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This lesson demonstrates how to apply lightning to photographs, and the image I am working with can be found Here. Unzip the file and open it onto Photoshop’s workspace.
Undo and Navigation Steps
Two ways of undoing steps are from the top menu, Edit then Step Backwards. Alternatively, click a previous snapshot in the History Palette.
Navigate (zoom in and pan) your image using the Navigator Palette,
or the Zoom Tool. 
Activate The Hand Tool by tapping the Spacebar, keeping the Spacebar pressed, pan your image in the usual way. 
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Open your start image onto Photoshop’s workspace.
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Then open a New image, set the Background Contents to White, and the Resolution to 300 pixels per Inch.
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Now, press the Ctrl key, then press i (of the keyboard) - this changes the white canvas to Black.
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Then from the toolbar, click the following icon to set the Foreground and Background colours to Black and White. Or press your keyboard’s D key.
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Now, click the Foreground swatch, and in the subsequent Colour Picker dialogue box, set the colour to 50% Grey. You do this either by clicking the following midway point, (below left). Alternatively type 50 into the Brightness tab, (below right).
Either way sets the Foreground colour to (50%) Grey. 
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From the toolbar activate the Gradient Tool. 
Then set the default gradient’s library (below) by clicking the tiny black triangle
(1 - below left). Then click the black triangle indicated by the red arrow. In the subsequent pop-up menu, click Reset Gradients.
Double click to set the following gradient - the grey to white coloured gradient represents the Foreground and Background colours. Additionally, ensure Linear Gradient is set.
Now press the Shift key of the keyboard, and simultaneously drag a gradient from left to right, around midway, across the black canvas, as indicated below.
As soon as you complete the straight line, (and release the mouse button), the grey to white gradient will be applied.
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From the top menu, choose Filter then choose Render then choose Difference Clouds, and your gradient will change to the following, or very similar.
If you look carefully, you can see the (faint black) shape of the lightning bolt, and this needs to be defined.
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From the top menu, choose Image then choose Adjustments then choose Auto Levels, and your image will change to the following. You will notice the lightning is more
defined.
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Press the Ctrl key, (of the keyboard), then press i. This inverts the colours, making the lightning more prominent.
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There are actions you can take to make this more realistic - therefore, from the top
menu, choose Image then Adjustments then levels. Now, in the Levels dialogue box, grab the Grey Point slider, and drag it to the far right - all of the way.
Then click OK.
Moving the Grey Point slider to the right changes the lightning bolt’s contrast to the following.
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To further enhance the contrast, activate Levels again, and move the Grey Point slider slightly to the right - this time, not all the way. I moved my slider to the following
position.
And this changed my lightning to the following.
I am happy with my result; however, experiment with the Grey Point slider
(from Levels), for personal results.
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To change the lightning’s colour, from the top menu, choose Image then Adjustments then Hue/Saturation. In the Hue/Saturation dialogue box, place a tick in Colourise tick box. Then adjust the Hue slider to blue, or your own choice. Additionally, you can intensify the colour by moving the Saturation slider to the right. I chose the following settings for my lightning.
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We need to change the Layer’s blend mode. At present the layer is locked, indicated by the following padlock.
To unlock the layer, double left-click the Background layer, then click OK in the subsequent New Layer dialogue box. There is no need to name this layer. Your Background layer is now unlocked.
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From the Layers palette, change the blend mode from Normal to Screen.
You won’t see an immediate change.
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Now, activate the Move Tool. 
Then left-click and drag the lightning bolt onto the photograph.
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You will notice that the lightning is much too small, however, because its resolution is 300 PPI (Pixels per inch), it can be enlarged whilst retaining its resolution.
Therefore, working on the lightning layer, from the top menu, choose Edit then choose Free Transform, and manipulate the transformation box to enlarge and reposition the lightning.
  
When you are happy with its shape and position, click the following Commit transform icon - from the options bar. Or press your Return key.
Tip
Prior to flattening the layers, you can reposition - and re-colour - the lightning at any time, using the Free Transformation and Hue/Saturation tools.
17/ Duplicating the lightning bolts
From the Layers palette, right-click the lightning layer, and from the drop-down menu, choose Duplicate Layer. Repeat this and you will have three identical (lightning) layers. For more lightning bolts, keep duplicating the layer.
You are now able to deform, reshape and reposition the duplicated lightning layers. Therefore, activate a duplicated layer, and from the top menu, choose Edit then choose Transform then choose Flip Horizontal.
Then using the following tools. 
Warp and reposition the duplicated lightning to your preference . 
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Activate the second lighting image, and from the top menu, choose Edit then choose Transform then choose Flip Vertical.
Tip
If necessary, remove (or fade) the end of the lightning, with the Eraser Tool.
Reposition and deform/warp the lightning layers until you are happy with their appearance. Work with each duplicated image until the lightning is to your satisfaction, then from the top menu, choose Layer then choose Flatten Image. Congratulations, your work is complete and is ready to save.
Wendi E M Scarth. Top of Page - Home.
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