Sky replacement tools
Nov 2, 2021 06:22:12 #
Paul Diamond wrote:
The issues about sky replacement, to me, are the '... (show quote)
Once again, it all depends on what the end use of your photos is. Your ‘ethics’ are mot necessarily my ‘ethics’.
And ethics may not really be the right word to use here. It implies that you are discussing things that have importance to large numbers of people. My photos may be important to me and possibly my family but that’s a fairly small group.
Nov 2, 2021 06:24:54 #
scubadoc
Loc: Sarasota, FL
CHG_CANON wrote:
If Ansel Adams was the photographer worthy of that name, he'd do a better job Straight Out Of Camera like a Real Photographer.
I’ve known several of his dark room assistants, photographers in their own right, who have told me that when Adams was unhappy with a SOOC image he would say to his assistants “Fix It”.
Nov 2, 2021 06:34:29 #
fjustus wrote:
There are a number of different programs that offer this, and I wonder what UHH members think about this. Is this really photography? Should the images be entered in competitions? Can they be used for journalistic purposes? I have seen mixed results from the images I have seen. Opinions?
Like everything else. If the manipulation results in a better image, and even the sharpest eye cannot tell that the image was manipulated, does it really matter?
Nov 2, 2021 06:51:29 #
"Whether it's sky replacement or subtle lighting/contrast/color adjustments, manipulation is manipulation."
I agree with your statement. We tend to forget that even slight saturation, adding contrast or opening shadows is manipulation. Dodging and burning-in as we know it in monochrome photography is also manipulation. Is creativity also manipulation? Perhaps it is.
What I can say here is that if I have an image that needs sky replacement to improve on my photography and I can do it skillfully I will not hesitate a second in doing so. Many times I have shot a dull sky and bringing the image into Affinity Photo and using the haze filter I have been able to get a good separation between clouds and the sky even when clouds were not evident in the original shot. Isn't that sky replacement?
Ansel Adams spent days if not weeks perfecting his images and manipulation in the darkroom was one of his habits. At the end he was able to achieve exactly what he wanted and a good example is his "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico." The shot was made in 1941 and it is said that he had forgotten to bring his hand held exposure meter so the exposure was calculated. It came out badly underexposed but he was able through his skillful darkroom techniques to bring back details in the image and make it one of his best and most famous shots.
Sky replacement in my humble opinion is another tool.
I agree with your statement. We tend to forget that even slight saturation, adding contrast or opening shadows is manipulation. Dodging and burning-in as we know it in monochrome photography is also manipulation. Is creativity also manipulation? Perhaps it is.
What I can say here is that if I have an image that needs sky replacement to improve on my photography and I can do it skillfully I will not hesitate a second in doing so. Many times I have shot a dull sky and bringing the image into Affinity Photo and using the haze filter I have been able to get a good separation between clouds and the sky even when clouds were not evident in the original shot. Isn't that sky replacement?
Ansel Adams spent days if not weeks perfecting his images and manipulation in the darkroom was one of his habits. At the end he was able to achieve exactly what he wanted and a good example is his "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico." The shot was made in 1941 and it is said that he had forgotten to bring his hand held exposure meter so the exposure was calculated. It came out badly underexposed but he was able through his skillful darkroom techniques to bring back details in the image and make it one of his best and most famous shots.
Sky replacement in my humble opinion is another tool.
Nov 2, 2021 07:49:33 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
If Ansel Adams was the photographer worthy of that name, he'd do a better job Straight Out Of Camera like a Real Photographer.
Nov 2, 2021 08:19:10 #
Gene51 wrote:
Like everything else. If the manipulation results in a better image, and even the sharpest eye cannot tell that the image was manipulated, does it really matter?
No, it doesnt. Multi-tool, well executed creative production of an image is perfectly OK. But......🙄
Nov 2, 2021 08:33:54 #
Nov 2, 2021 08:36:02 #
scallihan wrote:
Even Ansel Adams did sky manipulation.
Ansel Adams relied on his skill in the darkroom. He didn’t just click a few buttons.
Nov 2, 2021 08:41:46 #
Nov 2, 2021 09:04:07 #
Gene51 wrote:
Like everything else. If the manipulation results in a better image, and even the sharpest eye cannot tell that the image was manipulated, does it really matter?
It does in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography.
Nov 2, 2021 09:08:56 #
I don't have the capability of replacing a sky. Nor would I do it. To me this is an ethics question. My ethics wouldn't allow that. If it's an ugly sky, then that's what WAS and that's what I get. But I know not everyone agrees with that, and that's OK. I do get a little tired of everyone tossing around AA as though he were the photographic god and that everything he did was perfect in every way. It is not necessarily true that if AA did it, it's OK to do! I am concerned about people taking a sky that someone else captured and using it as theirs. I think that's just wrong. If you photographed the sky you're using, then the image becomes a composite, and to me is no different than adding in some other element that wasn't there. (But I do think they should be claimed as such.)
Nov 2, 2021 09:09:39 #
Nov 2, 2021 09:18:23 #
Nov 2, 2021 09:29:00 #
I've never replaced a sky, but I have a couple of images where it might make an improvement if done subtly.
As far as film and paper processing goes, dodge and burn is leagues away from sky replacement as far as photographic "honesty" is concerned, IMHO.
As far as film and paper processing goes, dodge and burn is leagues away from sky replacement as far as photographic "honesty" is concerned, IMHO.
Nov 2, 2021 09:43:53 #
Peteso
Loc: Blacks Hills
ON1 v2022 added sky replacement. My initial results have been excellent. Sky replacement is not something that I use often, but it can rescue images taken on bright cloudless days. I recently took a photography trip to the Bighorns. Gorgeous place but every day was bright and sunny with no clouds to be seen. ON1’s sky replacement worked flawlessly. No one who has seen the final results can tell that the clouds have been added.
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