Photo of the Month – August 2020



Tom and I celebrate the great images being created by our community of photographers each month by selecting a Photo of the Month. For August we selected Lynn Satterfield’s image from our online Texture Overlay class
. We hope you enjoy Lynn’s images as much as we do. 

Congratulations to August’s photographer – Lynn Satterfield

Lynn at the Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina

The Story … 

The wagon was at the estancia where we stayed in Patagonia. It was at sunset and the light came in really nice on the wagon. I took the photo handheld. It was a pretty good photo before I did anything with texture layers.

I asked myself can I make it look rustic, like it was old and wearing down. This concept just seemed to go with the wagon.

The August 2020 Photo of the Month

To create the texture image for the overlay, I just went into the kitchen and pulled all the pans out to see what I had. I used the Nikon Z6 to photograph it because it’s so light. I turned the pan right side up first. Then I turned it over and the back side was even better.

I cropped the texture layer a bit because the edge didn’t add anything to it. I put a bit of gold color in it to warm the image up. I added texture and clarity as well. That was about it, really.

Lynn’s texture layer created by photographing the back of a baking pan with her Nikon Z6

The Data: .

ISO 400 35mm 1/125 f 16

The Gear: Nikon D500 for background, Nikon Z6 for texture


About Texture Overlays:

Doing texture layers helped me understand layers and blending modes in PhotoShop. With the layer masks, it just seemed to click that you could use them to bring out parts of the texture and hide the texture in other parts.

Texture layers give you a feeling of creating and being an artist. Taking a photo anyone can do. This technique makes the image your own vision.

A goose texture overlay image from Lynn Satterfield
The golden pond texture Lynn chose for her goose image

Tip from the Photographer … 

Don’t be intimidated by layers. Experiment. Put different textures on and see what they look like. the wagon texture was about 46% opacity. I used the lighten blend mode after going through all of them.

Lynn experimenting with a second texture on the Patagonian wagon

On Lynn’s Horizon

Bears and Glaciers Workshop and Australia/Tasmania Workshop in 2021

She also wants to work more with speedlights and editing in PhotoShop.


Lynn in action in the bird blinds at Laguna Seca Ranch in South Texas

The Patagonian wagon image was taken on a workshop with American Nature Photography Workshops Click here to learn more

There is another Texture Overlay class starting at the end of October. To see a schedule of online classes with Tom Bol Photo Workshops Click Here

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