Start by creating a new layer and filling it with medium gray (Edit > Fill > Fill with 50% Gray).

Apply a Lens Flare of your choice to the medium gray layer, and change the Blend Mode to Hard Light.

On the bottom of your Layers Palette, click the third icon from the right to create a layer group. Call this set “flares.” Highlight the flares layer set and create another called “reds.” This one will appear inside the flares layer set. Now drag your lens flare layer into the reds folder (see Figure 3.90).

Figure 3.90. Placing the Lens Flare.

[View full size image]

Free Transform (Edit > Free Transform) the Lens Flare, and place it along the side of one of the towers, as shown in Figure 3.91.

Figure 3.91. Lens Flare transformed.

Hold down the Alt key, and with the Move tool selected, drag to duplicate the Lens Flare. Repeat the process and place Lens Flares throughout different locations of the architecture. All of the duplicated layers will appear in the reds layer set.

Merge all of the Lens Flares into one layer by selecting all of the duplicate layers. Access the Layers submenu, and click Merge Layers. After they are merged, make sure to change the Blend Mode back to Hard Light (see Figures 3.92 and 3.93).

Figure 3.92. Lens Flare layers merged.

Now we will create the fiery smoke extending to the sky. Follow steps 2 and 3 to create another Lens Flare. Use Free Transform to stretch the Lens Flare upward (see Figure 3.93).

Figure 3.93. Lens Flare layers transformed.

Let’s give it some motion and softness by adding some motion blur (Filter > Blur > Motion Blur), as shown in Figure 3.94.

Figure 3.94. Adding motion blur.

Use the Perspective tool (Edit > Transform > Perspective) to distort the flare upward and out, as shown in Figure 3.95.

Figure 3.95. Distorting flare.