minniev Loc: MIssissippi

I don't do sky switching all that often, but with enough motivation, I'll try it. Sometimes there's a better part of the sky the same place/day/time I can harvest pixels from in the same place I took the original image (this is easiest because you don't have to fool as much with overall lighting). Sometimes the sky is just too boring and I want something more interesting.

I'm no expert, but if I were to give any particular hints, it would be to choose placement in the frame carefully, thinking about where clouds ARE in real life. (You don't see the top of a big cumulus cloud peeking over the edge of a prairie horizon). And check at 100% for that worrisome edge of white or pale pixels that sometimes happens with selections and masks, and fix them with your repair tool of choice.

Here's some examples of some of my own experiments, and I hope you'll add yours and explain what you did, why, and in what software.

1. The darkening sky was a hazy blue with no clouds but to the right was much nicer. I wanted the nice sky over the lighthouse, as the industrial warehouses and shops beneath the good part of the sky weren't that interesting. Put the two together in photoshop, trying to come to peace with the 2018 version of the refine edge tool, which is not my friend.

2. The sky was blown, in order to get the boys in the late afternoon light. I took a sky shot about 30 minutes later in an open area and dropped it in behind the trees to get something to fill in the white spots, but dulled it down so it didn't compete with my main interest. Done in On1 which has the best masking tools in my arsenal.

3. The sky was solid blue without a wisp of cloud. I dropped in a sky with the same colors in PS and basically just blended them rather than cutting anything out. It didn't come out great but I was mainly trying to dress up the boring sky a little rather than creating a dramatic one, for a photo to post on a local FB site about this interesting soil formation.

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Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

You did very good. There are always 8 ways to do the same thing in Photoshop.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

What a great variety of scenarios you've used in this demo, Minnie. Thank you! In particular, I can see where #1 would be an excellent tool to remember. Like you, I rarely replaces skies - for me it's mostly because I love the bright, dry cloudless blue of central WA. Or if I have to shoot into white sky, I'll just plan a contrasty b&w result.

First set - blah light. Though I could have worked with what was there, I decided to try covering the entire scene with one of my de-saturated cloud close-ups I have in my "texture" folder. I did this with multiply blend mode at reduced opacity using PS Elements. Then I did further edits, including Pro Contrast filter in Nik Color Efex. (any dots you see on left are swarms of flying insects )

Sunrise river scene - done for this exercise. Easy peasy since I used the sky from a photo taken around same time of morning and from same location, a favorite along the Yakima River Canyon Scenic byway. Just needed to do a little erasing from where the new sky (which was copy/pasted to a new layer) came down over the hills.

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original from raw

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Edits I would normally do + new sky

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Covering up a clear blue sky 🤫

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kmpankopf Loc: Mid-Michigan; SW Pennsylvania

This was metered for the inside of a B17 cockpit, thus the sky was really blown. I first tried to replace it with a western sunset. I thought it looked really good, until I saw the blue sky and cloud reflection on the steering columns. Ha. Rookie. Thus, it wound up being a Michigan sky, which coincidentally is where the shot was taken in the first place.
I used On One for the masking work. The bulk of my post processing is PS, but I find On One's masking processes very quick and easy.

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rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

I use Landscape Pro for this, in combination with Photoshop. One seperate layers, the opacity slider allows a better mix for a more realistic final result.

Mt Rushmore

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Malibu

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Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Since I shoot the full moon at sunrise fairly often, I have a surplus

Moon and sky added here, with many steps to achieve this mood (PS Elements, Nik Collection).

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bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I really want to learn how to do this!

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Yes, there are many paths that lead to the same destination. If you don't get lost along the way which I do a lot.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Good examples, Linda! I've used textures (my own and those I've found elsewhere) to emulate skies too, which works unusually well in monochrome. There are even cloud brushes that you can make or pick up online, but I have not tried that yet. I'm sure I will!

That second one is a super image regardless of the sky but these little cirrus clouds work well, and illustrate what I was getting out about picking your cloud placement, taking it a step further to show it's important to pick the right clouds too

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Now that's a great image! And so much more interesting with the sky in it, even if you had to borrow it from elsewhere to make up for what the exposure cost you. That happens a lot with shots that need to be exposed for low light but there's bright light somewhere else in the frame. There is only so much that HDR will do for you, and often you have to hand manage it anyway to get the result you want.

You pointed out another key point: look around the frame for reflections (on windows, chrome, ponds, puddles, etc) and make sure if you swap a sky that you attend to the reflection as well.

Thanks for sharing.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Nice work. Good suggestion about using opacity to control realism. You've demonstrated another key point: beware of trying to do too much with these transplants. Exchanges with subtle treatments like these are more believable than a dully lit landscape with a lurid pink and orange sunset hanging over it.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

I love your dreamy moonscapes, Linda. Thanks for sharing a fine one that I haven't seen before. Wanta share something about your steps?

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Then get to playing with it! Grab a couple of your images and go at it! Here's a 15 minute tutorial but there are some that promise to teach you in two minutes. https://phlearn.com/tutorial/replace-sky-photoshop/ then post your results here!

The cool thing about these editing tools is that every trick you learn is also something you can use in other projects.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Just one quick suggestion. (don't have any images to attach, I'm at my day job)
Look at the sky any given day. It's never the same color from straight above your head down to the horizon. It always gets lighter as it goes towards the horizon. If I have a sky that I like, but it was taken over my head enough that it looks the same shade of blue all the way from top to the horizon, I use a mask and make a graduated mask so lighter sky from the original shows through.

It makes it much harder to detect a sky swap.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Thanks!

I did several using that moon, all in one day. The files must still be on my back-up drive because I haven't been able to find on my year-old computer. So here is a new edit

Added the moon in hard light blend mode. Covered entire image, no need to mask anything. Added the blurred cloud shot in overlay blend mode; that mostly just changed some brightness here and there. Used Nik Color Efex low key filter + pro contrast filter (adjusted, and contrast blocked from sky). Tweaked levels and saturation, selectively lightened a couple of areas.

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Moon shot at sunrise (often some slight pastel colors in western sky - a bonus)


a shot of clouds, blurred in pp, kept in my "texture" folder


original