HOW TO ADD A SPOT OF LIGHT

This week I just wanted to share a quick tip learned from Photoshop Guru Corey Barker in his Master FX Trick Shots video recently (it is now available for sale). In one section on Abstract Shape Effects, he showed how to easily add a little lighting effect to your image. As a last step on the above, I wanted to emphasize the focal point at the center of the lower leaf and add just some subtle color to enhance that area.

1. A New Layer was added on top and changed to Overlay blend mode.
2. With a large soft white brush, the leaf was painted over to just pop the lighting in that area and a little on the upper center berries.
3. Optional Step: Since this slightly desaturated the color, a light green Solid Color Fill Adjustment Layer was added (clicked on the black & white circle icon at bottom of Layer Panel and selected Solid Color in pop-out menu) and clipped to the New Layer with the white paint by ALT+clicking between the two layers.
4. The white paint layer’s opacity was set to 63% so the whole effect was not too much.

Now the leaf is definitely in the spotlight with just a little added color. White works nicely in most cases. This is a very similar technique as in my The Best Dodging and Burning Technique! Fun Photoshop Blog – this I use all the time! Well hope you liked the quick tip – give it a try if you just need to add a little extra light to an area! For more post-processing info for this image, check out my Some Blue Berries Tidbits Blog. …..Digital Lady Syd

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