Lighting Effects in Photoshop are carried out by lighting layers which are typically little more than brush strokes on a layer that rests above your target subject in the layer stack. The layer is then blurred and blended in different ways to give the effect of additional lighting in the scene.
The techniques implemented here are used to control visual focus and balance and to add drama, in some cases.
Lighting Layers
- Shaped light
- Rays of light
- Render Clouds
Shaped light
For creative, vignette-like effects, use the Brush tool to create a simple white shape with soft edges on an empty layer. Setting the brushed layer to Overlay causes the painted areas to brighten whatever is beneath them.
Rays of light
This is a refinement of the shaped lighting layer technique, where the painted shape looks like a ray from a light source. This variation gives a solid visual direction to a composition and is effective at helping tell a story or set a mood. You can enhanced the drama and emotional effect of an image by adding the beams of light coming down from the side of the image.
You can create it by first using the Polygon Lasso tool to draw out the light fingers which you can then fill with the color based on the surroundings. From there you can softened the edges and lowered the opacity by a large amount to give the appearance of light beams. You can create beautiful light beams to your images to catch the viewer’s eye to an important subject.
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