Learn how to create this amazing apocalyptic photo manipulation with Photoshop! You’ll learn how to blend elements such as water and moon, create seamless structures with the Clone Stamp tool, and finish it off with a cold movie photo effect.

Preview of Final Results

Intense Apocalyptic Photo Manipulation Photoshop Tutorial

Resources

• Wall – Pelleron Art

Step 1 - Preparing the Wall

Create a new document in Photoshop. Set the width on 600 pixels, height on 764 pixels, then press OK.

Now download the picture of the wall and drag it into the manipulation. Name the layer e. g. BACKGROUND WALL. As you can see the picture of the wall is too bright. To make it darker add new adjustment layer Levels above the BACKGROUND WALL. The button Create new fill or adjustment layer can be found on the bottom part of the palette Layers. If you don't see this palette simply press F7 on your keyboard.

I would recommend you to use adjustment layers instead of the direct adjustments (from Image > Adjustment > ...). Thanks to adjustment layers you will be able to redo all the steps no matter if you did them on the beginning or at the end. Set the Input Levels as shown below.

Right click on the Levels adjustment layer and select the option Create Clipping Mask. This way the layer affects only one layer below not all of them. Below it's shown the result of this step. Some parts of the wall are too dark but don't worry about that. They will be covered with another layer.

Step 2 - Bending of the Wall

In this step you will bend the wall. It gives the picture bit claustrophobic feel which will evoke the mood of the picture better. Click on the layer BACKGROUND LAYER. Grab the Marquee Tool (M) and select the left part of the wall. Press Ctrl + C to copy the selection and Ctrl + V to paste it. Then press Ctrl + D to deselect it.

Place the new layer on the top of the layers and name it e.g. LEFT BENDED. Now go to Filter > Distort > Shear... and set the dialogue as you can see below. Move the line very gently. Otherwise it won't look much realistic.

Click on the BACKGROUND WALL once again. Grab the Marquee Tool (M) and select the right part of the wall. Copy and paste that selection. Place the new layer on the top of the layers and name it RIGHT BEND. Now bend it the same way as it's described above. Your image should look similar to the one shown below.

Step 3 - Adjusting the Left Wall

The wall is too bright again. You'll fix it now. Add new adjustment layer Levels above the LEFT BEND. Set the Input Levels as it is shown below and create Clipping mask from this layer.

As you can see there is one really dark area because of the adjustment you've just done.

To fix it grab the Brush Tool (B), select some soft round brush and pick the black color. Now click on the thumbnail of the Levels layer and start painting over the circled area. The adjustment becomes invisible.

Step 4 - Adjusting the Right Wall

The right part of the wall should be darker too. Add new adjustment layer Levels above the layer RIGHT BEND and set is as shown below.

Create Clipping mask from the layer. You may notice that the adjustment layer adjust also bottom part of the wall.

You need to hide the adjustment from this part because we will take care about the bottom part in next step and it would not work if one part is darker than another. You hide the adjustment same way as in the previous step. Grab the Brush Tool (B), select soft round brush, pick the black color, click on the thumbnail of the adjustment layer you've just added and paint over the areas you want to make lighter.

Step 5 - Adjusting the Bottom Part

The bottom part is still too bright. To fix it add new adjustment layer Levels and set it as on the picture below.

Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick the black color and fill the thumbnail of the layer. Then grab the Brush Tool (B), pick white color and paint over the areas of the bottom part of the wall to make there the adjustment visible. Your image should look like the one below so far.

Step 6 - Retouching of Vertical Lines

As you can see on the picture above it's necessary to blend parts of the wall correctly. There are three main parts which need to be fixed - vertical lines, horizontal lines and the stone itself. To do that you will use Stamp Tool (S). If you're not familiar with this tool I would recommend you to take a look e.g. at this video tutorial or write "stamp tool" in google or youtube and you'll find tons more. It's a really powerful tool in Photoshop and it's a pity to don't use it.

