Learn how to composite landscapes like the ones you see in Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings), add dramatic lighting effects, and more with this Photoshop tutorial. This tutorial will show you techniques such as creating a breathtaking landscape from multiple photos, adding dramatic rays of light, and using foreground/middleground/background to create an interesting scene.

Preview of Final Results

Tutorial Resources

• Background 1, Background 2, Woman, Sky 1, Sky 2 - Pelleron Art
• Castle
• Fog Brushes
• Sun Rays Brushes
• Tree
• Reed
• Bird Brushes

Step 1 - Creating Background

Download two stock photos of background and drag them into a new document in Photoshop. The photo with meadow should be above the photo with mountains. Name the top layer MEADOW and the layer under MOUNTAINS.

As you can see from the photo above some blending needs to be done to make the background realistic looking. Add new layer mask to MEADOW. You can find the button "Add layer mask" on the bottom part of the Layers palette. If you don't see this palette go to Window > Layers or simply press F7 on your keyboard and it appears.

Grab the Brush Tool (B), select some soft round brush, set its Opacity on 100% and pick black color. Make sure layer mask is active by clicking on it and start painting over the areas you want to make invisible.

You should end up with picture similar to the one below.

Step 2 - Cloning

As you can see there are missing parts of grass in the bottom right and left corner. You'll add them in this step. And you'll also clone away the cabin on horizon. You're making fantasy looking photo manipulation and modern cabin doesn't fit the concept.

Add new empty layer on the top of all layers and name it CLONING. Grab the Stamp Tool (S), select some grass as cloning source and clone to the empty spaces in the corners. Often change the cloning source to avoid getting repetitive pattern. It doesn't look realistic.

On the following photo you can see the example of wrong cloning with repetitive pattern (left corner) and correct cloning (right corner).

It's bit more complicated to clone out the cabin because there isn't enough cloning sources you could use. Look at the following picture to see how you should proceed.

Step 3 - Adding Castle

This step is really quick and easy. You'll just add castle on one of the mountains in the background to create more fairy tale-ish atmosphere. Download photo of the castle listed in the beginning of the tutorial and drag it into your photo manipulation. Place it on the top of all layers and name it CASTLE. Press Ctrl+T to activate the Free Transform Tool and resize it on proper size. Hold Ctrl on your keyboard while doing it to remain constant proportions.

To blend it properly with the rest of the image cut out the background. Use any method you're comfortable with - e.g. the Lasso Tool (L), the Eraser Tool (E) or the Pen Tool (P). As you can see right now castle is too dark and saturated and doesn't fit well to the rest of the image. Fix it by adding new adjustment layer Hue/Saturation (you can find the button "Add new adjustment layer" next to the "Add layer" button you've used in previous steps). Set the value Saturation on -35 and Lightness on +10.

Right now the adjustment layer affects all layers below itself. But you want to adjust only CASTLE and not the rest of the image. To achieve that right click on the adjustment layer you've just added and select Create Clipping Mask. After this step your photo manipulation should be similar to the one below.

Step 4 - Adding a Woman

Download photo of a woman listed in the beginning of the tutorial and drag in into your photo manipulation. Place it on the top of all layers and name it WOMAN.

To blend this layer properly with the rest of the image you need to do two things. First add shadow under her and second blend the clothing better because now its obvious that the woman was shot in the studio (see white color behind the fabric). In this step you'll add the shadow and in next you'll blend the dress better.

Create new empty layer under WOMAN and name it SHADOW. If you look at the mountains in the background you can see that sun hits them from right side of the image. That is our main light source and shadow of the woman should be casted in the opposite direction.

Grab the Brush Tool (B), select some soft round brush and set the Opacity on about 15%. Press Alt on your keyboard to activate the Eye Dropper Tool (I) and pick some very dark blue color from the picture. Then paint shadow similarly as the one shown on the following picture.

Step 5 - Blending the Dress

As I mentioned before in this step you'll blend the dress better. From my experience if you try to blend sheer clothing where the structure of it should remain the best way to do it is by using Channels instead of classic Brush Tool (B). On the following picture you can compare results of both techniques.

So how to do it?

First add layer mask to WOMAN. Make all layers except WOMAN invisible by clicking on the eye icon on the left side of each layer.

Go to Window > Channels to make the Channels palette visible. As you can see there are four layers. The first represent the image when all three RGB channels are visible. Next three layers are separately Red, Green and Blue Channel. They're black and white which means you can use them as a mask! Select channel where the biggest contrast between lights and darks in. In this case it's Blue channel. Ctrl + click on the Blue channel to activate its mask.

Make the rest of the layers visible again. Go to Selection > Invert or press Ctrl + Shift + I to invert the selection you've made. Click on the layer mask of WOMAN. Grab the Brush Tool (B), select some soft round brush, set its Opacity on about 30% and pick black color. Paint over the sheer clothing of the dress till you get something similar to the following picture.

Step 6 - More Dramatic Sky

There is lack of details on the sky and it doesn't look interesting. You'll add some cloud definition in this step. Download first photo of sky listed in the beginning of this tutorial and drag it into your photo manipulation. Place it to the top left corner on the top of all layers and name it LEFT SKY. Download the second photo of sky and drag it into Photoshop. Name this new layer RIGHT SKY and place it to the right left corner.

