DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

How to create realistic snow in Photoshop

Nov 16, 2017 by Dunja Djudjic Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

It’s that time of the year, and maybe you became impatient while waiting for the first snow to fall. Or perhaps you’re like me and hate taking photos while it’s snowing. Either way, Photoshop comes to the rescue. In his latest tutorial, Jesús Ramirez will show you how to add realistic snow to your photos. He demonstrates two methods, so you can pick the one you like better and enjoy the warmth of your home while playing in Photoshop. It’s a great way to spend a gray, cold afternoon.

Using Adobe Stock images

This method is the simpler one, and it can work with any image of snow with the black background.

Open the Creative Cloud library and load a photo of falling snow you previously downloaded from Adobe Stock. Click and drag it into the portrait, hold the Shift (Option) key, and click and drag it until it fills the image.

Now, go to blending modes and choose “Screen.” It will hide the dark background, leaving you with just the snowflakes over the original photo. Of course, you can pick up the snow images from other sources too, and there are some great ones at RAW Exchange.

Using filters

This method requires you to make the snow from scratch. Although it’s longer, I found it fun to play with, and it can give a pretty good result.

Start by creating a new layer and filling it with white (click Alt + Backspace on Windows or Option + Delete on Mac). Then, go to Filter > Noise > Add noise and crank it up all the way.

Next, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and add about 3pixels of the blur.

After this, go to Image > Adjustments > Threshold and use the slider to adjust the look of the specks.

Since the resulting image will have the white background and black specks, you need to invert it. Press Ctrl + I or Cmd + I, and you’ll get the white “snow” on the black background. After this step, Jesus copies the layer so he can later demonstrate a technique that only works in Photoshop CC. So if you’re using the latest version of Photoshop, we’ll get to it later.

Now that you’ve got the white snow, it’s time to add some motion to it. Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur. Set up the angle (-50˚ in Jesús’ case), and drag the slider until the snow has some motion to it. Don’t overdo it, because it will start looking more like a pouring rain.

When you’ve added the motion, select the “Screen” blending mode, and it will hide the dark background. It looks okay, but you’re not quite there yet.

Copy the “snow” layer and zoom the photo out. Press Ctrl/Cmd + T to transform it, and drag to enlarge it while holding Shift + Alt or Shift + Option. This will add more depth to the image, creating the illusion of out-of-focus snow that’s near the camera. You can also add some rotation to this layer while transforming it.

Now, copy the original “snow” layer and drag the copy under it. It will mimic the snow that’s further from the subject. Press Ctrl + T or Cmd + T and make it smaller. Then, hold Alt and move the layer to duplicate it three times until the copies fill the frame.

When you duplicate the “snow far” layer, there might be a seam visible. Select all the “snow far” layer and press Ctrl + E or Cmd + E to merge them. Use the Spot Healing Brush tool to paint away the seams. Again, make this layer’s blending mode “Screen” to hide the black background. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian blur to match the depth of field, because if it were real snow, it would be blurred in the background.

Since the “snow far” layer should only be in the background, make a quick selection of your subject. Then, go into the “snow far” layer, hold Alt or Option and click on the layer mask icon. This will create a layer mask that subtracts your subject from the “snow far” layer.

From here, you can play with the layers and add more snow by copying and transforming the original snow layer. Here’s what I got in one of my very rare winter photos, as I was trying this out while making the write-up. Not quite there yet, but not bad for a first, quick attempt, I guess:

Photoshop CC snow trick

As I mentioned above, there’s one trick that you can use in Photoshop CC. Jesús finishes the tutorial with it, and uses the “snow” layer he created first.

Go to the “snow” layer, go to Filter > Blur Gallery > Path Blur. With this tool, you can determine the direction of the falling snow and make the movement more or less prominent. You can create a curve so it looks like the snow falls in different directions. This can replace your original “snow” layer.

Have fun playing with this Photoshop technique and adding snow to your images. And of course, brace yourselves, winter is coming.

[How to Create SNOW in Photoshop – Make REALISTIC Snow – Photoshop Tutorial | Photoshop Training Channel]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailSnow Globe L.A. Is A Shaped Bokeh Time Lapse In A Snow Globe How to create winter portraits in the studio with Photoshop using real snow How to create a realistic shallow depth of field effect in Photoshop How to create realistic Avengers-style disintegration effect in Photoshop

Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: Jesús Ramirez, Photoshop, Photoshop Training Channel, snow, snowflake

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Build a tiny cinema camera kit for under $300
Dear photographers, this is when you should NOT take photos »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees
  • Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?
  • Wave goodbye to Apple’s My Photo Stream next month

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy