The edits that i have done for my final outcome have had something very similar done to them like, curves, levels and vibrancy as this was the base i used to make my images feel like one collection that belong in one book. This edit has had god rays added to emphasize the light coming through the windows, this is not the only edit featuring the effect though it is the most obvious.
To start i created a copy of the image onto a new layer so any edits i did to the base photo like the burn tool etc could easily be undone by deleting said layer. once my image had copied i add the smart sharpening effect found in the filters tab, using the smart sharpen filter rather than a normal sharp tool allowed me to control exactly how sharp i wanted the image to be and how thick i wanted to surrounding layer to be without having to manually do it myself. After i had found the right amount of sharpness i created a new layer that i could paint on freely and edit without disrupting the layer below, doing this allows me to come back a edit or move after i'm done. to create the god rays i started by using the lasso tool to free select the points of the window down to the light it was casting, i then used Refined Edge to feather and soften my selection so when i add the colour it would fade out and blend with the layer below. when the selection was refined i used the brush tool to fill in the selection and create the ray, i then turn the opacity down to 20% and change the adjustment to pin light as this one work well at softening the edges even more. I then repeated four times to match the amount of windows present. then using the vibrance layer adjustment i turned the vibrance down to narrow my colour range then increased the saturation to brighten and saturate the colours i had left. i did this because i felt that muting the colours and toning it down would help the Levels and curves show and there for making the light rays a prominent feature. To finish i added a curves layer adjustment to darken the whole image except the light rays allowing for this contrast between them, i think what work best with this edit is how the shadow protruding from the left slowly blends with the shadows around the god rays giving it a more natural tone.
|