To blend it with the rest of the image change Blending mode of both layers from Normal to Multiply.

To blend it even better add layer masks to both layers. Grab the Brush Tool (B), select some soft round brush and pick black color. Paint over the areas of sky which you want to have invisible (= mostly edges of photos of sky). You should get something similar to the picture below after this step.

Step 7 - Adding Lighting

In this step you'll start creating more interesting and dramatic lighting and you will continue with it in some of the following steps. In this step you'll focus on adding more distinctive highlights on those parts of the image where light hits. Add new adjustment layer Levels and set the Input Levels on 0; 4,35; 255.

After adding the adjustment the whole picture is really bright. But you want to brighten only certain parts of it. To hide the adjustment grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G), pick black color and fill the layer mask of this adjustment layer.

Grab the Brush Tool (B), select some soft round brush, lower its Opacity on 5% and pick white color. Paint over the areas you want lighter. You can get the inspiration on the following picture. Areas where you should paint are highlighted with red color.

Step 8 - Local Darkening

Now its time to darken some parts of the image. To do that add new adjustment layer Levels and set the Input Levels on 0; 0,15; 255.

Fill the layer mask of this adjustment layer with black color to hide the adjustment and then grab the Brush Tool. Use the same settings as in the previous step and paint over the areas which should be darker. Take a look at the following image for inspiration.

Step 9 - Increasing Contrast of the Background

Photo of a woman has higher contrast than the rest of the image. You'll balance it by increasing contrast in this step. Add new adjustment layer Levels on the top of all layers and set the Input Levels on 20; 1,00; 235.

Woman should have the same level of contrast as before the adjustment which means that you have to hide adjustment in that area. Activate the mask of WOMAN by Ctrl + clicking on its layer thumbnail.

Click back on the adjustment layer Levels you've added moment ago. Click on its layer mask. Grab the Brush Tool (B), set the Opacity on 100% and pick black color. Paint inside the mask to hide the adjustment there. After you're done press Ctrl + D to deselect it. Your photo manipulation should be similar to the one below.

Step 10 - Adding Fog

To create more magical atmosphere you'll add some deep fog in the background. Download the fog brushes listed in the beginning of the tutorial. These brushes are paid but feel free to use any fog brushes you like! Install them into Photoshop. If you don't know how to install brushes you can take a look at this tutorial.

Add new layer on the top of all layers and name it FOG. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and select one of the fog brushes you've just installed. Hold Alt on your keyboard to activate the Eye Dropper Tool (I) and pick some very light cyanish color from the picture. Now simply paint some mist! Be aware of not to paint over the WOMAN.

On the following picture you can see how much fog you should paint.

Step 11 - Adding Sun Rays

In this very quick step you'll add some sun rays to create more interesting lighting. Add new empty layer on the top of all layers and name it SUN RAYS. Install the sun rays brushes listed in the beginning of the tutorial. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and select one of the sun rays brushes you've just installed. Pick some very light yellow color and paint sun rays similarly as on the following picture. Notice that the sun rays are in the same direction as the main light source to create logical, natural looking light scene.

Step 12 - Adding Tree

Download the package of trees listed in the beginning of the tutorial. Select the first one and drag it into the photo manipulation. Place it on the top of all layers and name it TREE. Right now it seems like light is hitting the tree from left and not right where the main light source is. To fix it simply go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal to flip it.

Step 13 - Adding Reed

Before we move on to this step let me give you a little tip about composition. If you want to create interesting images with strong composition it's always good to have three parts of the image - background (in this photo manipulation mountains), middleground (woman and tree) and foreground (nothing yet, but you'll add reed in this step to fix it). It adds depth and dimensions to your image.

Download photo of reed listed in the beginning of the tutorial and drag it into your photo manipulation. Name it REED I and place it on the top of all layers.

Use the same method as in the step 5 - Blending the Dress to cut out the background with Channels. If you're not comfortable with this method feel free to use the Lasso Tool (L) or the Pen Tool (P) or any other tool you usually work with to cut out the background.

After you cut out the background right click on REED I and choose the option Duplicate layer. Name the new layer REED II. Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal to flip it. Place it in the down right corner. Right click on the REED I layer again and duplicate it again. Name the new layer REED III. Press Ctrl+T to activate the Free Transform Tool and rotate it and place it similarly as on the following picture.

Step 14 - Blurring the Reed

To create more movie like effect and create an illusion of the shallow depth of field you'll blur the reed a little in this step. Select all three layers with reed (Ctrl+click on each of them) and merge them into one layer (right click and select option Merge Layers). Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the value Radius on 1,5 pixels. Press OK.

Step 15 - Adding Birds

The main parts of your photo manipulation are already placed. Now let's move on some details. Download the bird brushes listed in the beginning of the tutorial and install them into Photoshop.Create a new layer on the top of all layers and name it BIRDS. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and select some of the brushes you've just installed. Press Alt on your keyboard to activate the Eye Dropper Tool (I) and select some dark blue color from the image. Now simply paint some birds around the tree. On the following photo you can see how your photo manipulation should look like so far.

