Textures

I am becoming more and more aware of textures and borders as a means to convey a mood or an atmosphere in my photographs. As someone who is not a great exponent of photoshop I tend to need all the help I can get to achieve this. As well as learning techniques from the Internet and from a number of books I have bought on the subject I also use programs such as OnOne and Alien Skin to make the job that much easier for me. Its true these programs are expensive and if you apply yourself diligently then all the effects these programs create can be created by simply using photoshop. I also make a point now of photographing textures and storing them for use later.
My picture of the lone gondolier was kind of reminiscent of my time in Venice from previous years. Although I was there with others I felt very alone almost as though I was seeing the place simply for myself and unable to share it with others. I wanted to create a photograph that looked old with all the colour drained from it, kind of a snapshot in time as though found by accident many many years later. he is not in fact a tourist gondolier but simply a man going about his daily business. Of course this being Venice he has to go via the canals. I thought a normal black and white tone just didn't do the shot justice to decided to tone it with a kind of sepia tone but I brightened it up somewhat. The border was created using OnOne borders and is an acid border. I then added some scratches over the surface of the image to create this aged look.