Create artificial ray of light in Photoshop

[bomboman]

I would like to share my Photoshop tip about creating artificial ray of light. “Radial Blur” filer, layer mask and layer adjustment are the main Photoshop functions used to create this effect. It’s easy to do.

Please see the before and after shot as shown below.
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/before-and-after-PPhotography.jpg

[bomboman]

I use this photo for this example.
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/before.jpg

1. Hold and drag “Background Layer” over the new layer icon in order to duplicate the “Background Layer”. After duplicating, you will see “Background Layer Copy” on top of “Background Layer”
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/1-copy-layer.jpg

2.Select Radial Blur (Filter>Blur>Radial Blur)
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/2-radial-blur.jpg

3.Input 100 for amount

Blur Method is zoom.

Quality is Good.

Moreover, you need to move the Blur Center to where your light origin is. For this example, I move the blur center to NW a little bit. Then click OK.
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/3-radial-blur-property.jpg

[bomboman]

4. You will see your photo after applying the radial blur filter. If you think that the radial blur is not enough for you, you can apply this filter until you are happy with the result.
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/4-after-apply-radial-blur.jpg

5. Go to a layer pallet and change a layer style from Normal to Lighten and adjust layer opacity to 90%.
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/5-change-blending-and-opacity.jpg

6.Click a layer mask icon to create a new layer mask
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/6-create-layer-mask.jpg

[bomboman]

7. Select brush from a tool pallet and ensure that you select black as foreground color.
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/7-select-brush.jpg

8. Change brush size according to your area in a photo.
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/8-adjust-brush-size.jpg

[bomboman]

9. Paint black to mask undesired areas. For this photo, I mask the bottom part of the photo. If you don’t like masking that you just do, you can change foreground color to white and paint on the area you want to recover details.
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/9-mask-this-area.jpg

10. Look better, doesn’t it?
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/10-after-masking.jpg

11. Hold and drag a “Background Layer Copy” over the new layer icon in order to duplicate the “Background Layer Copy”.
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/11-drag-to-create-duplicate-layer.jpg

[bomboman]

12. Change a layer style from Lighten to Vivid Light and adjust layer opacity to 20%. This step is for increasing the contrast of light.
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/12-change-layer-property.jpg

That is : )
http://www.photoshopphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/after.jpg

[minesamojito]

hey there, that's an interesting image you've used, i work offshore on the rigs
where did you take that shot? it's not often you see photos of rigs
cheers
marcus