Washed-Out Sky

On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 18:52:54 -0500, "Alex Moreau" wrote:

I have an image in which the landscape is perfectly exposed, but the sky is a little too bright and without detail. In PS CS2, is there a way to darken the sky without affecting the rest of the image? I should say that there are several trees in the image, and their branches and leaves impose themselves over a long segment of the sky.

Again, this is using PS CS2.

Thanks,
Alex

Your best bet is probably the adjust levels command. Assuming there was some blue sky, go to the blue channel and adjust the centre slider to the right to darken the blues. The other option is adjust curves. You may have to select just the sky area using the magic wand or some other selection tool to create a mask so that adjustments do not effect the rest of the photo.

If there is truly no detail in the photo , which often happens with overexposed skies, then nothing will really help. What about taking a good sky photo and merging the two?

"Alex Moreau" wrote in message

I have an image in which the landscape is perfectly exposed, but the sky is a little too bright and without detail. In PS CS2, is there a way to darken the sky without affecting the rest of the image? I should say that there are several trees in the image, and their branches and leaves impose themselves over a long segment of the sky.

Again, this is using PS CS2.

Thanks,
Alex

Copy layer, set blend mode to darken (try others), add layer mask to layer and gradient fill with black to white.

Copy layer, then Image>Adjust>Equalize. Add layer mask and paint over the areas you don’t want the correction on.

MH

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"Avery" wrote in message

On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 18:52:54 -0500, "Alex Moreau" wrote:

I have an image in which the landscape is perfectly exposed, but the sky is
a little too bright and without detail. In PS CS2, is there a way to darken
the sky without affecting the rest of the image? I should say that there are
several trees in the image, and their branches and leaves impose themselves
over a long segment of the sky.

Again, this is using PS CS2.

Thanks,
Alex

Your best bet is probably the adjust levels command. Assuming there was some blue sky, go to the blue channel and adjust the centre slider to the right to darken the blues. The other option is adjust curves. You may have to select just the sky area using the magic wand or some other selection tool to create a mask so that adjustments do not effect the rest of the photo.

If there is truly no detail in the photo , which often happens with overexposed skies, then nothing will really help. What about taking a good sky photo and merging the two?

And, after playing around a bit, there is indeed no detail in the sky, and, as you say, no adjustment seems to help. Your suggestion of merging a ‘good’ sky into the image is a good one, however, tree limbs and leaves are imposed over about 50% of the sky, so (at least in my limited experience…) I’m afraid that any selection process or merge attempt will leave telling signs wherever the leaves and branches exist. If only there were some magic trick that would make it all go away… :). Thanks for your suggestions, and any others are appreciated.

Thanks,
Alex

"Mike Hyndman" wrote in message

"Alex Moreau" wrote in message

I have an image in which the landscape is perfectly exposed, but the sky is a little too bright and without detail. In PS CS2, is there a way to darken the sky without affecting the rest of the image? I should say that there are several trees in the image, and their branches and leaves impose themselves over a long segment of the sky.

Again, this is using PS CS2.

Thanks,
Alex

Copy layer, set blend mode to darken (try others), add layer mask to layer and gradient fill with black to white.

Copy layer, then Image>Adjust>Equalize. Add layer mask and paint over the areas you don’t want the correction on.

MH

Hi Mike, and thanks for the response. As I mentioned to Avery, it seems that the sky in this image has retained no detail, and all attempts to darken it only serve to emphasize the flaw. I suppose nothing can be done about it, but if something promising occurs to you, I’m glad to hear it.

Thanks,
Alex

"Alex Moreau" wrote in message

"Mike Hyndman" wrote in message

"Alex Moreau" wrote in message

I have an image in which the landscape is perfectly exposed, but the sky is a little too bright and without detail. In PS CS2, is there a way to darken the sky without affecting the rest of the image? I should say that there are several trees in the image, and their branches and leaves impose themselves over a long segment of the sky.

Again, this is using PS CS2.

Thanks,
Alex

Copy layer, set blend mode to darken (try others), add layer mask to layer and gradient fill with black to white.

Copy layer, then Image>Adjust>Equalize. Add layer mask and paint over the areas you don’t want the correction on.

MH

Hi Mike, and thanks for the response. As I mentioned to Avery, it seems that the sky in this image has retained no detail, and all attempts to darken it only serve to emphasize the flaw. I suppose nothing can be done about it, but if something promising occurs to you, I’m glad to hear it.
Thanks,
Alex

Alex,
As you have discovered, the trees make it difficult to make a clean selection, but it can be done, see http://www.phong.com/tutorials/mask.tree/ Once you have made your selection you can explore techniques such as "paste into" or by merely deleting the washed out sky and having another sky shot on a lower layer.

HTH
MH

"Mike Hyndman" wrote in message

"Alex Moreau" wrote in message

"Mike Hyndman" wrote in message

"Alex Moreau" wrote in message

I have an image in which the landscape is perfectly exposed, but the sky is a little too bright and without detail. In PS CS2, is there a way to darken the sky without affecting the rest of the image? I should say that there are several trees in the image, and their branches and leaves impose themselves over a long segment of the sky.

Again, this is using PS CS2.

Thanks,
Alex

Copy layer, set blend mode to darken (try others), add layer mask to layer and gradient fill with black to white.

Copy layer, then Image>Adjust>Equalize. Add layer mask and paint over the areas you don’t want the correction on.

MH

Hi Mike, and thanks for the response. As I mentioned to Avery, it seems that the sky in this image has retained no detail, and all attempts to darken it only serve to emphasize the flaw. I suppose nothing can be done about it, but if something promising occurs to you, I’m glad to hear it.
Thanks,
Alex

Alex,
As you have discovered, the trees make it difficult to make a clean selection, but it can be done, see
http://www.phong.com/tutorials/mask.tree/
Once you have made your selection you can explore techniques such as "paste into" or by merely deleting the washed out sky and having another sky shot on a lower layer.

Excellent suggestion and link. Thanks!

Alex

HTH
MH

"Alex Moreau" wrote in message

"Mike Hyndman" wrote in message

"Alex Moreau" wrote in message

"Mike Hyndman" wrote in message

"Alex Moreau" wrote in message

I have an image in which the landscape is perfectly exposed, but the sky is a little too bright and without detail. In PS CS2, is there a way to darken the sky without affecting the rest of the image? I should say that there are several trees in the image, and their branches and leaves impose themselves over a long segment of the sky.
Again, this is using PS CS2.

Thanks,
Alex

Copy layer, set blend mode to darken (try others), add layer mask to layer and gradient fill with black to white.

Copy layer, then Image>Adjust>Equalize. Add layer mask and paint over the areas you don’t want the correction on.

MH

Hi Mike, and thanks for the response. As I mentioned to Avery, it seems that the sky in this image has retained no detail, and all attempts to darken it only serve to emphasize the flaw. I suppose nothing can be done about it, but if something promising occurs to you, I’m glad to hear it.

Thanks,
Alex

Alex,
As you have discovered, the trees make it difficult to make a clean selection, but it can be done, see
http://www.phong.com/tutorials/mask.tree/
Once you have made your selection you can explore techniques such as "paste into" or by merely deleting the washed out sky and having another sky shot on a lower layer.

Excellent suggestion and link. Thanks!

Alex,

You’re welcome, GTH.

MH

This is a great tutorial. One of the best I’ve seen about Photoshop

—
Bill