This tutorial will show you how to compose an image using 3D and painted elements. These techniques include setting the global light of your manipulation and adding shadow and color adjustments.

Preview of Final Results

Apocalyptic Photo Manipulation Photoshop Tutorial

Resource

To complete the tutorial you can use my own resources which are exactly the same as in the preview manipulation but in lower resolution, or find similar stock over the internet. The link for the low resolution images is here.

Step 1 - Preparing the Background

Create a new document in Photoshop. The size depends on the resources you want to use. If you use the resources provided above, use 900 px x 540 px. Otherwise any size that fits your stock images will work. Select the Gradient Tool (G), then select Linear Gradient (see picture below).

Select the Gradient Tool (G), then select Linear Gradient (see picture below).

Fill the background layer with this gradient. You should get something like this:

Step 2 - Adding the Sky

Open the picture of sky and drag it into your manipulation. Name the layer SKY and place it above the BACKGROUND. Add a vector mask to this layer. The Add Vector mask button can be found on the bottom part of your palette layers (if you don’t see this palette just press F7).

Side Note: Using a vector mask instead of erasing parts of the image is much better because you can always change what you’ve done. When you erase parts with the Eraser Tool (E) they are erased for good, but with the vector mask you just hide the unwanted parts of the image and make them appear again whenever you want.

Add a vector mask to the SKY, by selecting the Brush Tool (B) in black and start to paint over the areas which will make them disappear. You can change the diameter of the brush and opacity to get a more natural result. Do this until the sky is nicely blended. If you want to reverse some steps, choose a white color and paint over the areas you want to re-appear.

Step 3 - Adding the Ground

Create the ground of the picture. Add new layer on the top of your layers and name it GROUND TEXTURE. Download these brushes and add them to Photoshop. If you don’t know how to install brushes you can refer to this tutorial.

Select the Brush Tool (B) and select one of the brushes you installed. Pick a dark brown color (a bit darker then the gradient brown) and paint some texture on the GROUND TEXTURE layer. See below for an example:

Download the picture of the ground (if you use resources from my blog use Ground 1) and drag it into the manipulation. Name the layer GROUND 1 and place it on the top of your layers. Change the Blending Mode of the layer to Soft Light.

For this image you could use the Normal Blending Mode but the Soft Light creates a nice painted look. You can see a comparison below:

Add a vector mask to GROUND 1 and blend the image. After this step your picture should be similar to the one below.

Step 4 - Adding Details to the Foreground

The ground in the foreground looks a bit flat and uninteresting. It would look better with more details. To do this, download Ground 2 from the blog mentioned previously (or use your own resources) and drag it into the manipulation. Name the layer FOREGROUND DETAILS and put it on the top of your layers. Change the Blending Mode to Soft Light again and add a vector mask. Select the Brush Tool (B) and select a soft round brush. Pick a black color and blend this layer.

Step 5 - Adding Skyscrapers

Download or paint the skyscrapers. If you want to download them, download them from the link provided earlier and drag them into the manipulation and blend them as you did it in the previous steps. If you want to paint them by yourself you can use custom Photoshop brushes.

Step 6 - Creating the Path

Connect the background and foreground to make your picture look more unified. Connect them by creating a path from the city to the foreground. To do this, add a new layer on top of your layers and name it PATH. Select the Gradient Tool (G). Choose #808080 grey and fill the layer with this solid color. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay.

Select the Brush Tool (B), and choose some of the texture brushes that you installed earlier. Pick a light grey color and paint the curve in the area where the path should lead. Then pick a darker grey color and paint around the borders of the path. See a comparison of the two blending modes in the image below. The background path should be lighter because things in the distance tend to be lighter.

Step 7 - Adding the Elephant

Download the picture of elephant and cut out the background, then drag it into the manipulation. Press Ctrl + T and resize it to the proper size. Name the layer ELEPHANT and place it on top of the layers.

As you can see, the elephant looks saturated, too bright, and has strong shadows. Because the stock photo was taken under heavy sunlight, there is a large contrast between light and shadow. To make the light less visible, create new layer and select the Gradient Tool (G) and fill the layer with solid #808080 grey color. Set the Blending Mode to Overlay and create a Clipping Mask from this layer. To do this, right click on the layer in the Layers Palette and choose the option Create Clipping Mask. This way the layer affects only the layer below (ELEPHANT).

Select the Brush Tool (B), and choose a soft round brush. Pick a black color and paint over the highlights.

The bottom part of its legs is still lighter then the rest of the body. To fix this, add a new layer on the top and create a Clipping Mask from it. Select the Brush Tool (B) and choose a soft round brush. Lower the opacity to about 15% and pick a darker color of elephant. Now paint over the parts of the legs that are lighter. You can see how the layer should look below. I used a black color underneath so you can see it better.

The elephant should also be darker. Add new adjustment layer Levels (click on the button Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer is next to the button Create Vector Mask). Set the Input Levels on 0; 0,57; 255, and press OK. Create a clipping mask.

