by Isick on Wed Jul 11, 2007 1:44 am
The key to a good light placement is to remember a few things.
The most important is placement. Obviously there wont be light in a dark place so this may seem like an obvious one, but placement within a light area is important. You must recognize how light would reflect off a surface and how it would appear to the viewer.
Once you have decided the placement and angle of the light you are ready to insert it. I like to start with the brightest part (the white). The base shine must always be white as there is no way light can glare off a surface and not be white. Once you draw in the base shine you then must put in the glare. To do the glare I normally just duplicate the base shine layer and blur it. Remember though, different surfaces will have a different type of glare. If the surface is rounded, like a light bulb, or someone's shinny shoulder then the glare will emanate in all directions making a halo type of glare. If the reflected light is coming off of a flat area, like a mirror on its side, then the glare will only appear in the direction perpendicular to the object. To do this, I simply select the object and delete that part of the glare.
Now the glare is what gives the light its color. The light will always be white, but the glare could be any color and it is this that tells the viewer the color of the light source, not the shine itself.
I hope this could get you started. The best way to learn is to just tinker around with it yourself. Study the pictures other people made (like the one you posted) and try piece apart the steps they took. I always say, A good photoshopper can turn any image into anything, a GREAT photoshopper can see an altered image and now how it was done.
"Photoshop is a powerful tool, but like all tools it still needs a powerful artist to release its potential."