Step 16 - Desaturating

According to me the whole picture is little too much saturated. To lower its saturation add new adjustment layer Hue/saturation on the top of all layers and set it as on the following picture.

Step 17 - Bluer Tones

To create more interesting atmosphere you'll add bluer tones to your image in this step. First add new adjustment layer Gradient Map on the top of all layers and set the colors same as you can see below.

Change the Blending Mode of this layer on Soft Light and lower its Opacity on about 55%.

Add another Gradient Map adjustment layer and this time choose following colors.

Change its Blending Mode from Normal to Multiply and lower its Opacity on 80%. And last adjustment you'll do in this step - add new adjustment layer Color Balance and set it similarly as on the following photo.

After these three adjustments your photo manipulation should look like the following picture.

Step 18 - Adding Vignette

I really like using vignette because it's great (and very quick) way how you can focus viewer's attention in the middle of the image. As you might already guessed you add vignette in this step :). Add new adjustment layer Levels on the top of all layers and set the Input Levels on 0; 0,6; 255.

You want to adjust only the edges of the image. To do that grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and pick the layer mask of this adjustment layer with solid black color.

Now grab the Brush Tool (B). Select some soft round brush and lower its Opacity on about 50%. Pick white color and make sure the layer mask is active (just click on it). Paint around the edges. You can get the idea where to paint on the following image - it's highlighted with red color.

Step 19 - Adding More Light

In this step you'll add more light to clouds and on the dress where light would hit. By adding light you’ll add more depth to your image. Add new empty layer on the top of all layers and name it LIGHT. Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill the layer with mid grey color (#808080). To blend it with the rest of the image change its Blending Mode from Normal to Overlay.

Grab the Brush Tool (B), select some soft round brush and lower its Opacity on 10%. Pick white color and start painting over the areas which should be lighter.  You can get the idea where to paint on the following photo. Those parts are highlighted with white color.

On the following photo you can see how the layer LIGHT looks like with the Blending Mode set on Normal.

Step 20 - Another Vignette

I think the vignette around the edges of the image could be even bit more darker. You'll darken it in this step. Add new adjustment layer Levels on the top of all layers and set the Input Levels on 0; 0,8; 255.

Fill the layer mask of this adjustment layer with solid black color to hide the adjustment. Grab the Brush Tool (B), select some soft round brush and set the Opacity on about 50%. Pick white color and paint around the edges of the picture to make them darker. On the following image you can see how your photo manipulation should look like so far.

Step 21 - Adding More Depth

In this step you'll create more dimension in your image. There is general rule (which has its exception of course): closer objects seems to be darker and objects in the distance seems to be brighter. Based on this rule you'll make the reed in front darker and you'll lighten the horizon. Add new empty layer on the top of all layers and name it MORE DEPTH. Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill this layer with mid grey color (#808080). To blend it properly with the rest of the image change its Blending Mode from Normal to Overlay.

Grab the Brush Tool (B), select soft round brush and lower its Opacity on about 15%. Pick black color and start painting over the areas you want to darken. After you're done pick white color and lighten areas which should be lighter. You should make darker following parts of the image:

• reed in the foreground (because of the rule named in the beginning of this step),
• shadow under the tree,
• shadow under woman.

You should lighten:

• horizon,
• tree on the side where sun hits,
• woman's clothes on the side where sun hits.

You can get the idea where to paint with black and white on the following layer where you can see my MORE DEPTH layer with Blending Mode set on Normal.

Step 22 - Adding 2 Gradient Maps

In this step you'll increase contrast, darken image and add blue tones to shadows by adding two Gradient Map adjustment layers.

Add first adjustment layer on the top of all layers. With this one you'll increase contrast of the image and make it slightly darker. To do it choose Black, White gradient in Gradient Editor and press OK.

Lower the Opacity of this layer on 20% to achieve the darker and more contrasted image you want.

Add second adjustment layer Gradient Map on the top of all layers and set the Gradient Map as on the following picture.

Change Blending Mode of this layer on Color and lower its Opacity on 30%.

On the following photo you can compare how the photo manipulation looks with these two adjustments.

Step 23 - Final Adjustments

There is only few more adjustments left before you're finished with this photo manipulation.

First add new adjustment layer Hue/Saturation on the top of all layers and set the value Saturation on -25. According to me colors in the picture need to pop little bit.

To achieve more fairy tale-ish effect the image should look bit more softer. You can achieve that by lightening shadows. To do that add new adjustment layer Curves and adjust the curve as on the following picture.

And the very last adjustment - you'll add bit more blue tones to shadows. To do that add new adjustment layer Gradient Map and set it as on the following image.

To blend this adjustment properly with the rest of the image change its Blending Mode on Multiply.

And you're finished! Congratulations! Hope you've learnt something new and the tutorial has inspired you to do a new photo manipulation!

Final Results

Download the PSD

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Tutorial by Jarka Hrnčárková

Hope you've learnt something new and the tutorial has inspired you to do a new photo manipulation! Let me know in the comments below! If you like my work you can visit my site or follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

- Jarka Hrnčárková