Simulating Sunsets

Sunsets can be caught on camera but the odds are that they won’t capture

the majesty of the real thing. They are sometimes dull and flat. The good

news is that with the help of Photoshop, we can simulate the

evening sky’s crowning glory! I hope you LIKEY!!

Step One

Begin by adding a new layer. (Ctrl+Shift+N) Call it “sunset”.

Click on the background color swatch and choose a bright yellow from the Color Picker.

Click the foreground swatch and choose a bright orange/red.

Step Two

Choose the Gradient Tool and select Foreground to Background.

Select Linear Gradient from Options bar. Click and drag with the tool from the very top of the

image, releasing the mouse button of the horizon line. Set layer to linear burn, reduce opacity to 80%.

Step Three

Duplicate the original background layer. (Ctrl+J) Go to Image>Adjustments>Photo Filer. From the Photo Filter dialog box, choose Magenta

from the Filter drop-down menu and increase the Density slider to 84%.

Step Four

Now we need to add the sun. Click the sunset layer and select the Elliptical Marquee tool

from the toolbar. Select Fixed Aspect Ratio from the Style box in the options bar. Create a new layer and call it “sun” and drag a small circle,

overlapping the horizon.

SUN!

Step Five

Choose a very light yellow for the foreground color and fill the sun using the Paint Bucket.

Ctrl+D to deselect the sun. Blur the sun with Filter>Blur>Guassian Blur, using a radius of 5.8. Set the blending mode for this layer to Vivid Light and reduce the

opacity to 85%

Step Six

Remain on the sun layer and choose the Brush tool from the Toolbar.

Select a soft-edge brush from the Brush Picker, reduce the Brush Opacity to 33% and click on the Airbrush symbol in the Options bar.

Now paint with the bright yellow above the sun and between the clouds.

Step Seven

Add a lens flare-Create new layer, fill this layer with black using Edit>Fill>Contents Use:Black.

Now go to Filter>Render>Lens Flare. Once the dialog box opens, choose 50-300 Zoom at a brightness of 77%.

Drag the crosshair for the lens flare up toward the top right. Hit OK. To hide the black, set the blending mode to Screen. Reduce the

Opacity to 79% and move the flare into position. Position the brightest flare directly over the sun.

ALL DONE!!Good Job (: