(s): Sarah Gardner
  • Release date: November 2012
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781136108693