Photo retouching in Photoshop: How to make a photo look like from a catalogue

There are many different ways of how to make a normal photo look like a high class photo from a catalogue. Here, I want to show you one of those techniques using a truck example picture:

1st step: Repairing the left headlight
 
 select and copy the right headlight
 
 paste it in a new layer and mirror it horizontally
 
 place the mirrored headlight correctly

 tip 1: reduce the opacity to place it more easily

 tip 2: orientate yourself towards the street level when placing it

Put a mask on the new headlight (layer) and erase unwanted marks around the headlight.

2nd step: Adding a glow effect
 
 Reduce all layers down to one layer for making your work easier.
 
 Then make the truck glow:
 
 copy and paste the layer 2 x
 
 lower layer: Gaussian blur – approx. 80-90%
 
 middle layer: select „overlay“
 
 top layer: select „soft light“

You can reduce the opacity of the middle and top layers if wanted.

3rd step: Adding a lens flare effect
 
 To give the photo a final touch, you can add a lens flare effect where the two mountains in the background go together.
 
 insert a new layer from the menu – overlay – fill with neutral colour for mode „overlay“
 
 then insert the lens flare effect (rendering filter – lens flare) – 105mm between 50% and 70%

#photoretouching