How to Add Stars to an Image in Photoshop – Example: Merlins Home | Photoshop Tutorial
How to Add Stars to an Image in Photoshop | Photoshop Tutorial • How to Add Stars to an Image in Photo...
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Darkening the Sky (1:00 min)
In order to make sure the stars have a nice and dark background, I first needed to darken the sky. For this, I used first a Level Adjustment where I dragged the Darkness Sliders to the right. Once the sky was a little darker, I hit CMD+I (invert mask) and then G on my keyboard to get the Gradient Tool. I dragged from the top down with a white colour to make the effect only visible in the sky. I did the same thing with a Curve Adjustment to darken the sky further.
To go even darker, I created a so called Stamp Visible (Cmd+Alt+Shift+E) which copies everything that is visible onto a new layer. After changing the Blending mode of that layer to Overlay, I copied the layer three times and used a layer mask and a Brush to bring the effect up where I needed it. For one of the Overlay copies, I also brought the effect out in the water area to make sure this place is kind of dark as well.
Add the Stars (6:00 min)
First I had to find myself some nice images of a Milky Way. I usually do not like to use anything I have not produced myself when it comes to images, but in this case, I am not sure I will ever get the chance to take a shot in the style I need. So, I went on pexels.com and downloaded two images of the stars (you can take any you like!). I used the Transform Tool (CMD+T) and the Move Tool (V) to get the star images in the places where I want them.
To make sure that only the stars are visible in my image, I changed the Blending Mode to Screen. This will hide dark places in an image and only the bright ones remain. You can adjust this effect by creating a Levels Adjustment layer and tieing it to the Screen layer (CMD+Alt+G) - meaning that the Levels Adjustment will only affect the Screen layer. Changing the levels will then hide or show certain areas in the image. I finished the stars off using a simple brush and layer mask. I combined both of my star images this way!
Creating the Reflection (12:45 min)
It is time to bring these stars into the water. For this, I grouped all my previous work I have done on the sky (CMD+G) and duplicated the group (CMD+G). Having this group selected, I hit CMD+T to transform the group and used right click to flip the group over. The reflection should not be as strong in colour as the original in the sky, which is why I reduced the opacity a little and used layer mask and brush to hide the reflection (or at least weaken it) in some places.
The colours should be a little more blue in the actual water, therefore I thought I adjust them very slightly. I created a new layer (CMD+Alt+Shift+N) and changed its Blending Mode to Colour. Then I used a brush and a colour from the water and painted this over the water with a low opacity.
Blurring the Reflection (22:00 min)
To make sure the reflection is not as sharp as the original, I decided to blur the stars a little. For this, I created a Stamp Visible (Cmd+Alt+Shift+E) and went to Filter-Blur-Motion Blur to create just a little bit of Blur. I also used a Hue/Saturation layer to reduce the colour in the water just a tiny bit - I wanted to have the attention on the sky! Once this was done, I used a layer mask and a brush to bring the effect through only in some places.
Remember, shortcuts make your life easier and can speed up your processing a lot! Here is what I used in this image:
CMD+Alt+Shift+E to create a stamp visible
B for the brush
G for the gradient tool
X to change between background and foreground colours
CMD+I to invert anything
CMD+J to duplicate a layer or a selection
Shift+M to get the Ellipse tool
CMD+Alt+Shift+N to get a new layer
Shift+Backspace to fill a selection with black or white
Alt+Drag to relocate layer masks
CMD+Alt+G to clip a layer to the one beneath
V to get the move tool
For my complete Portfolio, have a look at www.letsimage.smugmug.com
Intro music from Kevin MacLeod (Prelude and Action)
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#photoshop #imageprocessing #photography #HDR #tutorial #beginner #tutorials #landscape #nature #howto #postprocessing #getstarted #pictureoftheday #stars #milkyway
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