HDR looking effect with only 1 photo!

Step 5: Gaussian Blur and Soft Light

Now you are going to create a copy of the original layer and move it to the top. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. This opens a window; you will want to set the radius to around 40-50 pixels. This will make your picture look super out of focus, but don't worry! Go back to the layers box, open the drop down menu again, but this time select "Soft Light".

If it looks good, go ahead and save it as a .PNG. (File>Save As...)