The Miracle of Textures

As I've said before, I am new to textures, yet I am learning more about using textures everytime I experiment with them. After receiving Kim's Shades of November texture last week, I went to a folder of photos from Mt Diablo, taken last January-March. I wanted to see if I could add a bit of life to some of the photos, and ended up saving many that I had given up hope on. These were photos that I tried to improve in my Lightroom editing program, but gave up on. I was pleasantly surprise with the results I achieved from Shades of Autumn combined with a few more of Kim Klassen's textures.  Once I started experimenting with Shades of Autumn, I couldn't stop! Here are the photos I prepared for Texture Tuesday over at: http://www.kimklassencafe.com/thecafe/tag/texture-tuesday

Edit: Dang, I forgot that the theme was 2, so I am adjusting my post and adding a pre-edit photo of each so I will be in line with the theme. I am posting 2 of each photo to show the dramatic results : )

I liked this photo because of the scraggly tree and the long-reaching shadows in the background, but the lighting just wasn't working. I thought I would have to scrap it, but I really like the effect Kim's textures gave it.

I really like the texture in the sky. I thought I'd achieved the effect I wanted before adding the final texture, but decided to give one more texture a go, and then realized I liked the textured sky more.
Here are the transitions that took place with this photo:

As with the above photo, the lighting on these next photos wasn't working out, well until I tried Kim's textures on them. I like the mood they gave the photos.

After:

I like the eerie background that was brought out in this photo. I really had given up on editing it, but now am satisfied with the textured effect.



Before:

 

After:

Although the textures are subtle on this photo, it really added the spring vibe to the photo that I had hoped to capture, but didn't.

Before:

 

Here is one of my favorite trees to capture. I've dubbed it "The Kissing Tree."  When I first discovered it in January, the branches were bare, except for the mound of mistletoe at the top. Of course I immediately thought of couples frolicking up the hill to sneak a kiss under the tree : ) I had edited a copy of this photo in a sepia tone, but had given up on it in color. The lighting was too dark and the colors were really off. Kim's textures brightened it up, to my delight!

After:

Before:

Here is the same tree, just a couple of months later, March I believe. It was a rainy, foggy day when I took it. I really like the effect the textures gave it.

After:

Before:

And Lastly, a tin shed I always try to capture when I go up the mountain, but am never satisfied with the results. I like the way it turned out with Kim's textures though!

After:

Before:

 

As you can see, I got carried away playing with the Shades of Autumn texture. I was having such wonderful results, I couldn't stop! I was long overdue for some editing fun, and that texture did the trick! Thank you so much Kim!

Now it is time to call it quits so I can post and hurry over to see the wonderful photos you all have posted at: http://www.kimklassencafe.com/texture-tuesday/

(Drat! My html codes aren't working today)