Before you start I'd like to recommend you one think - change the clone source quite often. If you won't do it you get repetitive pattern which doesn't look realistic. As I said before first of all you will fix the vertical lines. They are badly visible and unclean in the upper parts of the wall. Create a new layer and name it VERTICAL LINES. Grab the Stamp Tool (S), pick some soft round brush and set the Opacity and Flow on 100%. below you can see what you should retouch.

I recorded the sample of the retouching. Let's take a look at it and then do the same on both parts of the wall.

Step 7 - Retouching the Horizontal Lines

Now it's time to add and clean the horizontal lines. On the picture below there are highlighted parts of the picture where you should add the lines.

Let's take a look at quick video showing the process of retouching. Create a new layer HORIZONTAL LINES and do the same with your manipulation on all highlighted places.

IoS: Horizontal Lines from Jarka Hrncarkova on Vimeo.

Step 8 - Retouching the Stone

There are still visible transition between each layers. You'll fix it in this step. below there are circled areas which should be retouched. Look at the quick video again to get the idea how to retouch these parts. Create a new layer RETOUCH STONE and do it.

Step 9 - Cleaning the Lines

There are still some lines which need to be fixed. You can see them on the picture below. To clean them up use the same process like during the Step 7 - Cleaning the Horizontal Lines.

Step 10 - Sharpening the Retouch

Sometimes when you retouch big parts of the image the final result can become bit blury and dull. You can easily fix it by gently sharpening. If you think it's necessary to sharpen your retouche click on the layer you want sharpen. Then go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask ... and set it as it's shown below.

And here you can compare how the retouch looks with and without the sharpening.

After all the steps you've done so far your image should be similar to the one shown below.

Step 11 - Adding Texture to the Floor

Download the Grunge Textures pack and drag the texture number 4 into the manipulation. I chose this texture because it has lines which help to highlight the focal point of the manipulation - the man. Name the layer FLOOR TEXTURE and place it on the top of the layers. Rotate and resize the texture as you can see below.

Now go to Edit > Transform > Distort and move the left and right bottom corner as it's shown below.

You'll get something like this.

Change the Blending Mode of this layer on Screen.

After this step your image should be similar to this one.

Step 12 - Adding the Sky

Download the picture of the sky and drag it into the manipulation. Place the layer under all the layers and name it SKY. Press Ctrl + T and resize it on proper size. Create a new adjustment layer Hue/Saturation above the SKY and set the value Saturation on -100. Create Clipping Mask from this layer.

Step 13 - Adding the Wave

Unfortunately the stock photo of the wave is no longer available on the sxc.hu but you can download quite similar photo here. Drag the photo into the manipulation and place it above the SKY. Name the layer MAIN WAVE. Add new vector mask to the layer. You can find the button Add vector mask on the bottom palette Layers left to the button Create new fill or adjustment layer.

Grab the Brush Tool (B), select some soft round brush and pick black color. Paint over the areas of the wave you want to dissapear. It means the sky. I'd recommend you to change the opacity and diameter of the brush to get the more realistic result. After you're done add new adjustment layer Hue/Saturation and set the value Saturation on -100. Create Clipping Mask from this layer. Your image should be similar to the one below.

Step 14 - Adding the Water Splashes

The wave would look better if it has more details. You can create them by adding the water splashes. Download this picture and drag it into the manipulation under the layer MAIN WAVE. Name the layer BIG SPLASH. To extract the splashes easily we will play with Channels a little. But first of all make all layers except the BIG SPLASH invisible. To do that simply click on the eye icon on the left side from the each layer.

Now go the Channels palette. If you don't see it go to Window > Channels and it will appear. below it's shown how the palette looks like.

Right click on the Blue and select Duplicate Channel. Go to Image > Ajustments > Levels and set the Input Levels on 166; 0,77; 227 and press OK. The picture should look like the one below.

Click back on RGB Channel to be able to see the picture in colors again. Now go to Select > Load Selection and set the Channel on Blue copy. Press OK. This step activates selection based on the Blue copy Channel which you’ve created a while ago. Press Ctrl + Shift + I to invert the selection and add Layer Mask. The button Add layer mask can be seen on the bottom part of the Layers palette.
This cause that the sky and some of the water disappear.

