Tonight, I decided to try creating blaster effects.

Want to see my journey?

This is the untouched photo…

I first added a red blaster bolt…

Then I discovered that Clone Trooper rifles had blue bolts so I tried a faded blue…

I didn’t care for the coloration and dullness so I darkened it and layered a semi transparent and smaller white bolt overtop…

Some toy photography friends suggested separating it so it looked like the bolt had already been released from the rifle instead of a continuous “laser” beam. I also added a dual layer muzzle flash of white on blue at the barrel…

Then they suggested shifting the muzzle flash closer to the end of the barrel to fill it. It’s a subtle change but I like it…

This is the finished photo, cropped, filtered, and with some vignetting around the edges and in the corners to give it some pop…

I think I’m getting better with it. You?