Create realistic fog
Categories: Drawing, Photo effects
This is a simple but effective tutorial on how to add a realistic fog effect to a photo. Adding fog can be a very effective way of making it look more mystic or romantic.
Step 1
To create a fog effect I will be using the basic brush, gaussian blur and a layer mask with a gradient in it. First of we need a good picture where fog will look naturall, I have chosen a picture with water in it since it is the most common place for fog.
If you dont have any good photo to try this technique on, visit sxc.hu and find a nice photo
Step 2
When you have opened the picture you want to work with you need to create a new layer on top of your image which we will use to paint the fog in.
Select the Brush Tool and set the Diameter to 150px, Hardness to 0%, Mode to Dissolve, Opacity to 15% and Flow to 30%. Set the Foreground Colour to a light grey color, I used #d6d6d6.
Step 3
Use the brush to draw horizontal lines over the image. This will create even and not very realistic fog so we need to make it thicker in some places. Set the Opacity of the brush to something like 70% and make areas with more grey. Your image should now look something like the one bellow.
Step 4
Now go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the Radius to 14px or something similar that you think looks good. Your image should now look like the image bellow. The next step is optional but will make the fog look more realistic.
Step 5
We are now going to use a layer mask to make the fog behave more realistic. Start by pressing the Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layers Window. Click the Layer Mask Preview which now is visible next to the Layer Preview to make sure it’s selected. Use the Gradient tool to make a gradient going from white to black starting at the top of the layer and going straight down. Now your fog should look in the image bellow where you can compare before and after picture.
The result compared ot the original photo
