How to Create a Bloom Lighting Effect in Photoshop

Select the Light in the Image

The effect only works if the glow comes from the parts of the photo that are actually bright, so start by selecting them rather than painting light in by hand. Click the Background layer, then go to Select > Color Range and, rather than choosing Highlights from the dropdown, leave it on Sampled Colors. Click right on the light bulbs, then raise or lower Fuzziness to control how much is included, until the lights are selected and the midtones are left out. Click OK. Your selection does not need to be tidy, it needs to be in the right places.

Put the Highlights on Their Own Layer

With the selection still active, press CTRL or CMD + J to copy those highlights to a new layer. Everything that was not selected comes through transparent, so you now have a layer holding nothing but the light in the scene, sitting exactly over the originals, so you won’t see a change yet. Right-click the new layer and choose Convert to Smart Object, so the blur you add next stays editable.

Blur the Highlights to Create the Bloom

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and raise the radius until the highlights spread into soft shapes with no hard edges left. The right amount depends entirely on how large the image is, so judge it by eye rather than by number: you want the light to bleed convincingly past its original boundary, not to turn into a grey fog.

Blend the Bloom Back In

Don’t leave the blurred layer on Normal. Set its blending mode to Lighten, which is what Aaron uses, or to Screen. Both only ever lighten, so the blurred lights add glow to the photo without darkening anything, and the shadows stay where they are.

Now stack the blur. Drag the blurred layer onto the New Layer icon to duplicate it, double-click Gaussian Blur under the copy and give it even more blur. Do it once more. Three copies, each blurred more than the last, build a bloom that is bright near each bulb and fades out softly, and because it comes from the lights themselves it follows their real shape.

Next, add color. Click the adjustment layer icon, choose Solid Color and pick a warm orange, then change the blend mode to Color Dodge. It looks far too intense at first, so hide it, click the Background layer and run Select > Color Range on the lights again. The fill layer’s mask needs to be white only on the lights: Alt/Option-click the mask to check it, and if it is the opposite, click it and press Ctrl/Cmd + I to invert it, then Ctrl/Cmd + D to deselect. Turn the layer back on, double-click its swatch to make the color more yellow, orange or red, and lower its Opacity if you need to.

For little halos of color, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves and drag the Red channel up. Press Ctrl/Cmd + I to invert the mask to black, then press B and paint white right around each light. Because it is a Curves layer you can balance the halo color later, for example adding a little green and pulling the blues down for more yellow.

Control Where the Bloom Falls

Shift-click all of the bloom layers and press Ctrl/Cmd + G to group them, then toggle the group to see the before and after. The glow can also land on bright things in front, like the chess pieces and the subject, so add a layer mask to the whole group and paint with black wherever the glow is doing harm. Eyes, text and fine detail usually want to stay crisp, while windows, lamps and bright edges are exactly where you want the bloom to sit. This pass is what separates a deliberate effect from a photo that simply looks soft. For more, press Ctrl/Cmd + J to duplicate the whole group and lower its Opacity if it is too much.

For a more cinematic finish, darken everything except the bloom. Drag the group onto the New Layer icon, press Ctrl/Cmd + E to merge the copy, right-click its mask and choose Apply Layer Mask, then Ctrl/Cmd-click the merged layer to load it as a selection and hide it. Add a Curves adjustment layer, drag the curve down a little, click its mask and press Ctrl/Cmd + I so it affects everything except the bloom, and add a touch of blue in the Blue channel. Delete the merged layer and group the bloom group with the Curves layer. Darkening the rest makes the bloom seem stronger in comparison.

Quick Reference: Keys, Menus and Settings

• Select the lightsBackground layer, Select > Color Range, click a bulb, adjust Fuzziness
• Copy themCmd/Ctrl + J, then right-click > Convert to Smart Object
• Blur and stackFilter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, blend mode Lighten (or Screen); duplicate twice with more blur each time
• Add colorSolid Color fill on Color Dodge, mask white on the lights; Cmd/Ctrl + I inverts the mask
• Paint halosLayer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves, Red up, invert the mask, B and paint white around each light
• Group and maskCmd/Ctrl + G, mask the group over the subject; Cmd/Ctrl + J doubles it
• Darken the restCmd/Ctrl + E on a group copy, Cmd/Ctrl-click it, Curves down, invert the mask

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