The Crooked Pot and the Lane

[dje]

I took these two shots on our trip to Ireland last year. It was a place very popular with tourists - maybe someone with a keen eye for detail could pick where it is. PP suggestions welcome.

Cheers Dave

[Donald]

Dave

On that first one, you have all the foliage, grass etc well exposed, but unfortunately, the sky is blown. There is no detail in it.

You could try pulling back the exposure in RAW conversion software, but I suspect there will be nothing there. There are members on here who are really good at such things as taking the sky from another image and blending it in to an image such as this.

In the second one, I think you have a good image except, with great respect to them, for the people. I don't know what software you do have, but I understand the latest versions of Adobe's top-end stuff can do wonderful things with 'problems' like this ... as well as making you a cup of tea if you speak to it nicely!

For the rest of us, it's on with the cloning tool and a bit of detailed, close-up work.

[dje]

Thanks for your comments Donald. On the day in question, there was low featureless cloud that was thick enough to cover the sky but was quite bright. There's nothing there I can rescue I'm afraid. I'll have a go at replacing the sky in Photoshop. I agree that the people in the second photo are a distraction. Given that the shots were taken in the grounds of Blarney Castle, I suppose I was lucky to have just three in shot !!

Dave

[jiro]

I like the 2nd shot, Dave. You can do some good edit on it if you want. For me, the other lady at the left side of the frame seems to be disconnected to the whole scene. I would rather clone her out so the couple would be left behind with me looking at the shot as if they are simply strolling on this curved road. The moss area at the right is too dark so I would probably open them up a bit by brightening it. I would darken the trees at the rear part of the background to make the impression of more depth. I would try to add some more contrast on the scene to make it look more interesting. This is how I would probably do the edit if you may:

[FrankMi]

Thanks for your comments Donald. On the day in question, there was low featureless cloud that was thick enough to cover the sky but was quite bright. There's nothing there I can rescue I'm afraid. I'll have a go at replacing the sky in Photoshop. I agree that the people in the second photo are a distraction. Given that the shots were taken in the grounds of Blarney Castle, I suppose I was lucky to have just three in shot !!

Dave

Hi Dave, I hope you don't mind, I replaced the sky in your image using a PS Tutorial I found on-line. It was my first attempt so it's not likely to be perfect but it might give you an idea of what can be done and it was fun to try!



Here is a link to what I found on-line. http://www.digital-photography-schoo...y-in-photoshop

[dje]

I like the 2nd shot, Dave. You can do some good edit on it if you want. For me, the other lady at the left side of the frame seems to be disconnected to the whole scene. I would rather clone her out so the couple would be left behind with me looking at the shot as if they are simply strolling on this curved road. The moss area at the right is too dark so I would probably open them up a bit by brightening it. I would darken the trees at the rear part of the background to make the impression of more depth. I would try to add some more contrast on the scene to make it look more interesting. This is how I would probably do the edit if you may:

Willie

Thanks for your interest and taking the time to edit this image. I think your edit is a big improvement. I would like to try and achieve a similar thing myself on the original. I can handle the cloning but need help with the lighting effects. I wonder would you be so kind as to provide some more detail of how you achieved the effects you listed.

Many thanks Dave

[dje]

Hi Dave, I hope you don't mind, I replaced the sky in your image using a PS Tutorial I found on-line. It was my first attempt so it's not likely to be perfect but it might give you an idea of what can be done and it was fun to try!



Here is a link to what I found on-line. http://www.digital-photography-schoo...y-in-photoshop

Frank

Thanks for your interest and taking the time to edit this image. I have fiddled a bit with sky repacement but have not seen the method you referenced before. I'll give it a try. You seem to have achieved an effective replacement. The only thing I'd say though is that the colour of the new sky does not seem to suit this image particularly well. I realise of course that it was just an experiment on your part.

Many thanks Dave

[jiro]

Willie

Thanks for your interest and taking the time to edit this image. I think your edit is a big improvement. I would like to try and achieve a similar thing myself on the original. I can handle the cloning but need help with the lighting effects. I wonder would you be so kind as to provide some more detail of how you achieved the effects you listed.

Many thanks Dave

Hello, Dave,

1. What I did was to make a new layer and fill it with 50% gray. Go to LAYER > NEW LAYER and then on the new options window that will pop out select OVERLAY on the MODE OPTIONS and CHECK THE BOX that says "FILL WITH OVERLAY-NEUTRAL COLOR (50% GRAY) then press OK.

2. Now, using the brush tool, paint on this new overlay layer with color white if you want to brighten that area, color black if you want to darken it. Start with a brush setting of 15% OPACITY and 100% FLOW and slowly build up the effect by brushing on those areas stroke by stroke.

This is the normal or what I call manual dodging and burning process. Hope this helps, Dave.

[dje]

Thanks Willie I'll give it a try.

Dave

[jiro]

I forgot to share to you, Dave. You have 2 options here. You can use OVERLAY mode or SOFTLIGHT mode on the mode options. OVERLAY produces a hard dodging and burning effect while SOFTLIGHT well, it produces a softer effect.

[FrankMi]

Frank

Thanks for your interest and taking the time to edit this image. I have fiddled a bit with sky repacement but have not seen the method you referenced before. I'll give it a try. You seem to have achieved an effective replacement. The only thing I'd say though is that the colour of the new sky does not seem to suit this image particularly well. I realise of course that it was just an experiment on your part.

Many thanks Dave

My pleasure, Dave. To make this work well you will need some shots of the sky taken with the appropriate lighting, cloud cover and at the correct horizontal and sun angle for the target image. I have some South Carolina cloud pictures but as you noticed, much too blue for your part of the world. The neat thing with that tutorial is that you don't need to try to select the area to be replaced.

[dje]

I've taken the above suggestions on board and have come up with the following which I think are a significant improvement. (Haven't mastered your techniques yet Willie !). Thanks again for your help.

Dave

[Donald]

Roll of drums for that man!

Well done, Dave. The real beauty of this is the learning and development of skills that has taken place over the past, approximately, 36 hours.

[dje]

Roll of drums for that man!

Well done, Dave. The real beauty of this is the learning and development of skills that has taken place over the past, approximately, 36 hours.

Exactly Donald - in my relatively short membership of CiC I have learnt so much. It is a great site.

Dave

[jiro]

Man, that was some real good PP work there, Dave. Well done!

[dje]

Man, that was some real good PP work there, Dave. Well done!

Thanks Willie.