Right click on the layer BIG SPLASH and select Duplicate layer. Name it SMALL SPLASH and place it above the layer MAIN WAVE. Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Press Ctrl + T and resize the splash on about 80% of the original size. Place the splash as you can see on the picture below.

Step 15 - Splash Brushes

The bottom part of the waves would look better if it has more details. You add them by painting more water splashes. Download these brushes and install them into the Photoshop. If you don't know how to install brushes you can take a look at this tutorial. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and select one of the brushes you've just installed. Now Alt click on some light grey color of the waves (this works the same way as Eyedropper Tool) and pait few splashes.

Step 16 - Adding Water on the Floor

There should be some water on the floor. To add it drag the photo with the wave into the manipulation once again. Place it on the top of your layers and name it e.g. WATER ON THE FLOOR. Press Ctrl + T and resize it to get something similar to the picture below.

Add vector mask to the layer. Grab the Brush Tool (B), select soft round brush and pick black color. Paint over the waves which should disappear. Press Ctrl + Shift + U to desaturate the water. Then change the Blending Mode on Lighten. Drag the stock photo into the manipulation once again, place it on the right side and do the same process as on the left side.

Step 17 - Edge of the Wall

As you might see the edge between the floor and upper part of the wall is too brown and doesn't fit to the rest of the manipulation. To fix it add new layer on the top of your layers and name it GREY EDGE. Grab the Brush Tool (B), select soft round brush and pick some mid grey color. Paint line over the edge. Then change the Blending Mode of this layer from Normal to Color. Below you can see how the layer looks with Normal and Color Blending Mode.

Step 18 - Adding the Man

Download the photo of the man, cut out the background and drag into the manipulation. Place the layer on the top of all layers and name it MAN. Man doesn't fit to the picture well right now. He has very low contrast and is too saturated. To lower the saturation add new adjustment layer Hue/Saturation and set the value Saturation on -70. Create Clipping Mask from the layer.

To make the contrast higher add new adjustment layer Brightness/Contrast and set is as it's seen on the picture below.

Don't forget to create Clipping Mask too. Below you can see how the man looks with each adjustment.

Step 19 - Creating the Focal Point

According to wikipedia.org the focal point is: "In Fine Art, a Focal Point focuses specifically on a point of interest which makes a canvas unique." As I mentioned before the man is the focal point of the image. You want to catch viewer's attention to that spot. To do that you'll add gentle glow arround the man. Thanks to that he will stand out better against the dark background. Click on the layer MAN and then on the button Add a layer style. It's in the bottom part of the Layers palette on the left from the Add vector mask button.

Select the option Outer Glow and set the window as it's shown below.

Press OK. After this step your manipulation should be similar to the one below.

Step 20 - Setting the Global Light

In this step you will set the global light of the whole picture. Thanks to it even more attention will focus on the man. Create a new layer on the top of all layers and name it GLOBAL LIGHT. Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick #808080 grey color and fill with it the layer. Now go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects... and set the window as you can see below.

Press OK. Change the Blending Mode of this layer on Overlay. This filter makes your manipulation looking like the one below. The light is more dramatic now.

Step 21 - First Color Adjustment

It's time to change slightly the mood of the picture. Add new adjustment layer Color Balance and set it as below.

Don't create Clipping Mask!

Step 22 - Darkening the Wall

The wall on the right is lighter than the one on the left. To fix it add new adjustment layer Levels on the top of the layers. Set the Input Levels as it's shown below.

Grab the Gradient Tool (G) and pick black color. Click on the thumbnail of this adjustment layer and fill it with solid black color. Then grab the Brush Tool (B), select soft round brush and pick white color. Paint over the right side of the wall.

Step 23 - Red T-Shirt

To make the man even more visible we'll make him deep red t-shirt. Add new layer on the top of the layers and name it RED T-SHIRT. Grab the brush and pick #FF0000 red color. Now carefully paint over the man's t-shirt. After you're done change the Blending Mode of this layer on Darken.

