A while ago I wrote about adding backgrounds to portraits digitally. In its simplest form it is a matter of just finding a background in blending it into the photo to give the background a bit of interest.
Recently I have started adding more textures to portraits I’ve taken. Not only that, I have started building my own digital background library, taking textures from wherever I go to, these can be anything from a render wall, to a road, concrete and lots more.
I have some great areas to draw on. The above image uses a texture from a cliff face.
Just Sand can make an interesting background, in this case rough sand.
Some more subtle, a granite rock and given this image a soft texture to give a little interest to the area surrounding the portrait.
Or a boring tarmac road can make a interesting background.
It doesn’t even have to be a portrait. This image (which has my most view on instagram) was of a rock in the sea. I’ve blended 2 Granite textures to this image to give it an ‘older’ feel to it.
So something as simple as a photo of dirt, a rock, or a pavement, can actually make an image come more to life.
There are more examples on my LeoPhotography website with more textures and images being added.