Going from this:
to this:
.
1. Crop your image, resize, sharpen, whathaveyou. I went with a 900x300 size for my header, and chose not to sharpen at all, because I wanted a very soft image.
2. Duplicate your base, set to Screen at 100%.
3. Create a new fill layer, color #ebebeb, set to Burn at 100%.
4. Create a new fill layer, color #013d70; duplicate it twice (for a total of three layers). Set the bottom two layers to Screen, set the top to Subtract, all at 100%. (Photoshop/PSP users, this step is essentially an exclusion layer)
5. Set this gradient by
pagina_nova to Overlay at 100%.
6. Set this texture by
bambinainnero to Overlayat 100%.
7. Set this texture (also by
bambinainnero) to Overlay at 100%.
8. Set this texture by
sanami276 to Lighten Only at 100%.
9. Set this texture by [?] to Multiply at 90%.
10. Create a new fill layer, color #e09395, set to Multiply at 40%.
11. Rotate this texture by
______unwritten 90 degrees clockwise, and resize to a width of 900px. Set to Overlay at 100%.
12. Add any text you might like, and you're done! I'd love to see your results.