Mist and cloud effects - part 1

This tutorial shows a way to take mist from a photo, create a PSD layer of the mist and use it in other photo manipulations.
this is the photo we will use to create the mist layer. this can work for making clouds and smoke
effects too.

Hit the Q key to enable the mask feature. using a soft brush, Shift + { to soften brush, Shift + } to harden brush. fill in the mist area you want
to use with black, black to add mask, white to erase mask. now hit the Q key again to activate selection. Ctrl + Shift + I to inverse
selection. tip; if you want to make an even softer edge you can go Ctrl + Alt + D to select feathering box, the higher numbers give a softer edge, hit enter then Ctrl + J to copy, repeat the feathering then delete the layer below to show latest copy.

Make a new layer and fill with black. then on the mist layer Shift + Ctrl + ] to move layer on top of black layer.

I made two more copies of the mist layer by placing move tool on mist layer, left click hold down Alt and drag to create a new layer . on the 2cnd and 3d layers I used the liquify warp brush to (shape) the mist by dragging the edges of the mist. I used a 50 pixel size liquify brush.

On the final step I turned off the black layer and moved the mist layers around the original photo. you can experiment with blurs and blending modes. also combine layers by holding down Ctrl, click layers you want to merge then, Ctrl + E to merge them. warp and transform them. also hue saturation to change the colors. also brightness and contrast for more lighting effects.