Original
| 1, by dragging the picture to the bottom of the layers panel to create a new layer icon to copy the background layer layer. Name it "base light." Select this layer in the Layers panel and press CTRL + M (CMD + m) to apply the curve. Adjust to a very strong curve, so that the contrast of the clouds to the maximum, so that a small area of which completely white. I focus on the third small area on the top left, where the light will penetrate through the clouds. |
| 2, now apply to the Layer 2 pixel Gaussian blur. (Filters > Blur > Gaussian blur) |
| 3, temporarily close the underlying Ray layer, select the background layer. Select the Polygon Lasso tool (L) to set the feather value in the tool's properties bar at the top of the screen to 50. |
| 4, in the light through the sky area to draw a general selection, which I drew in the Quick Mask view mode of the selection. |
, create a new curve adjustment layer above the background layer. The selection we just made is automatically applied as a layer mask, adjusting the curve to a similar setting to the previous curve, but this time we want to be smaller, make the shadow part unaffected, and then name the layer "light source."
| 6, open and select the "Basic Ray layer." Select the Single-line Selection tool in the toolbar. Enlarge the white portion of the cloud in the picture and click in the middle position so that you select a line of pixels across the picture. |
| 7, reduce the picture so you can see the whole picture of the situation. Select the rectangle selection tool, hold down the ALT or Option key, and draw a selection from the left side of the picture to the white area on the left side of the cloud so that the left selection is canceled. The same method is used to do the right. You should get a selection that spans the entire white area like the following figure. |
| 8, select the "Base Light" layer, press the CTRL+J key, this creates a new layer for the pixel just selected. Name this layer as: light 1. |
| 9, close the "Basic ray layer." Select the "Light 1" layer. Press Ctrl+t to free transform the layer, drag the center of the bottom of the handle, so that it stretches to the picture in the position of the ship. Now hold down the CTRL key and drag the same handle to the right just below the boat. Hold down the Ctrl+shift key and drag the handle to the lower left and lower right until you get a shape that satisfies you. |
| 10, you can note that the free transformation of the preview image does not seem to be quite right, this is due to Photoshop line of processing pixels. This technique is called pixel stretching. There is no problem when you confirm the free transform. |
| 11. Adjust the layer "light 1″ blending mode to filter color on the level panel." Press Ctrl+m to apply the curve to the layer. Pull the curve down to darken the layer until the light appears. |
| 12. Click the "Add Layer Mask" button at the bottom of the layers panel to add a mask to the layer. Click on the layer mask in the Layers panel to select it, then press Ctrl+m to apply the curve to it, reduce the highlight point to 50%, and click OK. |
| 13. Select the Polygon Lasso tool (L) and set the feather value to 15 this time. Select the middle part of the light, from beginning to end. The following is a selection I made in quick mask mode. |
| 14, select the "Light 1" layer mask, press the Ctrl+m application curve. This time, raise the shadow point to 50%. This will make the middle part of the light lighter than the edge. |
| 15, in the case of the mask has been selected, press G to select the gradient tool. Click the gradient preview in the upper-left corner of the screen and set the gradient to black to white. In the property bar, set the gradient mode to multiply. Pull the gradient from the top of the light to the bottom. Then select Edit > Fade gradient. Setting the fade value to 50% creates an attenuation of the light, and the advantage of applying a fade gradient is that the bottom of the light is not lost. |
| 16. Select the background layer, select the elliptical Selection tool, hold down the ALT key, and draw a flat oval selection around the bottom of the light in the boat. Click Q to enter the quick mask mode. Select Filter > Blur > Gaussian blur to set the radius value to 5. Select Filter > Blur > Motion blur, set the angle to 0, and set the distance to 150. Click Q again to exit the quick mask mode. |
| 17. Create a new curve adjustment layer above the background layer to increase the brightness of the water surface, it looks as if the light hits the water. |
| 18, I want to add some contrast to the whole picture. So I created a graph layer above the entire layer in the layers panel to adjust the curve to increase the contrast. |
| Repeat steps 3 through 7 to create more of the light you want. But attention should be paid to the angle of the light projection, and they should appear to be from the same light source, and I created 3 different beams of light in the picture. |