Step 24 - Adding the Moon

Download the picture of the moon and drag it into the manipulation. Name it MOON and place it on the top of the layers. Press Ctrl + T and resize it on proper size. Change the Blending Mode of this layer on Screen which very easily blends the moon with the rest of the image. Screen Blending Mode works on the principle that it makes black color completely invisible and let the white color completely visible. Other color are visible depending on their lightness. This blending mode is also really useful if you blend lens flare. You can reed more about this (and other) blending mode in this article.

But back to the tutorial. To make the moon looking even more realistic lower the opacity of the layer on 70%. It would be also well looking if part of the moon is hidden behind the clouds. To do that add vector mask to this layer. Grab the Brush Tool (B), select soft round brush, pick black color and lower the opacity of the brush on about 40%. Now gently paint over the areas where the moon should be hidden. After this step you manipulation should be similar to the one shown below.

Step 25 - Adding Birds

This is really quick step. Download the bird brushes and install them into the Photoshop. Create a new layer on the top of the layers and name it BIRDS. Grab the Brush Tool (B), select one of the brushes you've just installed, pick some very dark grey or blue color and paint birds similar as on the preview picture.

Step 26 - Reflection under the Man

The man stands in the water. It means he should have some reflections in it. To add them right click on the layer MAN and select Duplicate layer. Place this new layer under the MAN and name it e.g. MAN'S REFLECTION. Change the Blending Mode of the layer on Overlay and lower the Opacity on 30%. Add vector mask, grab the Brush Tool (B), select soft round brush and pick black color. Set the Opacity on 80%. Now paint over the head and body of the reflection. You should get something like this:

Step 27 - Adding the Textures

In this step you will add two textures to create grungy look. First drag the texture number 3 from the grunge pack you've downloaded few steps back. Place it on the top of all layers and name it TEXTURE 1. Press Ctrl + T and resize it on the size of the manipulation. Change the Blending Mode of the layer on Soft Light and lower the Opacity on 75%. Download this texture and drag it into the manipulation too. Place it on the top and name it TEXTURE 2. Change the Blending Mode on Overlay and lower the Opacity on 30%.

Step 28 - Improving the Light

The light still needs some improvements. We'll do them in this step. Add new layer on the top of the layers and name it LIGHT IMPROVEMENT. Grab the Gradient Tool (G) and fill the layer with solid #808080 grey color. Change the Blending Mode of the layer on Overlay. Now grab the Brush Tool (B), pick white color, lower the opacity on 40% and start painting over the areas which should be lighter. Then pick black color and do the same with the areas which should be darker. Below it's shown how the layer should look with the Normal and Overlay Blending Mode. As you can see I made wall bit lighter because of the shining moon and bottom part of the wall and some of the waves darker.

Step 29 - Softening

According to me the picture would look better if it's softer and has little dreamy feel. I'll show you little trick how to do that. Grab the Marquee Tool (M) and select the whole manipulation. Press Ctrl + Shift + C to copy the picture merged and then Ctrl + V to paste it. Place this layer on the top of the layers and name it SOFTENING. Now go to Filters > Other > High Pass and set the dialogue as it's shown below. Press OK. Now go to Image > Adjustments > Invert to invert the colors of the layer. Now change the Blending Mode on Overlay. The picture is softer isn't it?

Step 30 - Vignette

The last thing you'll do is adding vignette to the picture. To do that press Ctrl + Shift + C to copy merged image again and Ctrl + V to paste it. Place it on the top of the layers and name it VIGNETTE. Go to Filter > Lens Correction... (might be bit different in different versions of Photoshop) and set the window as you can see below. Press OK.

Final Results

Congratulation. You've just finished the manipulation. Thank you for reading the tutorial and hope you've learnt something new and useful during the reading or found inspiration for your new work. I'd like to see your work based on this tutorial in the comments! See you in the next tutorial

- Jarka