How to Break Sunlight Through the Clouds

In this tutorial I will show you how to turn an overcast day into a stunningly dramatic scene with sunlight breaking through the clouds. This technique can be used for other applications as well. I originally came up with it when I needed to create shafts of light coming through a canopy of trees. The best part of this technique is that the beams are created from the actual imagery so they look very realistic. Lets get started...

Author: Kyle Pero

Kyle Pero has worked in the creative fields for many years now. With a background in photography and graphic design he naturally became a Photoshop whiz. Now he works in advertising doing photographic retouching, but also does freelance design and illustration work.

Before & After:

Here's the photo we're working with

And here's what we're producing (Click the image for a larger version)

Step One:

Duplicate the Background photo layer by dragging it to the New Layer Icon at the bottom of the layers palette. Name it 'Light Beam Base'.

With that layer selected hit CMD + M (or CTRL+M on PC) to apply a curve to it. Apply a harsh curve to it so that we have maximum contrast in the clouds with small areas that go completely white. I am focusing on the area on the top third of the frame slightly to the left. These white areas are going to be where our beams of light come out of the clouds.

Now apply a 2 pixel gaussian blur to that layer ( Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur ).

Step Two:

Turn off the Light Beam Base layer and select the Background layer. Select the Polygonal Lasso tool (L). Set the Feather to 50 in the Properties bar at the top of the screen.

Draw a loose selection around the area of the sky where the beams will come from by clicking various points. Here is the selection I made as viewed in Quick Mask mode:

Make a new Curves Adjustment Layer just above he Background layer. Our selection is automatically applied as a layer mask. Apply a similar curve to the one we did before, but this time we want to limit it so the shadow areas are not affected. Name the layer 'Light Source'.

Step Three:

Turn on and select the Light Beam Base layer. In the toolbar select the Single Row Marquee tool. Zoom in on one of the white areas of the clouds and click once in the middle of it. This selects a single row of pixels across the image.

Zoom out so you can see the whole image. Select the regular Marquee tool. While holding alt/option drag from the left of the image right up to the left side of the white area to deselect those pixels. Do the same on the right side. You shoud end up with a selection of a single row of pixels just across the white area like so:

With the 'Light Beam Base' layer selected hit CMD + J. This throws your selected pixels on a new layer. Name that layer 'Beam 1'.

Step Four:

Turn off the 'Light Beam Base' layer. Select the 'Beam 1' layer. Hit CMD+T to Free Transform the layer. Grab the bottom center handle and stretch is all the way down to about where the boat sits. Now while holding CMD drag the same handle to the right so it sits just under the boat. Now while holding CMD+SHIFT drag the bottom left and right handles outward until you get a shape that you like.

Note that the Free Transform preview might look a little whacked because Photoshop is dealing with a single row of pixels. This technique is called pixel stretching. When you apply the transform it will look right.

Step Five:

Set the 'Beam 1' layer's blending mode to Screen on the layer palette.

Hit CMD+M to apply a curve to the layer. Darken the layer way down until the beams of light start to show up.

Add a layer mask by clicking on the Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of the layer palette. Select the mask by clicking on it in the layer palette then hit CMD+M to apply a curve to it. Bring the highlight point down to 50%. Hit OK.

Select the Polygonal Lasso tool (L) and set the Feather to 15 this time. Select the center of the beam all the way through. Here is what my selection looked like as a quickmask.

Select the 'Beam 1' mask and hit CMD+M to apply a curve. This time bring the shadow point up to 50%. This will make the center of the beam brighter than the edges.

Step Six:

With the mask still selected, hit G for the Gradient tool. Click on the gradient preview in the top left of the screen and set it to the black to white gradient if it isnt already set. Set the gradient mode to Multiply on the Properties Bar.

Drag from the top of the beam to the bottom. Before you click anything else go to Edit > Fade Gradient. Fade it down to about 50%. This creates a falloff on the beam but we use the Fade function so it doesn't completely disappear at the bottom.

Step Seven:

Select the Background layer. Select the Eliptical Marquee tool. Click and drag directly on the boat, while holding down the mouse button hold ALT and make a narrow ellipse at the base of the beam.

Hit Q to enter Quick Mask mode. Go Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use 5 as the radius. Go Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and make the angle 0 and the distance 150. Hit Q to exit Quick Mask.

Make a curves adjustment layer just above the Background layer. Lighten up the water a bit until it looks like the beam is hitting the water.

