golden hour effects

8/12/2019 Golden Hour Effects

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Adobe Photoshop PDF TutorialsWritten by Wendi E. M. Scarth.

Emulate the Golden Hour Effect

Suitable for Adobe Photoshop CS CS2 & CS3Skill Level - Intermediate

The Golden Hour takes place an hour aftersunrise and an hour beforesunset, and is sonamed because at those times, the sun lies low on the horizon; and as a result, it hasmore atmosphere to break though, inducing a warm glow over the landscape. At thesame time, shadows are much longer - adding contrast, which in turn, creates drama.

Undo and Navigation StepsTwo ways of undoing steps are from the top menu, Edit then Step Backwards.

Page 1 of 14Golden Hour Effect Photoshop CS CS2 CS3

11/11/2007file://C:\Program Files\NetObjects\NetObjects Fusion 10.0\User Sites\New Photoshop...


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Alternatively, click a previous snapshot in the History Palette.

Navigate(zoom in and pan) your image using the Navigator Palette,

or the Zoom Tool.

Activate The Hand Tool by tapping theSpacebar, keeping the Spacebar pressed, panyour image in the usual way.

NotePhotographs will always react uniquely, therefore, when improving your ownlandscapes, experiment with the settings.

1/Open your image onto Photoshops workspace.

2/In theLayerspalette, you will notice a padlock next to the Backgroundlayer.




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The padlock indicates that the layer is locked, and as such, it is not fully editable. Tounlock the layer, either, double-left-click the Backgroundlayer, and reply OKto the

New Layer prompt. Alternatively, from the top menu, choose Layerthen chooseNewthen choose Layer from background, and click OKto the New Layerprompt. Unlocking the layer changes the name from Backgroundto Layer 0, and thelayer is now fully editable.

3/Now, activate the Polygonal Lasso Tool.

And drag the top-right corner of the photograph, diagonally upwards, to extend thegrey border. Then click and drag a lasso line around the image, as shown below.




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4/From the top menu, choose Selectthen choose Modifythen choose Smooth, and set theSample Radiusto around 2 Pixels, then clickOK.

5/Now, press your keyboards Deletekey. This removes the area within the marquee, thenpress Ctrland Dto remove the marquee.

6/From the Layerspalette, click the following Create a new layericon.




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ThendragLayer 1 beneathLayer 0 - and keep Layer 1active.

7/Set the Foregroundand Background swatches to Whiteand Blue.

Then activate the Gradient Tool.

Click Reset Gradients. And double-left-click to set the Foreground to Background(white to blue) gradient, and ensure the gradients direction is set to Radial.

Now, near the deserts edge, (left-click) and stretch a gradient line diagonally, in an

upwards direction. This creates the following gradient effect.




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8/In the Layers palette, click to highlight Layer 0, then left-click the following Createnew fill or adjustment layertriangle, and click Hue/Saturationfrom the drop-downlist.

In the subsequent Hue/Saturationdialogue box, move the Saturationslider to around

+20, then clickOK.

This warms the sky and sand dunes.




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9/Click the Create new fill or adjustment layertriangle, and this timechoose Levels. Inthe subsequent Levelscommand box - working with RGB, move the White Pointto the

left, the Grey Pointto the right, and the Black Pointto the right. This darkens yourimage.Do notclick OK.

10/Now, still working with Levels, change the Channelfrom RGB toRed, thenmove the

Whiteand Grey Points, as indicated below. This intensifies the reds.Do notclick OK.




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Now, to intensify the yellow dunes, change the Channel from Red to Blue. Then movethe Black Pointa little to the right.

It is safe to click OK- to apply the changes.




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12/To darken the dunes,increase theFeatherto around 20, and isolate the shadowed duneswith the Polygonal Lasso Tool, as shown below.

13/In the Layers palette, left-click the Create new fill or adjustment layertriangle, andclick Levels from the drop-down list. You are looking to improve the contrast bydarkening the shadowed dunes. Therefore, movejust the Black Point - a little to theright, then click OK.




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14/ Clipping Adjustment LayersTo remove the pink glow from the sky, you need to Clipthe three adjustmentlayers. Therefore, press and hold downtheAltkey of the keyboard, then hover yourcursor over the dividing line below the following adjustment layer, and when you seethe following icon, left-click.




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After left-clicking the dividing line, the layer will change to the following - it nowdisplays a downward arrow (highlighted below-left). This indicates that the adjustmentlayer has been successfully clipped.

15/Repeat the clippingstep with the remaining (two) adjustment layers, and the pink huewill be removed from the sky.

16/To apply a lens flare, create a New Layerat the top of the Layersstack by clicking theCreate a new layericon.




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17/Then set the Backgroundcolour toBlack.

18/Now, pressCtrlthen Backspace. This fills the new layer - and photograph, with black.

19/From the top menu, choose Filter then choose Renderthen choose Lens Flare, andapply your choice of flare.




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20/From theLayerspalette, change the Modefrom Normal to Screen. Screen moderenders black pixels, transparent.

TipWhilst the layers remain separate, the adjustments layers are editable.

21/When you are happy with the look, from the top menu, chooseLayerthen chooseFlatten Image, then save your image.




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