Beautiful Morning Haze Photoshop Tutorial

Begin by opening a photo into Photoshop. For best results, pick a photo with a strong vanishing point such as the image below:

Creating the fog layers

The first step is to create the layers for the fog. In the Layers palette, click on the new layer button.

You should now have a new layer.

Now we need to fill the layer with white. But before we do that, make sure that your color palette is set to the default colors. Simply press D to reset the foreground and background colors to the default.

Press Ctrl+Backspace to fill the layer with the background color (White).

Now reduce the opacity of the layer to 50%. This can be done in the Layers palette.

To create the fog effect, we'll need three layers; one each for the foreground, middleground, and background. Select Layer 1 and press Ctrl+J twice to create two duplicated layers. You should now have 4 layers.

Select the Eraser tool from the toolbar.

Right mouse click on the image and the brush settings should appear. Set the brush to a large size that will take up approximately 25% of the width or height of your image (whichever is longer). Set the hardness to 0%.

Look at the option bar at the top and make sure that the opacity and flow are at 100%.

This is what your image should look like: a photo with a white tint.

Erase everything but the foreground and middle-ground and you should now end up with an image like this:

Select the layer below.

Now erase the area around the foreground. Your fog should start to look denser in the distance.

Select the second layer.

Right mouse click on the image to display the brush options. Increase the diameter of the brush to about 3x the size you were using.

Erase just the very foreground of the image that's within a few meters.

Color correction

The image looks quite white and lacking color right now so we're going to add a Photo Filter adjustment layer to correct this. Select the top layer then in the Layers Palette, click on the new adjustment layer button.

Select Photo Filter.

The Photo Filter window will appear. Copy the settings below and click OK.

In the Layers palette, click on the blending mode drop down menu.

Select Overlay.

Here's what your image should look like now. There should be an strong orange tint.

Select the Eraser tool and the brush size should be the large brush that you used previously. Make sure that the layer mask in the Layers palette is selected and then erase the foreground the same way you did with the final fog layer.

Finished Results

Before and after: