Heavenly Castle Effect

Heavenly Castle - Final Result:


So, this is the
photo-manipulation tutorial we are going to make today, it will create
the illusion of a castle, weaved from air above the sea. These sorts of
illusions sometimes happen when you feel like an object levitates above
the water. So...


1. Start of by taking a picture of a shore. Feel free to use Digital Stock Photo.


"Heavenly Castle" - Tutorial by Lorelei


2. ...and, a photo of some caste (we used Prague Castle, but you can take any object u want for this manipulation)





3. Place the photo of the castle, above the "sea" layer.





4.
Now, using the eraser tool with soft edge (50px or even bigger), erase
everything around teh castle, leaving only the castle (or object)
itself. This would create the illusion, as if the castle "stands" on
the clouds. I'd not recommend actually cropping it precisely, as it
should have a dreamy effect and soft edges, otherwise your layer would
not look any natural.





5.
Duplicate the layer with the sea, and drag the copy on top of the
castle. Using the eraser tool, remove the spot above the castle (you
can reduce
the opacity while erasing, so you'd see what you are actually doing). This will make the blending more natural.








6.
Make a new layer, and place it behind the castle's layer. Choose a
Rounded Brush with Hard edge and using the white colour (#FFFFFF) make
a sort of stamp, so you will get this kind f sun (or moon) behind it)




7. While the white ball is selected, go to Layer >> Layer styles >> Outer glow...




...and apply these glow settlings.





8.
now, select the upper layer with sea photo and go to Filter >>
Render >> Lightening Effects. Apply a spot light as you can see
on illustration below...





This will give your photo a darker, and more dramatic look.




10.
On the same layer, apply the spot light again, only now lower, on the
water, which will create the illusion of moon shining upon the water
below.





11. This is the result so far...




12. Press Ctrl + L to get the Levels panel and apply the following settlings, to "normalize" the darkness range on your canvas.





Now, it will look much more natural.





12.
Duplicate this later, and go to Filter >> Blur >> Radial
Blur. Apply these settlings, to give youe castle a "blast" effect.




13.
Now that the blurred effect applied, using a soft-edge eraser tool
(30px +) and remove the blurred layer from the castle fully





Leave the rest blurred.





14.
While the blurred layer is still selected, go to Image >>
Adjustments >> Brightness / Contrast and reduce brightness, as
well as adding contrast.




This will make the "rays" of the blur more visible. Reduce the opacity of the blurred layer to abut 30% +.



That's it, your image is ready:


Notes:
you can flatten the image after applying the outer glow to the moon, as
basically it doesn't matter if from that point you will be working with
layers separately or not. You can duplicate the entire canvas any time
and do the radial blur effect using the entire picture, not only the
sea layer. Should you have any questions, please post them below. Enjoy!