Just recently I went on a trip to Europe and had some amazing views (that I captured the best I know how in manual) of city and landscape. Unfortunately, for about 4 days the skies were as overcast and bland as it can be.
I have used sky replacement with PS Elements, but that is tedious and time consuming work. I search the internet and came up with a couple of options. In no particular order:
1. Landscape pro
2. Luminar
3. PhotoShop Sky Replacement
4. Befunky
5. PicStart
My questions:
what do you recommend or use?
How intuitive is it? Easy?
Luminar AI and Photoshop are equally easy to use and in my opinion both produce outstanding results. I don't know about the others.
Cubanphoto wrote:
Just recently I went on a trip to Europe and had some amazing views (that I captured the best I know how in manual) of city and landscape. Unfortunately, for about 4 days the skies were as overcast and bland as it can be.
I have used sky replacement with PS Elements, but that is tedious and time consuming work. I search the internet and came up with a couple of options. In no particular order:
1. Landscape pro
2. Luminary
3. PhotoShop Sky Replacement
4. Befunky
5. PicStart
My questions:
what do you recommend or use?
How intuitive is it? Easy?
Just recently I went on a trip to Europe and had s... (
show quote)
I use Luminar 4 for sky replacement and portraits.
I don't have any experience with any other sky replacement programs.
Luminar 4 works well, is easy to use, and you may also use your own sky shots.
I have well over 100 sky shots of my own to use.
The Luminar catalog of sky shots is expensive and doesn't suit me.
Luminar 4 also has a wonderful portrait function.
Both of the functions I mentioned above work well and are pretty intuitive.
Other than those functions I can't recommend Luminar 4.
Best Wishes,
JimmyT Sends
Another option is to avoid including much sky in the composition if the sky is overcast and featureless. Don't draw attention to the sky if you feel it is boring or unappealing and doesn't do anything for the image. A great outdoor photo doesn't necessarily need to include much of the sky, and in some situations, any part of the sky at all.
I dabbled with Befunky, but found their process for merging photos and their tools for masking to be much more difficult to manage than PS Elements. In PSE I learned how to use layers and layer masks pretty well, but if the skyline is complex in your photos, I can understand the challenge.
Note: as we see on UHH a lot, if your new sky doesn't match the landscape in time of day, direction of light and color of light, the results will scream FAKE.
Landscape Pro is old tech and not as easy to use as PhotoShop Sky replacement. I do not know Luminar, but I hear good things,
Jimmy T wrote:
I use Luminar 4 for sky replacement and portraits.
I don't have any experience with any other sky replacement programs.
Luminar 4 works well, is easy to use, and you may also use your own sky shots.
I have well over 100 sky shots of my own to use.
The Luminar catalog of sky shots is expensive and doesn't suit me.
Luminar 4 also has a wonderful portrait function.
Both of the functions I mentioned above work well and are pretty intuitive.
Other than those functions I can't recommend Luminar 4.
Best Wishes,
JimmyT Sends
I use Luminar 4 for sky replacement and portraits.... (
show quote)
Thank you, I was not aware that one had to pay extra for their skies?
I have to build a library
Cubanphoto wrote:
Thank you, I was not aware that one had to pay extra for their skies?
I have to build a library
There are several in this "library" thread (two pages) that you are welcome to use!
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-630884-1.html.
Linda From Maine wrote:
I dabbled with Befunky, but found their process for merging photos and their tools for masking to be much more difficult to manage than PS Elements. In PSE I learned how to use layers and layer masks pretty well, but if the skyline is complex in your photos, I can understand the challenge.
Note: as we see on UHH a lot, if your new sky doesn't match the landscape in time of day, direction of light and color of light, the results will scream FAKE.
Thank you Linda. Yes, one has to watch to shadows and even light of the photo if it is very cloudy and one adds a very bright sky it looks worse than original
I started using Luminar 4, and while its good, I'm not sure L4 is still available. I strongly caution anyone against buying anything from Skylum. I now use exclusively Photo Shop. Its getting better with each update. You can use your own skies. PS is easy to use.
My favourite software with a sky replacement option is Landscape Pro. I like it because it has many presets and manual sliders, and most importantly it enables easily coordinating the landmass with the colour, tone and mood of the selected skyscape. It also has a selection of other specific enhancements of objects, persons, foliage, grass, land, sand, stones, trees, ground, etc., as well as other elements, components in the scene.
Frankly, I do not use sky replacement in my "fine art" work where I try to interpret the scene and mood as is. In my commercial and industrial work, it is a godsend. We are usually working on last-minute assignments when machines and manpower are available on various sites, and if the weather is bad or the sky is blad, there is no time, with the deadlines looming, to come back for a reshoot for a more dramatic scene.
Attached are two images, one for a cover of an agricultural trade journal and the other for a trade show display.
I use Luminar 4. I gave up on using dramatic skies some time ago. I have 25 or so skies I shot of wispy clouds I often use when I have shot against an uninteresting sky.
twosummers
Loc: Melbourne Australia or Lincolnshire England
Luminar 4 or Luminar AI are hard to beat for sky replacement - the masking is fantastic. Lots of free skies too and you can add your own (you can buy extra skies from various sources including Skylum). Free to try (or is it money back these days?). Very easy to learn and use. I also use Infinite Skies (Mac) - free version or "pro" paid option, but not nearly up to Luminar standard. Luminar is a one-off purchase whilst photoshop as well as being very un-intuitive to use and tricky to learn is a subscription-based application.
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.