How can I fix blown out sky?

[kenny]

Was playing around with my new UWA last week at disney. Like this shot but I took it in a hurry and caught the sun which blew out a portion of the sky.

Anyway to adjust it in photoshop?

Thanks

 

[photo_chick]

The easiest way is if you shot RAW. Just recover the highlights and you'll get some of it back or make multiple exposures and merge them, or a combination of both. You can go back in and fix it on a jpeg, but it's a lot more work and there are many different ways to go about it (I'd start by using layers, bring down the exposure on one, mask that area off, bring in the blue...) But either with jpeg or RAW you'll still have some blown out parts unless you bring in sky from another shot, and then you'll have to work to blend it to the rest of the image.

 

[kenny]

Thanks. I did shoot it in RAW. Will have to try layering. I tried recovering the highlights and it did bring it back a little. Was hopig for better results so maybe that in combo with the layering will be effective.

Thanks

 

[VVFF]

The easiest way is if you shot RAW. Just recover the highlights and you'll get some of it back or make multiple exposures and merge them, or a combination of both. You can go back in and fix it on a jpeg, but it's a lot more work and there are many different ways to go about it (I'd start by using layers, bring down the exposure on one, mask that area off, bring in the blue...) But either with jpeg or RAW you'll still have some blown out parts unless you bring in sky from another shot, and then you'll have to work to blend it to the rest of the image.

Raw ain't fixing that...

I'd just leave it...you could try to remove some of the contrase loss due to the sun...but anything you do will look fake.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

My experience is that it's relatively easy to brighten something that's too dark and nearly impossible to bring back contrast and darken something that's overexposed. Leave it alone. It's fine like it is. It still conveys the message quite well just as it is, just maybe a different message than was originally intended.

It's not just the sky that's blown out, Tony's is overly bright too. Once you fix one, even if you CAN, you'll have to deal with the buildings.

 

[photo_chick]

Raw ain't fixing that...

I'd just leave it...you could try to remove some of the contrase loss due to the sun...but anything you do will look fake.

Did you even read the whole post you quoted? Yeah, some of it is beyond help. But you can help it some. But it's not going to be a quick fix.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Deleted! Sorry!

 

[PhotographyDR]

Well I am not a fan of just deleting. I always think that there is a hidden gem behind every image, even if you have to think outside the box and get a little creative. One idea is to use the flaw as a selling point to the image or move your eye away from the flaw to another place on the picture. It this example I moved the eye away with a selective color, added a antique look to make it look a little older and then added a star flare. You can do whatever you like but try some different ideas.

 

[GrillMouster]

The image looks natural as-is and doesn't need "fixing". Making the sky all blue would make the image look very fake because there's still reduced contrast and flare in the buildings. The contrast could be fixed, but the flare would be more challenging. Also, there's nice back-lighting on the horse's legs and long hard-edged shadows on the ground that are indicative of the light source being where is it. If you fix the sky it won't look natural. The image is fine as-is.

 

[kenny]

Well I am not a fan of just deleting. I always think that there is a hidden gem behind every image, even if you have to think outside the box and get a little creative. One idea is to use the flaw as a selling point to the image or move your eye away from the flaw to another place on the picture. It this example I moved the eye away with a selective color, added a antique look to make it look a little older and then added a star flare. You can do whatever you like but try some different ideas.

Wow. That's awesome. Nice work. Never thought of doing something like this but it came out great.

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[SrisonS]

I'd also suggest to play around and give it a completely different look. In situations like these, I usually try a b&w look. But what Doug did was quite impressive.

 

[wbeem]

Was playing around with my new UWA last week at disney. Like this shot but I took it in a hurry and caught the sun which blew out a portion of the sky.

Anyway to adjust it in photoshop?

Thanks

The Recovery slider won't help much there. In this case, you need to get another photograph of a sky that you like and use it with this one as a composite.