Does anyone have a good technique for taking cloud filled dark skies and turning them into sunny blue ones, especially if there are lots of trees with tiny leaves and branches where the sky shines through them?

Hi Christo, Flora posted a tutorial on making difficult selections, that addresses this very problem, look for it in the tutorial section. I'll only add one thing. When replacing dark cloudy skies with clear blue ones, be careful of the lighting. When trying to get natural results it is difficult to match the diffused dull light of a cloudy day with the sharp clear light of a blue sky day.

Hi,

Christo,

You can find the tutorial Gary mentioned here (http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=120).

The picture you posted was on the smallish side (difficult to see and work on details ... ) Here (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4398), you can find a very usefult Tip on how to resize pictures for RP.

What Gary pointed out, When replacing dark cloudy skies with clear blue ones, be careful of the lighting. is very important!
I used Curves and Levels to 'brighten up' the rest of the picture, after replacing the sky so that you can blend in the two parts of the image in a more natural way...

:wavey:

great result there, flora! :bow: :bow: :bow:

Wow .... Thanks, JustChecking!!! :blush:

Hi Christo!

get the mask of the sky
method - what I usually take - lab mode duplicate b> levels to get the mask> selective color corr. >set neutral more cyan and less yellow.

Saby

Flora,
I tried your technique-very slick. I did end up with some artifacts in the image. Perhaps you can explain them to me. The grey cloud like looking thing in the upper left hand corner is OK, but where the roof and the powerlines come together there is a darkish blob. Where did that come from and how do I remove it? I like the effect you got in the image you supplied with the few stray clouds in the sky-was than from another picture, or is there yet another great technique there?

Hi,

Saby,

Interesting technique and great result! Just one thing... the tips of the trees are a tad too cyan and, on the very right side, just below the big tree, there is a strong 'leakage' of cyan as well... :happy:

Christo,I tried your technique-very slick. I did end up with some artifacts in the image. Perhaps you can explain them to me. The grey cloud like looking thing in the upper left hand corner is OK, but where the roof and the powerlines come together there is a darkish blob. Where did that come from and how do I remove it?
Artifacts and darkish blob, could be the result of an 'unclean' mask where apart from the very edge, the blacks must be black.... and the whites white ... If in your Mask you have greysh spots or artifacts, they'll show later...!

You guessed right ... I borrowed the sky from another picture!!!

I re-did your picture (with yet another sky :wink: ) and making the selection exclusively with the Blend If Options... (no masks) ...

:wavey:

Wow that is impressive. Thanks so much for all your help. Can you expand on the "blend if" options a little bit?

Hi Christo,

Thank you so much for your comment! :pleased:

I'm 'refining' the Blend if Technique for a Tutorial .... I'll let you know as soon as I've published it ...

I've written one already, but it's incomplete...

:wavey:

Hi Christo,

.... just to let you know that the 'Blend If' Tutorial is finished... you can find it here (http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=139)...

:wavey:

On this picture ive lightend the house, road and the trees up aswell. If the sky is so bright, then the things around has to be too - if you ask me!
But the sky and the clouds ive selected and copied to a new layer. That layer has been brightend up and with a brush, painted with some different blue colors (blending mode "color"). Thats it!

Thanks Flora

Here's a thread where I have an image that replaces the sky -- around leaves, branches, etc. -- using a radial gradient.

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9037

Cheers,

Mitch

Here's a URL to my "Tip of the Week" for this week:

http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/DigitalDarkroom/TipOfTheWeek/TipOfTheWeek.htm

It gives step-by-step instructions.

Cheers,

Mitch

Thanks Mitch