I Want You Back – Manipulation Tutorial

Learn how to take control over the light and mood of a manipulation and how to create a night environment in Photoshop using adjustment layers and lighting techniques.

Stock used

City: http://antontang.deviantart.com/art/City-Of-Lights-159526295
Ground: http://austriaangloalliance.deviantart.com/art/Moody-Weather-287848551
Woman: http://reine-haru.deviantart.com/art/Winter-Stock-I-270262437

Final Result

Video Walkthrough

Step 1

Create a blank document 2200×1500 pixels. Paste the city background over it and adjust the size. Do the same with the ground stock image. I used the quick selection tool to extract the ground.

Step 2

Start making adjustments to the city background. I used a Gradient Map on Hard light at 37% Opacity and a Color Balance adjustment layer.

For the Color Balance I used the following settings:

Highlights: Red +48, Green +8, Blue +17

Midtones: Red +2, Green +12, Blue -22

Shadows: Red +17, Green +12, Blue -10

Step 3

Make adjustments to the ground layer as well. Here I used Curves to make it darker and also a Gradient Map on Multiply at 50% Opacity both set as clipping mask.

Step 4

I used another Gradient Map to affect both layers (so not a clipping mask) and create the final color tone. I used the Softlight blend mode at 100% Opacity with the color shown on image 4. I also added a lens flare from my pack on Screen mode and changed its Hue and blurred it a bit.

Step 5

You can add the woman as shown in the image below. I used Color Balance and Levels to make all the adjustments. The settings used for the Color Balance adjustment are:

• Highlights: Red -1, Green -2, Blue -5
• Midtones: Red -12, Green +31, Blue +9
• Shadows: Red +1, Green +8, Blue +13

Step 6

Open the woman’s layer style window and add a Black to White Gradient Overlay at 168º on Multiply. (see video for more info). Also add Inner Shadow at an angle of 135º Color Dodge, Color #817C48, Distance 2 and Size 10.

Step 7

Use the Dodge/Burn tool to enhance the image. I used this tool non-destructively on a separate layer filled with 50% Gray on Overlay.

Step 8

Add more adjustment layers to create the final color and contrast effects. I used Color Balance and a Gradient Map set on Softlight at 20% Opacity.

Color Balance settings:

Highlights: Red +12, Green +12, Blue -17

Midtones: Red -10, Green -10, Blue +2

Shadows: Red -9, Green +9, Blue -1

I hope I gave you some ideas for your own manipulations. You can get a different color effect just bu changing the colors on the gradient maps. You can also create depth of field using Gaussian Blur on the background but more details watch the video walk through.