To get the lightly beveled effect on the grate was really easy. I just made a round selection within the bars to mark where the bend in the metal would be, and then I lightened the inside edges (Image A). To make the edges more crisp, I zoomed in to put some harder highlights on the edges of the bars to make them a little less flat (Image B). Although I think I could have stuck with the vertical bars alone, I decided to make a full grid over the light fixture. This is simple enough. Just duplicate your other layer and rotate it 90 degrees (Image C).
Step 8
The last step is just my picky brain at work. Most people can't even tell the little but of extra work I put in at this point - but it looks better to me. ;) In the first two images, I hid the layer with the light so you can see what is going on a little better. I felt as though the bars of the grate needed to be backlit. I combined the vertical and horizontal bars into one layer and selected them (ctrl-click the layer). I went to select -> modify -> expand -> 2 pixels. We now have a selection that has expanded outwards by 2 pixels. On a new layer beneath the grate, fill it with a solid color to match the light (Image A). Looks weird eh? With a soft edged brush, erase the outer rim to soften the effect (Image B). Run a gaussian blur on the backlit, set the blending mode to overlay and drop the opacity down a bit. Now you have a soft glow behind the grate - and what is more important is that you are DONE! Woop woop!
