Imitating the Sun

[PorraBoyo]

Hi Guys,

I've been looking around the interenet and have come accross here in the past as guest, and thought id finally sign up. And heres a question, i've would like to know how this is achieved.

My intial thoughts were by masking the subject, refining or feathering the edge and then over exposing the background. That gives my the light backgrounds, but im not sure what to use to give me the sunburst / flare that I desire.

I've used the lens flare in PS and also brushes but im just not getting that golden natural-esque burst.


Any pointers?

 

[costisefu]

I believe you have done it. These look pro, I would stick to this look.

 

[ibclare]

But I don't think these are is pictures. They are examples of what the effect is which he is trying to recreate.

At a glance, I would say you could try filter>render>lighting fx instead of lens flare. Other ways might be to use a soft brush on a separate layer, then play with the blend mode or opacity or both.

Another way would be to make a circular selection, go to select>modify>feather and choose a fairly good sized number - relative to the whole size. Now choose the gradient tools, pick radial (the 2nd one over in the icons on toolbar). Set your BG/FG colors, color to transparent. Start at the middle of the circle and go out to the edges or further. You can adjust this in the gradient editor, but sometimes it's just easier to play with the distance of the drag. After this, you may want to adjust the opacity and maybe the blend mode.

If one of these methods doesn't get you the results you want, come on back and let us know.

 

[Paul]

The top one as a radial blob of white dropped onto it then blurred and probably turned into a softened layer of some type.