Adding a dramatic sky to a dull image

Although I switched to digital several years ago, I still consider myself a novice when it comes to Photoshop, and I know very little about HDR but am learning. My question is - I have seen photos where photographers have added stormy or dramatic skies to their images to give them more impact. Just curious as to how they do this and where they get the "skies".

Thanks,

Marcy

Marcy, it really depends whether you want to make the most of the existing sky by processing the sky and foreground separately or replace completely replace the sky using layer blending techniques. As you ask where the skies come from I guess the latter - the answer, by the way, is to shoot it yourself. There are numerous video tutorials on the subject available on the internet, including the following at http://www.photoradar.com/techniques/video/how-to-add-a-new-sky-in-photoshop.

Hi Cliff,
Thanks for your input! I will check out the link your provided. I was just curious, because I've seen several photos done with HDR where the sky is super stormy looking (actually looks kind of fake to me) and I was just curious how they transformed the sky to that state. I often shoot storm clouds and dramatic skies, so I do have those types of images in my data base to pick from. I guess I was just wondering how they get the super stormy cloud-look and if they got them somewhere other than their own images. Especially because I've seen a couple photos from different photographers that appear to have the same dark, stormy sky.

Thanks again,
..Marcy

Try shooting good looking skies with little or no foreground and keeping them to use as 'replacement' skies in shots that have uninteresting skies. There are a few things to remember though.
- Don't shoot your substitute skies at too high an angle. Clouds overhead look different than those near the horizon. If you put overhead clouds behind a horizon it won't look right.
- Be sure your replacement sky has light coming from the same direction as the foreground. You don't want clouds shadowed on the right with trees shadowed on the left.
- Match the light quality. A dark overcast sky over a brightly lit scene won't look right. Likewise with a sunset over a midday foreground.

As for "how" it is done by copying the new sky to a separate layer, generally below the image it is being added to, then adding a mask to the image layer and painting with black on the mask over the sky area so that the new sky shows through.

As a general rule I try to work with the sky I have. If it is truly dull I try to compose with little or no sky. If there is some detail I will copy and multiply the sky on a separate layer. The sky you have will almost always 'fit' the scene better than an introduced one.

If your existing sky is just too light or low in contrast another solution is to select the sky and copy it to a new layer then set the blending mode to "multiply". That can do wonders for a sky with limited contrast.

Marcy, when you take an HDR sequence of images, you are expanding the range of camera's image sensor to properly expose the extremes ie, the darkest and the lightest areas of your scene. HDR is a technique that merges the extreme exposures, usually 1-2 (or more) stops over and under the "normal" camera metering system-recommended exposure. The result is an image that adds a total 2-4 (or more) stops to the dynamic range of the camera. Not all images lend themselves to an HDR treatment because the range of brightnesses may be small enough to be captured by the camera. This is usually around 9 to 10 stops.

So, if the camera recommends an exposure that results in shadows that are dark and without detail while at the same time highlights that are "blown" or just plain white - you have a good candidate for an HDR image. Examples might be a sunny day on a street where half the street is in shade, and the buildings on the sunny side are painted white. This could be a scene that has a range of 14 stops - which the camera, depending on how you have your metering mode set and the camera's metering logic, would make a decision to either overexpose the brightest areas, or underexpose the darkest areas, or pick a middle point and let both happen, which is more often the case.

With that in mind, when you process an HDR, you are merging the multiple exposures into one, extended image, usually 32 bit. Since few displays can handle this range, there is a process to "map" the darkest and lightest regions of the image to the visible (displayable and printable) range. In doing so, you have quite a bit of control over tonal values, color saturation, microcontrast and highlight and shadow recovery. When you see a landscape with a dramatic sky, that information was usually contained in the original scene, but outside the camera's ability to record the range of brightness. HDR will darken the brighter areas, allowing one to compress and warp the tonal range until all is visible - typically providing the "drama" typical in many HDRs. Some love the overprocessed, cartoonish or otherwise false but dramatic look others go for a more conservative presentation. Its all a matter of taste and subject matter. I find both can be interesting and pleasing to the eye.

If you are using Photoshop CS2 or higher, you can do HDR by using the File>Automate>Merge to HDR command. Or you could use a third party HDR package like Photomatix or Dynamic Photo HDR. There are more complex techniques that combine HDR software and Photoshop masking to create the image. Hope this was what you were looking for.

Hi Jim
thanks so much for the info! I really appreciate the tips and suggestions - normally I don't include the sky when it is dull and detracts from the image, but once in a while, the image I'm shooting would really lend itself to a darker, stormier looking sky. I am planning to take a course to learn more about Photoshop beyond the very basic tools that I know now. Thanks for the great suggestions/tips on shooting skies/clouds.

Hi Gene
Wow - thanks so much for all the wonderful information HDR!!! I haven't really understood the intricacies of the procedure before. I would like to learn more about it since there are several occasions when shooting landscapes that this process would really help the image. I have PS4 but have also heard some good things about the Photomatrix program. Although I like to look at the heavily manipulated HDR images, I really don't care for the overprocessed images myself and prefer the images where the photographer has used the HDR process to balance out the image.

Thanks to both of you for sharing - I really appreciate your input!

...Marcy

Marcy, this is a viewpoint that hasn't been discussed much here, but I think the best way to get great skies into your photos is to time your photography so that you are present during the best light/weather. Much better than inserting a 'substitute' sky, imo, which often doesn't look very natural.

Marcy,

There are lots of techniques and methods of learning PS, HDR and processing images. Everyone has different experience levels and we all learn differently and have different requirements - for example, I scan film and so I've never had a need for ACR and other "pre-processing" techniques.

I'm writing though to expand on what Daniel just wrote. The question isn't really about "how" to do it, replace a sky, etc., but the question should be, "Should you?" If the intent is for let's say the PhotoArt Gallery here on NPN, or your intent and disclosure is "Digital Composites" then by all means, replace away. But if you're simply trying to make an image "better" by putting in a more dramatic sky, and then presenting it as an original image, then that is the big question, Should you?

Just a thought.

Lon

Daniel and Lon,

Thanks for your input! With regard to replacing skies, this would be for artistic images - not "normal" ones. I'm sure you've seen some of the photos that other photographers have done with heavy processing and HDR and there is a dramatic dark, stormy sky in the background. There are several of them around, a couple that have won photographic awards. Although these are purely artistic - not"natural" photos, they look kind of cool and I though it would be fun to play with that type of sky with something like a fire lookout or something like that as the main subject. Purely for creative/artistic fun. :)

Thanks again

Marcy

Don't forget to add a Tyrano-Platypus!
http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0410/ip0410-1.html