making a "SPARKLE"

[ryde2rope]

Hello. I hope someone here can help me. I am trying to learn how to make a "sparkle cross" , hard to explain. but I need to make those cross looking things that you would see when looking a the "sparkle" of a diamond or a 'sparkle" in someones eye or a "sparkle" of something shiney>>?? Its a white looking cross thing. See hard to explain. hahahaha anyway hope someone can help me ASAP.. thanks:)

[Samm]

hi

they are called catchlights in the photography world and I have seen a way of doing it somewhere. I'll have a look around for you and get back if I can find it. It was only the other day too.....

[Samm]

ha ha, I went to it straight away!!!

Check out pg 132 in Photography monthly magazine (UK publication) or here goes my dodgy version!

Use the dodge tool to lighten the catchlights. Up in the tool bar you want to select highlights in the "range" drop down box and you want to select a fairly low percentage in the exposure drop down or your changes will be too dramatic and won't look natural.

Use a small brush size and go over the existing catchlights. That should do it.

Hope this helps
Samm

[iSooS]

Another way you could do this is using lens flares. Also, there are some stock brushes that you could use. :D

[Lesa]

The sparkle brush. Create a new layer, grab a gold-yellow as your foreground color, choose the sparkle, cross-looking brush, increase it's size, then click once on the new, blank layer. Rotate, resize brush and repeat as needed :)