Discover how to add a beautiful glow to your pictures with this simple step-by-step Photoshop guide.
Why Use Glow Edit
A glow edit is a fun and artistic way for a photo to tell or visualise a different story. Think of the photo as half an orange, and you want to extract all the juice and maximise the amount you can drink, a glow edit provides a different edited variation of the photo and maximises what you can extract from the one click of the shutter button.
The word glow is derived from the old english word glōwan which means "shine as if red hot", and this added red hot shine will create a standout image similar to a bright star in the starry night sky.
Tutorial
This tutorial video provides a step by step guide on how to create a glow edit in photoshop, and enjoy the nice background music.
3 Ideas for a glow edit
Animals
Animals make for the perfect glow edit, whether it's adding a hot volcanic fierceness in the lions eyes exacerbating it's tormenting gaze or adding a glow to a butterfly's wings to highlight its magical architectural.
A successful glow application shouldn't necessarily change the animal but is should extenuate the qualities and characteristics the animal is known for. An example the Lorikeet below has piercing red eyes that are strikingly noticeable at first sight, the idea is to glow it's striking red eyes and sharp beak to make it more alluring but still making it recognisable as a bird.
Food/Beverages
Dinning at your favourite restaurant while ordering your favourite dish or tasting the freshly brewed coffee in the morning is a soul warming experience. The goal is to partner the food with your reactive feelings and express this relationship through a glow effect. For instance with donuts perhaps a soft glow edit with a light pastel colour added reflects it's soft texture that is filled with tasting sugar, or a glowing red velvet cake that beautifully highlights the unique red colour that draws you to the cake like to two attracted magnets.
Umbrella or Balloons
There is no better object to photograph in street photography than a person shaded by the rain or sun with an elegant umbrella, although a balloon would be a close second. Umbrellas were once reserved for Egyptian royalty for the likes of Cleopatra, part of this elegance and goddess effect is reflected in umbrellas today as they are used in photoshoots to portray elegance, class and beauty with models. Glowing up an umbrella makes it even more royalty pronounced, even though they are special as they are.
Thank you for your time and effort :)
Comment below to share your opinion or ask a question.