step-003f
step-003g

It’s looking pretty weird, right? But that’s because it’s affecting the ocean as well, and we don’t want that. So click in the layer mask of our Exposure Adjustment Layer and paint the ocean with black this time.

step-003h

Your image should be similar to this one now:

step-003i

Now we’re going to add a few more non-destructive adjusts to the sky, so we’re going to have to paint the ocean part of the layer mask with black in all of them. Add a Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer, set the Brightness to +10, and remember to paint the ocean in the layer mask.

step-003j
step-003k

Add a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer and change the gradient colors (click on the gradient) following the image below. Set this layer blend mode to Color and the Opacity to 35%.

step-003l
step-003m
step-003n

Add a Photo Filter adjustment layer, select the Filter Yellow and change the blend mode of this layer to Color, lowering the opacity to around 30%. Remember to paint the ocean part of the layer mask again.

step-003o
step-003p

If you remembered to paint the ocean part of the layer mask in these three adjustment layers we just added, your image must be looking something like this:

step-003q

Before moving to the next step let’s just clean our work area a little bit. Select all the layers we created so far and press Ctrl/Command + G to group them. Name the group Background.

step-003r

Step 4: Add the turtle in the ocean

Open the turtle image in Photoshop and use the Quick Selection Tool (W) to make a quick selection around it. Don’t worry too much about the bottom part of the turtle because we will erase most of it later. Quick Tips:

  • Clicking with the Quick Selection Tool will add to the selection
  • Holding Alt/Option and clicking will subtract the selection
  • You can quickly change the size of your brush holding Alt/Option, clicking anywhere in the canvas with the right mouse button, and dragging to the left to decrease the size of the brush, and to the right to increase it
step-004a

Copy and paste the turtle into our image and use the Free Transform Tool (Ctrl/Command+T) to increase her size a little bit (see the image below for reference). Now use the Move Tool (V) to place the turtle in the ocean.

step-004b
step-004c

Now comes the fun part! Create a layer mask to the turtle layer and with a soft brush paint the bottom part of the turtle with black.

step-004d
step-004e

Right now the edge between the turtle and the ocean is not looking good. To fix this we’re going to change the opacity of our brush to around 30% and start painting some areas with white and/or black.

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32 responses to “How to Create a Surreal Scene Full of Life in Photoshop”

  1. lucy Avatar
    lucy

    oh,I know it.

  2. lucy Avatar
    lucy

    I like it very much.But how can i entire to see it.

  3.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    thank! so much for that creation

  4.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Such a beautiful artwork!!

  5.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    great tutorial thank you

  6. sunny khan Avatar
    sunny khan

    this tutorial was awesome thanks

  7. Thrilled Avatar
    Thrilled

    Really great tutorial. Very well explained step by step.

  8. Maidul Islam Avatar
    Maidul Islam

    You’ve made a very nice and comprehensive collection of WordPress Themes. I appreciate it. Really great art work with typography. Thanks for sharing this nice post.

  9. Maidul Islam Avatar
    Maidul Islam

    You’ve made a very nice and comprehensive collection of WordPress Themes. I appreciate it.

  10.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Outstanding tutorial!Clear instructions and awesome picture instructions. Very nice, thank you a bunch.

  11. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    Beautiful image. Congratulations to the technical and thanks for the tutorial:)

  12. Noels Avatar
    Noels

    Loved it!! Thankyou, I learnt such a lot :)

  13. bephot Avatar
    bephot

    thanks! learn a lot of useful shortcut and tips here

  14. katrina enright Avatar
    katrina enright

    I cant get my roots and elephants feet to lok right i need help

  15.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    this looks awesome and easy

  16. josts1234 Avatar
    josts1234

    when I go to the exposure everything turns black. What do I do?

    1. kenzmobile Avatar
      kenzmobile

      its -0.25 not -25. i did the same thing

  17. Ali Guest Avatar
    Ali Guest

    I can not thank you enough, the amount of things I’ve learnt in two hours is incredible, would usually take me a week of watching and reading tutorials, but nope, you’ve used many techniques that made my life easier! Thank you is not enough!

  18. HoHe Avatar
    HoHe

    Great tutorial!But the mountain photo is missing :/Some extra help…

    1. SalahKabbani Avatar
      SalahKabbani

      just do what i did , 
      download the attached PSD from up there and take the mountain photo from there :D

    2. HoHe Avatar
      HoHe

      @SalahKabbani Thank you for your response :)But how can I take it from the mountain layer

    3. HoHe Avatar
      HoHe

      @SalahKabbani OK! Got it!I decided to replace the mountain photo with a desert one ^_^Thanks anyway :)

  19. landon912 Avatar
    landon912

    awsome tut

  20. SalahKabbani Avatar
    SalahKabbani

    Thank you so much for this tutorial really great photo and great explanation love it. 
    but i have a problem with the mountain photo , the link of this photo doesn’t work , can you please upload it again or give me another photo that could be good for the tutorial ?
    thanks

    1. SalahKabbani Avatar
      SalahKabbani

      Never mind i took it from the downloadable project :)

  21. Ayaron Avatar
    Ayaron

    I like it. 
    Thank you for your awesome tutorial.

  22. MahmoudAbdulkarim Avatar
    MahmoudAbdulkarim

    Very nice Job!
    Thanks a lot dear ^^.

  23. JohnnySteel1 Avatar
    JohnnySteel1

    Hi Guilherme, From the start of your tutorial you say to go to lens correction and distort the image to + 25,00, it distorts the image considerably !, is that right, ?, by the way it is a great tutorial,
    regards and respect johnny

    1. JohnnySteel1 Avatar
      JohnnySteel1

      Its ok, all i did was after the lens correction was used the free transform tool and adjusted the image to cover my canvas again lol, My bad..

  24. Taha Avatar
    Taha

    Can I use CS3 for this creative tutorail.

  25. Taha Avatar
    Taha

    Can I use CS3 for this creative tutorail.

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