Now desaturate the elephant a little. Add a new adjustment layer Hue/Saturation and set the Saturation value to -40. Press OK and create a clipping mask. Increase the contrast in colors of the elephant by adding a new adjustment layer with a Gradient Map and select Black, White Gradient. Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Luminosity and create a clipping mask from the layer.

There are still some very dark shadows under the head and on one of the legs. To remove them, add a new layer on top of the layers and create a clipping mask from it. Select the Clone Stamp Tool (S) and clone some of the elephant’s skin over the black shadows. If you don’t know how to use this tool you can look at this tutorial. After all the adjustments your picture should be similar to the one below.

Step 8 - Adding the Shadow under the Elephant

In the picture above you will see that the elephant looks likes it’s levitating above the ground. This is because it has no shadow under its feet. Add new layer under ELEPHANT and name it ELEPHANT SHADOWS. Select the Brush Tool (B) and choose a soft round brush. Pick a black color and paint shadows as shown in the picture below. (I put white underneath so you can them better.)

The darker shadows are the shadows directly underneath the feet.

Step 9 - Adding the Cube

Download the picture of cube and drag it into the manipulation. Name the layer CUBE and place it on top of your layers. Add some shadow between the cube and the elephant. Create a new layer under CUBE and name it CUBE SHADOW. Select the Brush Tool (B), and choose a soft round brush. Pick a dark grey color and set the opacity to about 80%. Paint a narrow line under the cube. Lower the opacity of the brush to about 30% and paint a dropped shadow.

It’s very important to remember that every object you put into the scene should have some shadow. Make some minor color adjustments on the cube. First, lower the contrast by adding a new adjustment layer Levels above the CUBE and set the Input Levels on 0; 0,74; 255. Create a clipping mask from the layer. Then add the adjustment layer Hue/Saturation and set the value Saturation to -60. Create another clipping mask.

Step 10 - Adding the Belt

Download the picture of the belt and drag it into the manipulation. Put the layer on the top of all the layers and name it BELT. Go to Edit > Transform > Warp and then adjust the grid of the belt to fit the elephant’s body. If you’re not familiar with the Warp Tool you can take a look at this video tutorial. Press Enter when you’re satisfied with the shape of the belt.

Step 11 - Adding the Shadows under the Belt

As mentioned before, every object in the scene should have some shadow. The belt looks like it’s just sitting above the cube so you need to add some shadow to it as well. Create a new layer below BELT and name it BELT SHADOW. Ctrl + click on the thumbnail of the BELT which activates the mask of the belt.

Select the Brush Tool (B), pick a black color and paint the inside of the mask on the layer BELT SHADOW. Press Ctrl + D to deselect the mask. Select the Move Tool (V) and move the shadow slightly down to the left. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the value to about 0,2 px to blur the shadow gently. Press OK. You can see how the belt looks with and without the shadow below.

Step 12 - Adding Lights to the Belt

When you’re doing manipulations it’s really important to choose where the light source is so that you can add light and shadow to the objects in your image properly. Let’s take a look at the picture below which shows where the light source is and how it affects the belt.

To add light and shadow, create a new layer above the BELT. Name it BELT LIGHTS and create a clipping mask from it. Select the Gradient Tool (G) and pick solid #808080 grey color and fill the layer with it. Select the Brush Tool (B), choose a white color, and start painting the light. You can experiment with different opacities to get a more natural result. Then pick a black color and paint the shadows.

Step 13 - Adding the Woman

Download the picture of the woman and drag it into the manipulation. Resize it if necessary. Name the layer WOMAN and place it on top of your layers. Change the color balance and contrast of the woman to fit to the image properly. First increase the contrast of the woman a little. To do this, add a new adjustment layer Gradient Map above WOMAN, and choose Black, White gradient and press OK. Create a clipping mask from that layer. Then change the Blending Mode from Normal to Luminosity.

Make the woman a bit darker. Add adjustment layer Levels and set the Input Levels on 0; 0,78; 255. Press OK and create a clipping mask. De-saturate the woman to match the rest of the image. Add an adjustment layer Hue/Saturation and set the value Saturation to -20. Press OK and create another clipping mask. You can see how the adjustment layers affect the woman in the image below.

Step 14 - Changing Lights and Shadows on the Woman

The render of the woman was made to fit the overall light scene of the manipulation, but it would be better to make the contrast between light and shadow even greater. Add a new layer on top of the layers. Select the Gradient Tool (G) and fill the layer with solid #808080 grey color. Change the Blending Mode of the layer to Overlay. Select the Brush Tool (B) and pick a white color, lower the opacity of the brush to about 15% and start painting over the areas of woman’s body where the light should be lighter. Once you’re satisfied with the result, select the black color and paint gently over the shadows.

