Windows Vista Aurora Effect

Tutorial: http://www.tutorial9.net/tutorials/photoshop-tutorials/creating-the-windows-vista-lighting-effect/

Original image [I chose this image because it has a lot of color which adds to the end result]

First I applied a very significant Gaussian blur to the photo. Second, I changed the levels and stopped when I was satisfied with this purplish blend. To make the bands of light, I used the elliptical selection tool to make a selection and then colored in the edge with white using a large brush on 0% hardness. Finally, I rotated it until satisfied and repeated that process until I felt I had enough bands of light. I like how it turned out - very simple, yet very cool.

Final

Colorful Swirl

Tutorial used: http://phonuts.org/tutorials/special-effects/colourful-swirl/

Start with clouds.

Pixelate.

Use radial blur of 100 twice.

Twirled 120 degrees.

Layer duplicated, twirled -180 degrees and blending mode turned to lighten.

Changed the hue of both layers.

Final result

This is a really cool and simple effect in my opinion. While doing this I realized that I am getting extremely comfortable with Photoshop and it is getting smoother and easier to translate ideas in my head directly down to the program.

Space Lighting FX

Tutorial used: http://abduzeedo.com/space-lighting-effects-10-steps-photoshop-tutorial

I started with a black background and added a soft radial gradient peeking over the top.

Here I created a new black layer and added RGB lights (Filter > Render > Lighting Effects > RGB Lights)

...now with Gaussian blur.

Another black layer was added on top with the blending set to Screen. Small stars were added here by adding Noise and altering the Levels so that only the desirable amount of specks of white were left behind.

Now clouds were added to give a nice texture and a more gas-like appearance. Also, the color of the stars was changed to a colorful spectrum using a gradient.

The lens flare was added to give a nice illuminating effect. Now it really starts to look like a colorful space nebula.

To make the letter Z, I started with new layer. Then I painted in white, using a large brush on 0% hardness. Afterwards, I chopped it down on the side to create a clear line. Next step was to simply duplicate, rotate, and resize as necessary to create the Z. Done!

Final (for some reason the stars don't look the same as in the PSD file...)

I had some trouble with getting this one to look decent, but once I took my time and paid real attention to the instructions it wasn't that bad. I decided to make a 'Z' for my name. It's crazy how people can come up with designs like this. I guess they just might do some random things, see what turns out, and learn from it.