Changing Background or Darking Background in Photo

01/27/2006 06:54:16 AM · #1

Hello All,

I have a really nice photo, but it has a washed out sky and I know there is a way of touching up or changing out the sky on a photo. I was wondering if anyone has done this or knows where to get a tutorial on doing it. I would really appreciate it.

Thanks Guys,
Rich

01/27/2006 07:36:05 AM · #2

Have you tried using dodgin and burning? This can often come in very handy for making skies more dramatic. See this tutorial. Last example might be useful

spelling

Message edited by author 2006-01-27 07:36:22.

01/27/2006 07:40:47 AM · #3

here's some examples of mine //photobucket.com/albums/v342/kmcn1/industrial/

The skies weren't washed out, but really neede work on to make more dramatic.

As well as dodging and burning, you can try selecting the sky and make lowering brightness, and increasing saturation

PS none of these methods are legal in basic editing if they were for a challenge photo

hope that helps, i gotta go now but if you want to send me a copy of an example of yours (email in my profile) i'd be happy to have a go later today and tell you the editing steps.

Message edited by author 2006-01-27 07:47:52.

sabphoto

Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+

01/27/2006 07:59:48 AM · #4

it would help a little if we knew what software you are using and what versions...kirsty have some great info so ignore this if you've got what you need. I was going to post an image where my sky was blown out on a pic of me and my wife and I added an image of clouds that I had taken. In the past, if I found a beautiful sky I would take a pic of just it with little horizon to use else where (never in challenges of course).

01/27/2006 08:31:18 AM · #5

Hi guys,

Thanks. I will try dodge and burn first. Sabphoto,"I was going to post an image where my sky was blown out on a pic of me and my wife and I added an image of clouds that I had taken. In the past, if I found a beautiful sky I would take a pic of just it with little horizon to use else where" that is what I am trying to do but do not know how. I would like to take a picture of the sky and manipulate it onto the washed out one. Kristy thanks for the offer, I may take you up on it if I do not have any success. I have Photoshop 7.

01/27/2006 10:38:00 AM · #6

Another thing to bear in mind is trying to avoid blown skies in the first place by using filters. A polarizer will help, but more often than not a graduated filter can be really useful. I'll dig out an example I have to show you

Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS for Canon

01/27/2006 12:24:22 PM · #7

Kirsty,

I normally do used a polarizing filter, it was just a really gray day outiside. I will send you over the photo.

Rich

ElGordo

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

01/27/2006 12:30:26 PM · #8

If this image is for your own use and not a DP challenge, you may use any technique you wish. For example, you can select all of the sky area and apply a gradient; dark blue at the top, fading to pale blue at the bottom. An alternative is to clone the sky from another image into the selected area.

RealmStalker

Nikon D70

Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX Aspherical DG DF for Nikon

01/27/2006 02:27:29 PM · #9

There's an article in Outdoor Photographer about images that are true to life via blending sky and foreground, a more natural and truer approach than using flash.

I love this method, al beit it takes a while to do in PS with a complex foreground/foliage.

It's effective though. Just gotta be careful on blending. You can see a few flaws in this one, a la the lampposts, but quick and dirty to demonstrate it's usefulness.

fotomann_forever

01/27/2006 02:43:56 PM · #10

There is a simple way to do this...

First... take the photo of the sky and place it on a a layer. Then take the photo of you and your wife and place it on a seperate later over the sky layer. Then with the eraser tool, erase the sky from the layer with you and your wife.

It's a bit time consuming, but it gives great results if you take your time. Work in small patches, especially when you are close to any details and use a small soft brush as the eraser.

Originally posted by thndrdrag:

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

01/27/2006 02:59:08 PM · #11

Here's an (old) example I happen to have in my portfolio here. This is the original entry -- click on the link to the printable version to see what I did with it.

CalamitysMaster00

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM II

01/27/2006 03:06:37 PM · #12

I'll be honest... that tutorial isn't helpful at all to me because I don't know where to begin. I have pS 2005 and I can't find "dodge" tool anywhere. Under what drag tool should I find this useful thing!

01/27/2006 05:30:22 PM · #13

woah, that one you sent me IS blown out. Very little data there at all, looks like it'll need composites/gradients added rather than just editing. There's only so much you can rescue by dodging/burning/levels etc.
I gotta confess i didnt get your email til just before I went out tonight, and i'm working all day saturday (and evening minus an hr break) so it may take a while. I'll try various methods, like those mentioned, but it definitely would be worth investing in a graduated filter. When i send you my attempts I'll post an example i have of the effects of a graduated filter. That way you avoid the hassle of postprocessing

Message edited by author 2006-01-28 13:12:44.

01/29/2006 05:52:24 PM · #14

Here's my humble attempt :P I use PS elements, everything should be transferable into PS 7

this was your original:
sorry thumbnail went weird, here's a link

First I tried to rescue it as much as possible without 'cheating' too much, trying to keep photographic integrity.

