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How-To

The Sky Solution

Using Photoshop to repair problem skies when the light is too contrasty for your film or sensor to record properly

9 Blend the new clouds. I added a layer mask (Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All) to the layer, then used a very large black brush with a moderate opacity of 40 percent to gently blend the left edge of the new clouds. I also used a smaller brush to blend the right edge (which still needed more work because the clouds looked uneven).

 

10 Clone again to a new layer to blend edges. I cloned from the old sky over the blended edge where old met new. The sky was looking good, but the transition still didn’t quite work right. It needed more clouds and a color blend.

11 Add more clouds. Using the same techniques, I built more clouds to the left. I find it easier to deal with this sort of work if the cloud layers are merged into one (select all layers, then use the drop-down menu for the Layer palette to merge them). How strong to make the clouds is a subjective choice. I liked adding a little darkness along the top of the frame with the clouds.

12 Add color to the clouds. Add another new layer, select the new clouds by Ctrl/Cmd-clicking on the cloud layer (that selects any pixels there) and then fill the selection with the original color. I deselected the area and reduced opacity.

13 Blend the color so it looks more natural. In this case, I wanted the color to drop off toward the right. I added a layer mask, then used a gradient tool to blend the color from left to right.

Again, all of this is subjective. I like the final image, but there are other adjustments that could be made:
>> Make the clouds solid to the large peak in the center.
>> Add a slight warm beam of light through mountains. The existing beam could be enhanced by selecting the area it goes through, adding the yellow color to that selection on a new layer and then reducing opacity and softening the edges.

All in all, the image has a much better feel to it than the original shot. The blank sky (which wasn’t blank in reality, so the original photo isn’t a true representation of it) now has some color, tone and texture. It more accurately reflects the scene at Machu Picchu.

 

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