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This tutorial demonstrates how to create a sunset effect. To work along exactly, you will find the start images Here. Unzip the file and open the contents onto Photoshop’s workspace.
Note
Photographs will always react uniquely; therefore, alter the settings to suit your photograph’s needs.
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 images onto Photoshop’s workspace.
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Then left-click to activate the river image, then double-left-click its layer to unlock it.
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It is time to remove the sky from the river image, and there are various approaches to
this, including the Background Eraser Tool, the Pen Tool and the Extract Filter. I am demonstrating this using the Magic Wand Tool.
Therefore, from the toolbar, activate the Magic Wand Tool.
And set the following Add to selection attributes into its Option bar.
Now, repeatedly left-click over the sky, until it is completely isolated with a selection marquee - as illustrated below.
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To remove the marquee that transcends outside the sky - from the toolbar, activate the Polygonal Lasso Tool.
And set the following Subtract from selection attributes into its Options bar.
Polygonal Lasso Tool Tutorial Here!
Now, left-click and apply a lasso line around unwanted marquee pixels; then pass your cursor over the area where you began, and double-left-click.
Release your mouse button, and the marquee within the lasso, will be deleted.
Continue mopping up stray pixels with the Polygonal Lasso Tool, until just the sky is isolated with a marquee.
Tip
To ensure the marquee is as close to the trees as possible - from the top menu, choose Select then choose Modify then choose Expand. In the Expand Selection dialogue
box, (in the Expand By tab), enter 2 Pixels - then click OK.
The marquee will then expand to hug the tree’s edges.
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Now, press your keyboard’s Delete key, then press Ctrl then D to remove the marquee.
The sky will now be removed, leaving the following chessboard transparency.
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Activate the Move Tool. 
Then activate the sunset sky image, (on the workspace), and drag it onto the river. Then (in the Layers palette), drag the sunset image’s layer to below the river image - and reposition the sky to your liking with the Move Tool.
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To blend the demarcation line between the trees and the sky, activate the Burn Tool.
 Burn Tool Lesson.
In the Burn Tool’s Option bar, set a soft edges brush, change the Range to Highlights, and set the Exposure to around 25%. Then carefully darken the transition line. For transition lines that need to be lightened - utilise the Dodge Tool. Dodge Tool Lesson.
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Ensure the top layer (the river image), is the active layer, then press Ctrl then M to activate the Curves command. In the Curves dialogue box, change the Channel to Red. Then click a point onto the diagonal line (curve) and enhance the red by pulling the line upwards, as demonstrated below. Do not click ok.
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Now, change the Channel to Blue, and pull the curve downwards, as illustrated below. Do not click ok.
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Then change the Channel to RGB, and pull the curve, downwards. Now click OK.
CS3’s Curves Command
After you have altered the curves, your are ready for the next step.
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To intensify the red tones; press Ctrl then U, to display the Hue and Saturation command box. Then increase the Saturation levels, to warm your glow.
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When you are happy with the sky’s position, and the glow, from the top menu, choose Layer then choose Flatten Image.
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To adjust the global colour, from the top menu, choose Image then choose Adjustments then choose Channel Mixer. In the subsequent dialogue box, adjust the Red slider to create a global glow, then click OK.
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From the top menu, choose Image then choose Adjustments then choose Photo Filter. In the subsequent Photo Filter dialogue box, apply a warming filter - experimenting with different warming colours, (and Densities), then click OK.
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Experiment with the filters and commands I have mentioned in this tutorial; incorporating your own ideas to create unique sunsets - then finish by saving your work!
Wendi E M Scarth. Top of Page - Home.
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