Photoshop: Let light rays fall onto objects

With Photoshop, you can emphasize objects with rays of light and thus greatly enhance their visual impact.

Spice up photo sky with rays of light

For example, if you took a photo with a relatively monotonous sky, first use the magic eraser to replace the sky with a cloudy scene that shows a hint of sun. Then combine the manipulated image into a background layer.

• Now duplicate the background layer and add another. Name the new layer "light beam". Use the polygon lasso to draw a ray of light that extends from the sun to the object. Then fill it with white paint.
• If you want to illuminate further objects, repeat this step. Then duplicate the layer with the light rays and hide the lower one. Reduce the opacity to »20%« and select »Filter | Blur filter | Gaussian Soft Focus «. Set the value to "30".
• Now switch to the lower light beam level, reduce its opacity to »20%« and apply the Gaussian blur filter with the value »15« to it.
• To make the scenery even more realistic, mark the upper light beam level and click on "Add layer mask". Use [D] to set the default stains and select the gradient tool.
• Use it to paint from the top to the bottom of the picture. To ensure that your objects are actually illuminated, use the diverter to draw along the objects where the virtual light beam hits.
• Finally, boost the sun a little by using »Filters | Render filter | Select Lens Flare «and place one on the sun.