Creative Effects Challenge No. 236 - Spotlight Effect
Sept 14, 2024 21:34:49 GMT
hmca, Lillias, and 1 more like this
Post by Andy on Sept 14, 2024 21:34:49 GMT
This tutorial shows you how to add a spotlight effect to a light source in your photo. The original tutorial is here:
A. Darken the image to make the light stand out
Example 1
Example 2
The video goes quickly, so here are the steps:
1. Open the image you want to work with. It does work better with a darker image to start.
2. Create a new blank layer
3. Set the blending mode to Overlay
4. Make sure your blank layer is selected and drag a rectangular selection around where you want the spotlight
5. Create a new Gradient with the following options:
a. Linear
b. Uncheck Reverse
c. Foreground to Transparent
d. Change left and right color stop to white
6. Drag to create the gradient within the selected area
7. Ctrl-D to unselect
8. Click on the Spotlight layer
9. Click on the move tool
10. Select Image:Transform:Perspective
11. Adjust the selection to form a more triangular light
12. Blur it using Filter:Blur:Gaussian blur (the tutorial uses 15, but find what works)
13. Adjust the spotlight layer opacity as needed
14. If you have more than one light
a. Duplicate the spotlight layer
b. Move it to another light
c. Adjust it using Image: Transform: Perspective as needed
1. Open the image you want to work with. It does work better with a darker image to start.
2. Create a new blank layer
3. Set the blending mode to Overlay
4. Make sure your blank layer is selected and drag a rectangular selection around where you want the spotlight
5. Create a new Gradient with the following options:
a. Linear
b. Uncheck Reverse
c. Foreground to Transparent
d. Change left and right color stop to white
6. Drag to create the gradient within the selected area
7. Ctrl-D to unselect
8. Click on the Spotlight layer
9. Click on the move tool
10. Select Image:Transform:Perspective
11. Adjust the selection to form a more triangular light
12. Blur it using Filter:Blur:Gaussian blur (the tutorial uses 15, but find what works)
13. Adjust the spotlight layer opacity as needed
14. If you have more than one light
a. Duplicate the spotlight layer
b. Move it to another light
c. Adjust it using Image: Transform: Perspective as needed
See Example 1 for that this looks for the image I selected.
If you want to get more creative, here are some options I tried:
If you want to get more creative, here are some options I tried:
A. Darken the image to make the light stand out
1. Prior to step 1 above, add a Levels or Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer and darken the image
a. You might also want to add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and reduce the saturation to give the image more of a nighttime/darkness feel.
2. Follow the tutorial above
B. To add a little more realism to the photo
1. Repeat the initial tutorial, making a much larger triangle
2. Use a much higher Gaussian blur value
3. This will make the light fall off in the opposite direction of your original gradient.
C. If you want to add color to the lights:
1. Above each spotlight, add a Color adjustment layer
2. Select the color you want.
3. Right click on the adjustment layer and select Create Clipping Mask
4. Adjust the opacity as desired
a. You might also want to add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and reduce the saturation to give the image more of a nighttime/darkness feel.
2. Follow the tutorial above
B. To add a little more realism to the photo
1. Repeat the initial tutorial, making a much larger triangle
2. Use a much higher Gaussian blur value
3. This will make the light fall off in the opposite direction of your original gradient.
C. If you want to add color to the lights:
1. Above each spotlight, add a Color adjustment layer
2. Select the color you want.
3. Right click on the adjustment layer and select Create Clipping Mask
4. Adjust the opacity as desired
(My example 2 shows all of the above)
D. If your spotlight is facing down and you want to illuminate the area below it
1. Above each spotlight layer, do the following
2. Create a new Levels adjustment Layer
3. Select the mask and click Ctrl-Bksp to fill it with black
4. Select the elliptical marquee tool and drag around the area you want to illuminate with the spotlight
5. Feather the selection with Select: Feather. You can play with the right value.
6. Click Alt-Bksp to fill the selection with white
7. Adjust the Levels to the brightness you want
Note: In my photo, I had to add a layer mask to the spotlight layer and with a soft brush at very low opacity, paint away some of the light where it was behind the frame of the lighthouse. Your photo may require this also.
1. Above each spotlight layer, do the following
2. Create a new Levels adjustment Layer
3. Select the mask and click Ctrl-Bksp to fill it with black
4. Select the elliptical marquee tool and drag around the area you want to illuminate with the spotlight
5. Feather the selection with Select: Feather. You can play with the right value.
6. Click Alt-Bksp to fill the selection with white
7. Adjust the Levels to the brightness you want
Note: In my photo, I had to add a layer mask to the spotlight layer and with a soft brush at very low opacity, paint away some of the light where it was behind the frame of the lighthouse. Your photo may require this also.