I selected the sky area and used levels to darken to sky and bring up the contrast.
Then at full zoom I used the clone tool to clean the horizon/erase any discrepancies.
I added a new gradient layer with a sky colour (selected using eyedropper tool thing), that faded to 0 opacity about halfway down the screen. This added a little colour to the upper sky which had practically no detail at all.
Unlocking the gradient layer, I erased any blue that overhung the lighthouse etc.
Finally, I increased saturation on blues, greens and reds slightly (but all slightly differently according to hat looked best, and decreased brightnesss on blues.

Now it looked like this:

Then I did what lots of people suggested, and added new skies completely. I did the basic levels/brightness/saturation just to get original to my preference (though yours was fine, I just like to tweak before doing anything). I selected the sky and deleted. Again, I cloned/erased at medium opacity to get a clean, soft edge around lighthouse etc. Obviously I didn't put too much time into this..you would want to get it much better yourself. Then in a new layer you can add any sky of your choice from other photos. The photos I used are mine or my dad's, sure you have loads lying around, if not, start collecting :P. Here's a few examples:

Oh, and this is an example of a graduated filter (ignore the overhanging filter holder in the first one):

Both scenes taken with 30s of each other, only an arbitrary 60degree change of point of view. Taken on my 35mm olympus OM10, with this filter (link has more examples)
I would definitely advise investing in one of these (not necessarily that one exactly unless you have the cokin system)

Hope this helps. Good luck with your shooting.

Kirsty.

PS if you started entering challenges, any physical filter on your camera is fine, levels/saturation applied to whole image is good for any challenge, but selctive editing (eg select sky, change levels) is only legal in advanced editing. If you're using another photo, like the last examples, this is illegal in any challenge

Message edited by author 2006-01-29 18:23:13.

01/30/2006 06:45:29 AM · #15

Kristy,

The photo, you did "spend to much time with" is awesome. I wish I had your talent in Photoshop. Thanks very much for your time and showing me how to do this I will attempt to do this but I do not know if it will come out close to yours.

Thanks for your help and talent.
*-Rich

01/30/2006 07:08:10 AM · #16

Ok,

I figured out the magic wand tool to neatly clean around the object and got all the sky erased. Then I add a layer, and I attempt to bring in a picture of th sky . How do I get the 2 pictures joined together. Sorry really new to photoshop.

Mr_Pants

SiPix Blink

01/30/2006 08:25:21 AM · #17

Probably a better way of changing the sky is to use layers and masks, instead of the eraser tool. Using a mask gives you the chance to go back and change it all at will.

Open both photos in Photoshop. Select one photo (select all) and copy it. It would be best to copy the 'foreground' image. Close that window. In the other photo window, add a layer and paste into it the photo that was previously copied. The top layer should now be your foreground image, which is all you can see. Add a layer mask in 'reveal all' mode. Now in the layers palette, you can see each layer and the top layer has a little square next to it which should be, from memory, white. Click on this icon. Nothing will appear to change, but you are now painting on a mask. If you paint on it in black, using the paintbrush, you will see what is behind it, so you can effectively erase around the figures in the foreground to reveal the new sky, which is on the layer behind. If you make a mistake, you change the brush colour from black to white and paint out part of the mask, thus restoring what was previously hidden by the mask.

This sound complicated, but given a little practice, is much quicker and more powerful than erasing parts of the top layer.

If I've got my black and white mixed up, please forgive me, as I'm at work at the moment and do not have Photoshop here to jog my memory.

01/30/2006 10:11:26 AM · #18

Yeah, try out what AJAger suggested..I've never used masks, maybe I should try. Sounds better than the erasing I was doing. If you have any other problems, feel free to ask

If you have erased, make sure the edges are soft - the magic wand tool can leave jagged edges. To soften I just erased with 50% opacity, though there's probably a much easier way to do that.

Mr_Pants

SiPix Blink

01/30/2006 10:27:05 AM · #19

Originally posted by kirsty_mcn:

If you use the mask method, you can use a paintbrush with a soft edge, too. It's well worth the initial effort of getting used to the technique.

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

01/30/2006 12:53:04 PM · #20

AJ and Kristy,

Thank you for all your help. AJ I have tried your method and it seems pretty easy. I guess I have to go and find a few good sky shots to fix up my picutires though.

Thanks
Rich

Mr_Pants

SiPix Blink

01/30/2006 12:58:46 PM · #21

There's a school of thought that says thay one should keep a good stock of sky photos just for such occasions.

tsheets

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

01/30/2006 01:06:26 PM · #22

Check out //www.radiantvista.com under photoshop workbench. I believe 12/22/2005 and 1/12/2006 fix the sky. Several others do too. If you haven't looked at them before, they are pretty cool video tutorials. Of course, broadband is almost a requirement.