Fantasy lighting creates magical, otherworldly scenes – glowing colour, dramatic shadow and a sense of the unreal. The keys are coloured light, controlled shadow, and a strong creative concept. Here’s how to create fantasy lighting in your photography.
If you want to get a little more creative with your fantasy photography then stick with us. We’ve developed a simple 4 step tutorial to create amazing fantasy photography lighting with your portraits.
Check out the video tutorial at the bottom or read the 4 steps for a fantasy lighting tutorial further down.
1. Duplicate Your Layer
Start off by duplicating your image as a new layer. You can do that by choosing LAYER>DUPLICATE LAYER from the top toolbar. From there head to FILTER and look for RENDER>LENS FLARE. You can choose any of the presets you like but just position it correctly, so it chimes with any lighting in your original photo.
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2. Choose a LUT
The second step is to choose a suitable LUT. Start by adding an adjustment layer at the bottom of the Layers panel and pick COLOUR LOOKUP. Here you can use any of the 3DLUT options in the dropdown. Have a look through all the available options to see what you like the most.
3. Add a Colour Gradient
Next, we need to add some colour to our fantasy lighting. This colour can be as bold as you want as it’s meant to be conceptual and not based on nature. Be as creative as you want.
Using a GRADIENT adjustment layer pick from the presets (or create your own) and place it over the top of the current layers. Then you need to blend the gradient with the rest of the design using a layer blend mode. LIGHTEN or SCREEN tends to work well with lighter colours but choose what you prefer.
4. Add Brush Effects
Finally, our last step is optional, but we think adds a great effect to the fantasy lighting. You can add effect brushes over the gradient to sprinkle the photo with snow, butterflies, leaves, light orbs – whatever you want! You can download brushes for Photoshop online. Brusheezy is one of our favourite places to try.
Pick out colours that appear in the design already to colour your brush and dab it around the design on a new layer. You can choose to blur effect and erase it in places so it gives the fantasy portrait a little more shape and dynamics.
Fantasy Photography Lighting: Final Words
This tutorial is so straight forward only requires a little imagination (and Photoshop) as to what you can add to your fantasy portrait. Get inspiration by using places such as Pinterest and the iPhotography gallery if you’re a member.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed this guide to fantasy lighting. If you’ve given it a try then please share your efforts with us on our social media tag using the hashtag #iphotography.
For more, read our guide to dramatic lighting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is fantasy lighting in photography?
A creative lighting style that builds magical, otherworldly scenes using coloured light, dramatic shadow, glow and atmosphere, to evoke fantasy, fairy-tale or surreal moods rather than realistic light.
How do I create fantasy lighting?
Use coloured gels or lights, control your shadows for drama, add atmosphere (haze, fairy lights, practical glows), and build around a strong concept. Mixing warm and cool colour adds a magical feel.
What equipment do I need for fantasy lighting?
Lights you can colour (gels or RGB lights), something to add atmosphere (a haze or fog source, fairy lights, props), and control over your shadows. Even one coloured light plus ambient can work.
How do I add atmosphere to fantasy photos?
Use haze or fog to catch light beams, add practical glows (lanterns, fairy lights), backlight for rim light and silhouettes, and enhance the mood and colour in editing. Atmosphere sells the magic.
What settings work for fantasy lighting?
Often low ambient light so your coloured lights dominate, a tripod for slower shutter speeds, a wide aperture for glow and bokeh, and RAW capture to control the colour and mood in editing.