How to Add Light Rays to Your Images in Adobe Photoshop

If you're open to more heavy-handed retouching of your images, you have almost limitless possibilities of what you can do with even the blandest of images. In this tutorial, learn how to create realistic light rays and dappled light to add some atmosphere to a photograph.

How much you should change and edit your images is a debate so strung-out and tiresome that most people have chosen which side of the fence they reside. It typically comes down to purpose and genre, but whatever the case, at this point you likely know how much editing you are comfortable with. If you have taken a more artistic stance and have no issues heavily manipulating a photograph, there are some key techniques that will help you transform an image into something special.

As photographers, we chase great light, whether we create it ourselves or use the natural light available. Great, interesting light can transform any scene into something memorable, but if you are a landscape photographer, or photojournalist, or any of the wealth genres in between that do not have control over light, it can be frustrating.

In this video, learn how to add realistic light rays and dappled light to your scene, creating a moody, cinematic, and atmospheric result that will catch the eye of viewers.

Rob Baggs's picture

Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, educator, and consultant from England. Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research. In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses.

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2 Comments

That's a good ass tutorial. No nonsense, straight to bidnizz, and effective. Thanks for the share!

Man you're one salty dude.