Luminar AI is a 100-percent AI-powered photo editing suite that is packed full of creative options to enhance your images. One of these options is the ability to add fog effects.
In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to use Atmosphere AI to add fog effects to images that both do and don’t already have fog in them. We will show you what these fog effects look like when isolated on a black background, as well as how to apply Atmosphere AI creatively in a portrait.
Let’s get started!
How Does Luminar AI Create Fog Effects?
Luminar AI has a feature called Atmosphere AI that is capable of adding Fog, Layered Fog, Mist, and Haze to an image. When you experiment with these effects, you’ll discover how these effects are applied to very specific regions of an image.
To demonstrate, we loaded a plain black image into Luminar AI. We then ran each Atmosphere effect with the Amount, Depth, and Lightness sliders maxed out to show the patterns that you can expect out of each, and where the effects are applied.
Fog:
Layered Fog:
Mist:
Haze:
As we mentioned earlier, Luminar AI is 100-percent AI-based, which means that any other sliders that you adjust will have a corresponding effect on the Atmosphere AI effects. But from what we’ve noticed, the patterns will always be placed in regions of the image, as shown above, varying only in density by how far the sliders are pushed.
How to Add Fog Effects to an Image That Already Has Fog
When it comes time to work with an image that already has fog in it, Luminar AI comes with an additional set of sliders—apart from Atmosphere AI—that can serve to enhance the existing fog and any new fog that you’d like to add.
To accomplish this, it’s helpful to make use of the other sliders, including the features included in Enhance AI, Sky AI, Sunrays, and the Mood panels. Because of Luminar’s AI processing core, any of these features may serve to enhance the overall effect of any additional fog that you may wish to add.
In the below image, we decided to add a Haze effect. This will serve to match the mist and clouds in the background with the midground of the image where the nearest cottage is located. Using the aforementioned effects panels, we’ll enhance the Haze by modifying the rest of the image as well.
You can download this image from Pexels to follow along. Also, keep in mind that we will be using the shortcuts for Windows machines throughout the tutorial.
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Load the image into Photoshop and press Ctrl + J to duplicate the layer.
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Go to Filter > Skylum Software > Luminar AI.
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Select the Edit menu at the top in Luminar AI.
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In Tools, select Atmosphere AI.
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In the dropdown menu, choose Haze.
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Change the Amount, Depth, and Lightness sliders to 100.
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Under Creative, select Mood.
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From the dropdown menu, select Red Trace.
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Change Amount to 80, Contrast to -60, and Saturation to -20.
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Under Creative, choose Sunrays.
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Select Place Sun Center and move the White Dot to the right as shown.
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Change the Amount to 70, Overall Look to 70, Sunrays Length to 60, and Penetration to 50.
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Under Creative, select Sky AI.
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From the dropdown menu, select Sunset 1.
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Under Scene Relighting, change Relight Strength to 70 and Relight Saturation to 100.
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Under Essentials, select Enhance AI.
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Change Accent AI to 70 and Sky Enhancer AI to 30.
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Click on Apply at the top to export the changes back into Photoshop.
As you can see, adding additional effects to compliment the Haze dramatically changes the overall mood. Naturally, if you wanted to keep only the Haze effects, then you would simply add that and make the necessary slider adjustments.
Before:
After:
Adding Fog Effects to an Image That Doesn’t Have Fog
What if you wanted to add fog effects to an image that doesn’t have any? Can Luminar AI add realistic fog effects to such an image, with the end results looking somewhat realistic?
The best answer is yes and no, but mostly no. That’s because even if you were using other methods to create fog effects in editing programs like Photoshop, you’d have to change other parts of the image in order to make the fog effects realistic.
For example, using only the Atmosphere AI sliders, here’s what Luminar AI can produce without doing any further editing work. You can download this image from Pexels to try this out for yourself.
Fog Sliders Maxed:
Layered Fog Sliders Maxed:
Mist Sliders Maxed:
Haze Sliders Maxed:
You’ll notice that the Layered Fog and Mist effects are very subtle. But if you were to compare the before and after images, you’d notice a difference.
The take-away from using Atmosphere AI to create fog effects is to not expect magic results. Luminar AI isn’t going to magically create an image with detailed and unexpected results out of thin air. The basic patterns and locations of these effects will all appear in certain zones of the image, just like we demonstrated with the black background at the beginning of this article.
The strength of applying effects like Atmosphere AI lies in the overall editing efforts. There are many, many sliders to manipulate to change a multitude of looks. If you’re willing to make more dramatic changes in Luminar AI, then some of those fog effects may shine through a little more.
The below image was processed heavily in Luminar AI, only in an attempt to showcase a foggy or hazy effect.
Using Atmosphere AI for Creative Purposes
Despite its limitations in creating fog effects in landscape images, there are other types of images, like portraits, where Atmosphere AI may prove effective in creative ways.
By simply adjusting the three main sliders and adding a sun just slightly off-screen, we were able to produce an interesting look with this portrait.
Before:
After:
Similarly, Atmosphere AI could be used to simply lighten areas of an image that need it. If you were already using Luminar AI for editing an image, adding some hazy light would only require a slight diversion from your editing workflow.
Luminar AI Is a Great Choice For Image-Building
Many of the sliders and panels in Luminar AI serve to build up your image, much like a new layer of color on a painting. Atmosphere AI is like a single layer of paint, to carry on the analogy. Combined with other effects found within the Luminar AI palette, an image can be dramatically transformed into something completely different.
The best strategy for editing in programs like Luminar AI is to have a vision before you begin editing. You might want to consider what colors you should use and what kind of lighting could serve the image well.
And if you’re working with a landscape image, there are many features to render fog effects to create a completely different mood. It all boils down to what your creative vision requires.