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How to get dreamy detail in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
Discover how to make your images look ethereal and dreamlike.
Make the real look unreal with dreamy photos.
C Photography doesn’t simply record what’s in front of the lens. Like all media, it can be interpretive and artistic. Photos can show off the vision and perspective of a particular creator, which might involve presenting subjects that are ethereal, magical, or surreal.
There are many ways to make a photo look like something out of a dream sequence or fantasy. Here are a few go-to ways to make images look like they’ve sprung from the realm of the imagination.
Dreamlike lighting.
A well-placed shadow can mean all the difference between a dream and the waking world. Golden hour can be a great time for enchanting images, and twinkle lights can give images a bokeh effect.
Dreamy locations.
Forests, fields, and other outdoor locations can look fantastical, especially in the early morning or late afternoon light. And the right post-processing methods can enhance this look.
Double exposures.
Dreams don’t have to obey the rules of everyday reality. Two things can exist at the same time, in the same space. Compose double exposures to make that dreamlike juxtaposition.
Explore otherworldly presets.
Check out built-in Lightroom presets like Vintage or Cinematic to create a dreamy effect. Or try the Lightroom tutorials in the Learn tab to get tips from professional photographers on how to add creative effects.
Every day thousands of photographers — from pros to beginners — share their work in the Creative Cloud Discover module. You can search for dreamy images and use those image settings as the basis for your own spellbinding presets. When you find an image in the Discovery feed that has an eerie quality you like, click Save as Preset. Once you’ve saved it, you can see the settings the creator used and try them in your own work.
Give images an ethereal look with the Orton Effect.
The Orton Effect is a way to combine two different photos of the same scene. The result is an image with a soft, dreamlike glow that maintains detail. Orton images have lower clarity but still look sharp and well defined. The effect is particularly popular in landscape photography. You can simulate the Orton Effect in Lightroom by following these steps.
Get dreamy with these tutorials.
There are even more ways to give images an entrancing look with Adobe Photoshop and Creative Cloud. Here are just four of them.
Create colorful overlays.
Take advantage of layers and overlay multiple images to make a dreamlike scene.
Turn a photo into a painting in just a few clicks.
Transform photos into watercolors, oils, pastels, and more in seconds on your mobile device.
Create a photo vignette.
With a vignette, you can reduce brightness at the edge of an image to create a mesmerizing portrait.
Diffuse the light.
Cast your subjects in a soft, gentle light by filtering it. Learn how to use diffused lighting in portrait photography.