Creating a bolt of lightning on my pic
Views Today: 6, Total Views: 15511, Submitted by: GrAveTzT on 18-06-2006
Level 1: add a new layer and name it Lightening
Level 2: set the foreground colour to black, and background to white. Make sure the Lightening layer is select. Using the Gradient tool apply a Black-to-White Linear gradient by dragging the cursor from the top left to the bottom right.
Level 3: Now apply Filter->Render->Difference Clouds.
Level 4: Invert the tones by selecting Image->Adjustment->Invert (Ctrl-I) You can start making out the lightening across the middle of the image
Level 5: Now accentuate the lightening bolt using Image->Adjustment->Level (Ctrl-L). Move the middle slider (gamma) to the right setting its value to 0.1 and move the left slider (shadows) to the right for a value around 150-160
Level 6: Using a large soft brush and the colour set to black, clean up the image. You want to keep the main lightening bolt, but get rid of other stray areas.
Level 7: Adjust the colour using Image->Adjustment->Hue/Saturation (Ctrl-U). Check the Colorize box and move Hue to around 220 and the Saturation to 35. The values are up to you. But my selection gave a blueish tint.
Level 8: Change the Blending mode of the Lightening layer to Screen
Level 9: Just like any layer, you can transform and manipulate the lightening bolt. I used Edit->Free Transform (Ctrl-T) to move the bolt around as shown.
Level 10: Optional: I applied Filter->Render->Lens Flare to the wheel to exaggerate the effect of the lightening on the front rim.
That's it. The good thing about this effect is each attempt will result in a different lightening bolt shape. So if you're not happy with the results of step 5...you can go back (use History) and start again! Not only that but is is very versatile. You can use it for siggies, banners, a persons photo, an nature shot. etc.
Post A Comment
If you want to comment on this tutorial you must first register or login.
Syndicate