Step Eight:

I just want to add a little contrast to the image as a whole. To do that, put a curve at the top of the layers palette and just add some contrast.

Repeat steps 3 through 7 as many times as you would like using other white spots in the clouds but be sure to mind the angles at which the beams come down. They should look like they all come from the same light source. I did 3 different beams to create my image.

Update - Colour Version

You can see a colour version of this effect in the follow-up post - More on Beams of Light, This Time in Colour. PSDs for both colour and black and white are available in the PSDTUTS Plus download area.

Keep reading with more great tutorials and articles!

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User Comments

( ADD YOURS )

Pete March 2nd

Great tut guys!
( Reply )
Aloke Pillai March 2nd

Awesome tutorial!
Keep Rocking!
Aloke Pillai
( Reply )
Paulo Sales March 2nd

wow…the light…
great job…
( Reply )
Terry March 2nd

does this work in color? this is pretty cool….. i think i have a few ideas for it!
awesome awesome
( Reply )
goldenthunder March 2nd

This is a sweet effect. I’ve seen this used in many places, but never having such a clean finish. Good job!
( Reply )
^^GOUST^^ March 2nd

very cool i from brazil parana pato branco
( Reply )
Jeff March 2nd

Great effect! No psd?
( Reply )
Jon March 2nd

Very nice tutorial, but I really miss the colors.
( Reply )
Jonathan Solichin March 2nd

That’s hot stuff right there. Thanks for the tut mate.
( Reply )
Colin March 2nd

this certainly rocks!
heavenly would be the appropriate word
( Reply )
Andrew D March 2nd

Pretty cool.
( Reply )
skut March 2nd

awesome
( Reply )
kos kesh March 2nd

not really cool!.
( Reply )
Markus March 2nd

I was talking to my friends about this light, But this time i can make it by my self
Smooth & Clean!
( Reply )
Wordpress Tutorials, Hacks Tips and Tricks March 2nd

definitely would be cool to see it in color. good tutorial
( Reply )
vutran March 2nd

I”am think if this image was a normal image ( with color ),thisf tut will be better than a b&w image.
Anyway,cool tutorial !
( Reply )
bweb March 2nd

Really cool effect, thanks for this tut.
( Reply )
Shane March 2nd

Quite a complex tutorial – I’ll be trying it out for sure. Thanks very much.
( Reply )
Leyre March 2nd

Thank you so much guys. Another tutorial that is extremely useful, that has real-world application and that is somehow of a trend now.
And people are still bitching about $9…
Keep them coming!
( Reply )
Tom March 3rd

Nice one, i like this Blog Keep going!!!
( Reply )
BogDinamita March 3rd

looks awesome. I hope it works on color too right? I’m a give it a try
( Reply )
Daniel March 3rd

nice tutorial, very cool effect ! congrats !
( Reply )
Andreas March 3rd

This is clearly the site with the best PS-Tutorials to find on the Internet!
Thank you and Greetings from Hamburg, Germany
( Reply )
Kyle March 3rd

Sure it will work in color just fine. I originally did it in color and the results were great because the beams of light are created from the pixels in the shot so they match the image just fine.
( Reply )
Kashif Nazir March 3rd

It’s a great discovery for me. I have been searching for this type of tutorials for a long time. It’s a little bit complex but very interesting. It will give us control on curve in real sense. It helped me very much in use of curve. It’s really GREAT.
( Reply )
b00m March 3rd

oh my GOD, he exists. xD
( Reply )
Collis March 3rd

@Jeff: There sure is a PSD file available, it’s through the PSDTUTS Plus membership. From here on they’ll always be there
( Reply )
giackop March 3rd

Very cool!! Thanks..
( Reply )
Jared March 3rd

I think this is one of the first tutorials that I’ve found legitimately helpful, not just cool. Also, it’s great to see use of adjustment layers instead of straight destructive adjustments — too many authors do the latter. Great job on the explanations, too!
( Reply )
Jeff March 3rd

@Collis: Oh great, forgot to check there first.
( Reply )
Joefrey Mahusay March 3rd

Cool, I like it… Thanks for sharing!
( Reply )
Adrian March 3rd

Nice tutorial, but I had a hard time achieving this effect realistically on a color photo of my own.
( Reply )
TommyP March 3rd

