Step One: Image to Touch-Up

Obviously we need to start with something. Ill be using the photo below.



Step Two: Set Color & Start Painting

More often than anything else, this technique will be used when you have a photograph of someone inside a house - there isnt a lot "wrong" with the photo Im working with but were going to play anyways.

The first step here is to set your foreground color. Think of natural lighting colors - a very light, almost-white yellow, oranges, etc. Make sure that any color you use is nearly white, but not quite.

Then, grab a brush - it doesnt really matter what one, as long as its not too large. Create a new layer (Layer, New, New Layer) and start painting the areas that could use highlighting.



Step Three: Layer Mode

After youve painted a few key areas, its time to see how it looks. Go to your layer mode drop-down (its right at the top of your layers palette, and currently says "Normal") and choose "Overlay".

You may want to lower the opacity and/or clean up the painting with an eraser.

To add more highlights on other areas, repeat the process using a slightly different color on a new layer. This will start building up a beautiful series of highlight and shadow.