blown out sky

[Beka]

How can I fix this in PhotoShop (I have PS5, not elements, though I might have to have Dad bring me his copy!)? The method I tried was overly complicated, and made the sky looked like it was on a blue acid trip.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Miss Kelly]

Take a photograph of the sky and merge them? I've read tutorials on this before but I've never tried it. Good Luck.

Ps. In the future, meter off the sky.

 

[Beka]

Ps. In the future, meter off the sky.

I don't know what that means

 

[tinksdad]

The high dynamic range between a bright (even not so bright) sky and the darker foreground can cause some problems. If you blow out the highlights, most likely they will be unrecoverable. Like Miss Kelly said, meter off the brighter or medium bright location. Or, if you have a tripod, set up for a series (3-5) bracketed shots and merge them using a HDR software. OR, shot one with the exposure for the sky and shot another for the foreground and combine those.

Use of a graduated neutral density filter system is a great way to get both areas balanced in the field without PS help. Old school, but VERY effective.

 

[tinksdad]

I don't know what that means

Rah, Roh!!!

If that throws you, then my post will look like Greek......


Check this site out for some good info on metering and exposure.

 

[MICKEY88]

I keep a folder of sky shots just for fixing bad skys...

such as this..

 

[Beka]

Rah, Roh!!!

If that throws you, then my post will look like Greek......


Check this site out for some good info on metering and exposure.

Thanks so much for the link, I'll check it out!

Last time I did much with photos was with my dad's old Pentax about 10 years ago, so I've forgotten a lot!

 

[steery1]

I keep a folder of sky shots just for fixing bad skys...

Now that is clever. Some lovely skies there. Like the sunset one best.

 

[MICKEY88]

Now that is clever. Some lovely skies there. Like the sunset one best.

anytime I see a great looking sky I take a pic just in case.. the same day I took the car shots I did individual shots for other club members, 2 of them were chosen for our annual calendar, I didn't like the washed out sky so I substituted a sky shot I took at WDW..so it's a Pennsylvania car show with Florida sky....LOL

 

[SharonLowe]

Replacing skies is the easy part; making the lighting of the rest of the scene match the new sky is the hard part. I have a tutorial on my web site that helps somewhat:

http://www.photosbysharon.com/-/photosbysharon/articleIndex.asp

The third one is the one that helps fix skies or other areas you want darker than they are.

 

[MICKEY88]

Replacing skies is the easy part; making the lighting of the rest of the scene match the new sky is the hard part. I have a tutorial on my web site that helps somewhat:

http://www.photosbysharon.com/-/photosbysharon/articleIndex.asp

The third one is the one that helps fix skies or other areas you want darker than they are.

wouldn't it be easier to just adjust the density of the sky to match the scene... before pasting it in

 

[SharonLowe]

wouldn't it be easier to just adjust the density of the sky to match the scene... before pasting it in

You can't always do that easily - you still need to mask areas. Plus this method gives total flexibilty in terms of coming back later to change it if you want. I know there are many ways to fix skies, especially since we can now adjust raw files in different ways and merge them together. But just pasting in a different sky doesn't do it unless you also fix the lighting in the rest of the scene. With this method, you are improving what you have so you don't have to worry about the lighting not matching the sky. For some reason my example photos are missing on the tutorial - I had a very complex sky scene with a bridge in the middle so it wasn't a simple cut and paste.

 

[MICKEY88]

You can't always do that easily - you still need to mask areas. Plus this method gives total flexibilty in terms of coming back later to change it if you want. I know there are many ways to fix skies, especially since we can now adjust raw files in different ways and merge them together. But just pasting in a different sky doesn't do it unless you also fix the lighting in the rest of the scene. With this method, you are improving what you have so you don't have to worry about the lighting not matching the sky. For some reason my example photos are missing on the tutorial - I had a very complex sky scene with a bridge in the middle so it wasn't a simple cut and paste.

ok thanks,

 

[SharonLowe]

ok thanks,

My examples are back up so it might help show why I did what I did.

 

[Groucho]

Nobody mentioned the obvious... a circular polarizer can help a lot by darkening up the blue and deepening the blue, bringing the dynamic range down and making it easier for your camera to capture it as something other than a big chunk of white.

It's harder when it's cloudy, though, as the sky usually is white then.

 

[tinksdad]

Nobody mentioned the obvious... a circular polarizer can help a lot by darkening up the blue and deepening the blue, bringing the dynamic range down and making it easier for your camera to capture it as something other than a big chunk of white.

It's harder when it's cloudy, though, as the sky usually is white then.

Great point!! I love my CP and use it all the time for shots with sky in them. Of course, if you're shooting into the sunset or have the sun directly behind you they do little good. Always more effective shooting up to a 90° angle from the suns position.