Thanks for sheding light on that one
( Reply )
Zair Abbas March 3rd

awesomeeeee very nice!
( Reply )
bratwurst March 4th

Nice tut, although a word of caution not to overly use this effect. This light beam effect seems to have been overused in times past, thus making it borderline cliche.
( Reply )
Duluoz March 4th

This tut will help a beginner with some basics – but the final effect is VERY unrealistic. I have photographed many a corpuscular ray sky and have never seen the light behave like you show in the tut. The light is not diffused nearly enough and is far too sharp and would not act like a spotlight as you’re showing here. You’re actually doing artists a disservice through teaching a technique that does not happen in reality.
( Reply )
Cain March 4th

Wicked effect! I love how it shines down on the person. Would it be asking to much to make a colored version?
( Reply )
åˆ é™¤å¯†ç March 4th

cooooooooooooooooooooooool!
( Reply )
Vazhikatti March 5th

Hi, It’s very useful for beginers.
I’m verymuch interested to go through it.
( Reply )
Kyle March 6th

@ Duluoz. I appreciate your feedback but if people wanted things to look exactly like they do in nature, photographers would not be relying so much on photoshop these days. Its all about what looks good, not what is realistic. I have worked in advertising for a long time now and know what designers and art directors are looking for. Your attitude would not get you very far.
( Reply )
dave Sheehan March 10th

That is frickin awesome. You graphic designers rock!
( Reply )
Angel Conde March 10th

Very good job, i like it to much thanks
( Reply )
pepoy March 14th

it looks so good and cool..
( Reply )
lordgilamesh March 25th

I followed the tut. but, looks aweful, are you sure you use the polygonal lasso at “feather” 50% the first time?
( Reply )
lordgilamesh March 25th

I figured it out, I selected all bright white, and needed to select some of the adjacent darker pixels as well as the bright ones.
( Reply )
Monit April 4th

This is Super cool Man.
( Reply )
Monit April 4th

I didnt knew that i pixels selections can do such wonders. Thanks a lot. Cheers
( Reply )
vidya April 13th

nice infact very nice tutorial 8)i want to use this as soon as possibl…THANKS!
( Reply )
Web designer April 30th

I think this is the most wanted tutorial for any web designer. What say guys?
( Reply )
Danny May 13th

I can see this tutorial coming in handy often… bookmark-worthy
( Reply )
Mansoor July 24th

Thanks for Posting.
Great Tut.
( Reply )
Anjum August 23rd

gr8 work
( Reply )
ms August 27th

welcome sir thanks bady your Good Job Best Effect Realy Good
( Reply )
Dennis January 4th

My god, I don’t understand these at all. Do you guys know like a video or something. I am not a reader I need to see how this is done in order to figure it out. I spend last hour trying to understand this but I can’t. If any of you guys know like a video that could help that would be sweet.
( Reply )
Rabin February 13th

excelent work, keep it up
( Reply )
M.hassan March 2nd

best site for the tutorials…mind blowing seriously……n after visiting i realised there is no end ….lol…keep up the good work dudes
( Reply )
Ercan March 19th

i cant do step 6 cause i cant see edit>fade gradient tool :S:S:S:S
( Reply )
chon April 10th

wicked!
( Reply )
ryan May 14th

i think this doesnt work on colored..
i tried it already..
can you post a tutorial on colored?
( Reply )
Booonchai C> June 19th

Yes i tried it on colored but it not work please do it on colored
( Reply )
angie July 1st

I cant seem to do step four. Coz after pressing contol-T for transform i tried to end up as your result shown above but it jsut wont work. I am nt sure what i did wrong..but i really tried doing everything i could. Please enlighten me. Thanks.
( Reply )
Landscape Photography July 15th

Whilst it may not look entirely like a natural image, in that the beams are sharper than one would generally find in nature it does look like a really useful technique and something I would expect to see (and do see) quite frequently in advertising work, move posters etc.
Thanks for the detailed intructions.
( Reply )
Design Wannabe September 13th

Rocks! much better than using a light brush!
( Reply )
Allan September 14th

I’ll try doing this! This very cool! Thanks a lot!!
( Reply )
alley November 18th

good job. so cool.
( Reply )
rapel seriezz December 13th

bagus ??
( Reply )
sarahreunque December 21st

Thanks,
ass fucking
( Reply )
hari January 14th

wow beautiful effect you have given
( Reply )
Jared January 17th

Love the tutorial, though some of the comments above could be deleted. Spam/links.
( Reply )