Step 15 - Adding Shadows under the Feet

In the picture above you’ll see that the woman doesn’t look like she is on the plain, but more like she is levitating over it. To fix this add shadow under her feet. Create a new layer under WOMAN and name it FEET SHADOW. Select the Brush Tool (B), pick a black color, and set the opacity to 0%. Now paint a thin shadow just under her feet. Below, I used a white layer underneath so you can see what to paint better.

Step 16 - Adding the Rope

Add the rope the woman leads the elephant with. Create a new layer on the top of your layers and name it ROPE. Select the Line Tool (U) and pick a dark brown color. Set the Weight as wide as you want the rope to be. This depends on the size of the picture you’re working on. Once you find the proper weight paint a vertical line. Now go to Filter > Distort > Shear and set the filter as shown below.

Press OK.

Press Ctrl + T and rotate the rope so it looks like the woman has it in her hand and it’s tied to the elephant’s belt. Duplicate the layer and place it a little higher to make it look like it’s in the background. Then add a vector mask to this layer and paint over the parts of the rope that are supposed to be behind the elephant with a black brush.

Step 17 - Adding Birds

Download the picture of the birds. Select some of them and drag them into the manipulation. Place them similar to as they are shown in the preview picture. Ravens that are farther in the background should be smaller and lighter. To make them smaller, press Ctrl + T and resize them. To make them lighter, press Ctrl + L to activate Levels Color Adjustment and lighten them a bit (you don’t need to use an adjustment layer because it won’t affect the image very much).

Step 18 - Motion Blur

Use motion blur to add some motion to the birds. I will explain the process on one bird and you can repeat the same steps on the rest. Duplicate the layer with the bird and place it under the bird. Now go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur. Set the Distance to around 15 px (this depends on the size of the image you’re working with) and change the angle so that it fits the angle of the bird. Then press OK. Repeat the process with the rest of the birds.

Step 19 - Adding the Mist

If you want to create mystic atmosphere in your manipulation adding mist adds a nice effect. Download some mist brushes (I used these) and upload them to Photoshop.

Create a new layer on the top of your layers and name it MIST. Select the Brush Tool (B) and select one of the mist brushes you installed. Now pick a bright color from the sky and paint some mist. I recommend that you to play around with different colors and opacities to get a more realistic result. Avoid using pure white because it’s too bright and not very common in nature. For example, if you see white flowers they’re not actually white but instead light yellow. The same thing goes about using black. Try to use darker tones of other colors. It’s a lot more realistic.

Step 20 - Global Light

All of the elements are now placed in the scene. Now the focus is on setting the global light source and color adjustments. First, add a lens flare to the center of the image to create the main light source. To do this, add a new layer on the top of the layers and name it LENS FLARE. Select the Gradient Tool (G) and fill the layer with solid black color.

Now go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare and choose the flare you like. I used 105mm Prime. Press OK. To make the flare more realistic, blur it a bit. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, then set the value Diameter to about 1 px. Press OK. To blend the layer nicely, change the Blending Mode to Screen.

Step 21 - More Lights and Shadows

There should be more light and shadow on the objects in the foreground and also on the ground. To do this, add a new layer on top of your layers and fill it with solid #808080 grey color. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay.

Select the Brush Tool (B) and choose a soft round brush. Pick a white color and lower the opacity, then paint over the areas that should have more highlights. Next pick a black color and paint over the shadows.

Step 22 - Better Light Source

The light source needs to be more visible. Add a new layer on top of your layers and fill it with solid #808080 grey color. Now go to Filter > Render > Lightning Effects, and set it with the settings shown below. Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Overlay.

Step 23 - First Global Adjustments

In this step we will start with first global adjustments and continue on in the next step. First, increase the contrast of the whole manipulation. Add a new adjustment layer Gradient Map on top of the layers. Select Black, White gradient and press OK. Set the Blending Mode of this layer to Overlay. Now add a new adjustment layer Hue/Saturation and set the value Saturation to -20.

Step 24 - Second Global Adjustments

The picture above looks too dark. To make it lighter, add a new adjustment layer Gradient Map and set the gradient as shown below.

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Color Dodge. To increase the contrast and add a few more colors, add one more Gradient Map adjustment layer and set the gradient as shown below.

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Soft Light. Personally, I like the overall image better in cooler tones. To change this, create a new adjustment layer Solid Color on top of all the layers and pick #7c7f9f color. Press OK. Change the Blending Mode of the layer to Soft Light.

Step 25 - Applying the Texture

If you like the grunge effect as I do you can add a grunge texture to the image. Download the grunge texture you like (I used one from this set) and drag it into your manipulation. Now play with different Blending Modes and opacities to get the result you like. I used the Soft Light Blending Mode and lowered the Opacity to 60%.

Step 26 - Bit More Contrast

Add a bit more contrast to the picture by adding one more adjustment layer Gradient Map on top of the layers. Select Black, White gradient and change the Blending Mode to Luminosity.

Final Results

By Jarka Hrncárková