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

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.

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.

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.


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.


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.

The Patagonian wagon image was taken on a workshop with American Nature Photography Workshops Click here to learn more
I ❤️ these images!