Before and After Mirror Montage

The two images here show how a single image can be presented in different ways. The first is the original image (some texture added, of course). The second image is simply the first image using a mirror montage as mentioned in other posts.

If you work on this technique and decide to use textures as I did here, I recommend first creating the mirror montage then apply the texture. I first tried by simply making a mirror montage of the first processed image (after the texture was applied ~ lazy, I guess). But, it didn't work so well. Too much texture and not enough control of the texture. So, I went back to the files and used the original, pre-textured image, made a mirror montage, then applied the texture and adjusted it to my liking.

When it comes to techniques like this, the bottomline is its' all a matter of personal taste and satisfaction.

PapayaScape and Andre Gallant website

A simple image of a sliced papaya and texture.

By the way, in a previous post I mentioned that Andre Gallant provided details on his website on how to do photo montages. Well, that was on his previous website edition. He has since changed the formatting and design of his website. Note that at this point, he hasn't included any instructional material.

I really enjoy his photography. It looks like he is in the process of populating galleries with newer images as well as some of his older work. Hopefully, he will archive lots of his older work. I never tire from going back and reveiwing all his work.

Textures and Flowers

This image was made using similar techniques discussed in the previous post. I tried it with and without a black border and it looked better to me without.

Some Fun With a Montage and Textures

I am getting some more mileage out of the tulip beds in D.C. The image above was made using a mirror technique. This involves taking the original image, duplicating it, flipping it and joining the two together. It's not a secret technique. Many photographers use the technique. But, Andre Gallant, one of my all-time favorite photographers is an absolute master at photo montages. He explains the technique on his website here . However, he not only explains the technique but also provides outstanding images that demonstrate the technique in his book, "Dreamscapes." See page 39 for the mirror technique. I caution you to not skip a single page of this book. It is full of incredible images using a variety of photo montage techniques. I digress.

Back to the image. I then applied a sandstone texture. On top of that I used a grunge-type texture and finished it off with a black border. The original image was captured with a LensBaby 2.0.

Tulips, Texture and Tungsten from Spring

The first image was captured from one of many tulip beds planted around Washington, DC every year. This was taken at f/22 and a 1/2 second shutter. Slight movement up during the exposure qualifies this as a pan. I added a bit of texture and watercolor effect.

The second image is from the same tulip bed. However, the lens was at f/14 and the shutterspeed was 1/8 of a second. The camera movement was different as well. As you can see, during the exposure, I moved the camera in what could be described as a small "u." This is evident from the elongated white lines in the image.

It's likely you are saying this can't be the same tulip bed, the colors aren't even close to being the same as the image above. It's true, the colors aren't the same. But, it is from the same bed of tulips. During the initial processing of the image, in the Raw Converter, I changed the White Balance to Tungsten. This changed the color temperature from 5250 to 2850. Much cooler in more ways than one. I also added some film grain effect to the image via Nik Software Color Efex Pro 3.0.

The final image is a "mirror" of the Tungsten-converted image.

Nice Shape and Some Texture

I pass by this tree from time to time. It's near my home, sets on a hill top and serves as a foreground for the daily sunset. I think it has almost the perfect, symmetrical triangle shape. Not bad for a tree growing in the wild without the care of a tree-trimmer. On this particular day, the clouds were low hanging and taking on a great cast of colors. I increased the brilliance of the colors and added a texture layer in post-processing.