Texturizing a Storm

I saw a crow yesterday, seized in midair by a gale. Just five feet from her tree, she paddled against the swell like a swimmer in an Endless Pool. I may not remember her well, except as form and contrast against the texture of turbulence . . . or later, as a black specter against the dusk, clutching the willow branch as rains came in.

It made me think of Ocean Beach in my home of San Francisco — how the Pacific breaks at the city’s doorstep, and how you can feel the surf’s grit and salt, long after the storm sweeps through. I texturized the beach in my mind, in the colorless grain of a passing memory.

The Photos:The photo process here was simple, using a free texture from SkeletalMess on Flickr (thanks, SkM) , I added a layer and overlay at varying opacities (50% to 70%). I then applied a Nik Software filter, Silver Efex, adding some film grain and burned edges. With a few of the photos I used other Nik filters in Color Efex Pro, the Darken/Lighten Center mode as well as the Soft Focus filter and Glamour Glow.