This tutorial is for beginners to intermediate:
We start with an empty room.
In this image you can see that I placed a blank layer between the background and the beach ball layers.After that with my new layer selected I paint a little bit of shadow just under the ball.
- Permalink No replies
Next I want to create a casting shadow out away from the ball. There are many ways to do this. In this
exercise I am going to duplicate the ball layer and place it down below the shadow layer. I am then
going to lock that layer and with black selected paint the ball black with a brush.
exercise I am going to duplicate the ball layer and place it down below the shadow layer. I am then
going to lock that layer and with black selected paint the ball black with a brush.
It should look like this with the layers above it turned off.
With that layer selected I open up the free transform option. Go to edit/free transform.
Holding the shift key down helps restrain the shadow under the ball. Strech the shadow out to a
point that you like. Also shape the shadow while you are in free transform to your desired place.
point that you like. Also shape the shadow while you are in free transform to your desired place.
Next we will give the shadow a bluring effect by using guassian blur. Go to filter/blur/gaussian blur.
Adjust the blur effect to your taste.
Next I create a layer mask on that layer and completely mask out or erase the shadowing.
Then with a soft edge brush at about 40% or less we can start at the ball and move away from the
ball just a little. Each time that you go over the same area with a brush at any value of a percent
a little more is added to that area. Using that rule you can start at the ball and go just a little
farther away each time, until you have reached the end of the shadow.
Then with a soft edge brush at about 40% or less we can start at the ball and move away from the
ball just a little. Each time that you go over the same area with a brush at any value of a percent
a little more is added to that area. Using that rule you can start at the ball and go just a little
farther away each time, until you have reached the end of the shadow.
After that, opaque the shadow to a desired look.
The shadow should look something like the one below.
The shadow should look something like the one below.
Next we need to add shadow to the ball. The first thing to do is get rid of the bright spot that is on the ball. Using your desired means of selecting an area, select the blue area in the ball. In this example I used the quick selection tool. With your area selected go to the refine edges option.
With the refine edge tool box open feather the selection edge a little. This will help make it blend in better for the next step.
With the brush tool selected you can hold down the alt key on your keyboard and the color select tool will appear. Take a sample of the blue on the ball.
Now let go of the alt key and color the selected area with your brush tool.
Now let go of the alt key and color the selected area with your brush tool.
Next we add a shadowing affect to the ball by using an adjustment layer, clipped to the ball layer.
1. Choose the brightness/contrast adjustment.
2. Click the first bottom icon to clip to your layer. (This makes it apply the adjustment to that layer only).
1. Choose the brightness/contrast adjustment.
2. Click the first bottom icon to clip to your layer. (This makes it apply the adjustment to that layer only).
Slide the brightness slider to the left and change it to your desired darkness.
Next I duplicate the adjustment layer and start; by using a soft edged black brush, blending the darkness out of the area that needs to be bright. Using different opacities with the brush tool on each layer mask
you can get your desired look for a shadow. Play around with the settings here to get your desired results.
you can get your desired look for a shadow. Play around with the settings here to get your desired results.
Next I duplicate the background layer and then add a brightness adjustment layer to the duplicate background layer. You do this just like we did on the ball layer.
Adjust the slider to your desired darkness.
Adjust the slider to your desired darkness.
With the adjustment layer mask selected, take a soft edged black brush and mask out two lines from the corners of the window. To get the lines straight hold down the shift key and click on a corner of the window.
Then click where you want the line to end in the room. Repeat procedure for the next line.
Then click where you want the line to end in the room. Repeat procedure for the next line.
Now mask out everything in between the lines. I did not do this on this tutorial but you can use different brush opacities and make it darker, the farther away from the window.
Next opaque the background to the desired darkness of the room.
Lastly I add a layer to the very top of the other layers. Then with a soft edged white brush I paint a bright spot in a desired part on the ball.
This is by no means the only way to produce shadows and light. It is however a good starting point and can open doors to use these procedures on doing other things in photochopping your work.
Good luck!
Good luck!
