Dull skies in photos

I've just come back from a couple of weeks in Scotland, and on most days
I was fighting a losing battle against dull skies. Is there anything
that anyone here does to try to fix them beyond, say, cropping them out
as much as possible?

"Cynicor" wrote in message
t...
I've just come back from a couple of weeks in Scotland, and on most days I
was fighting a losing battle against dull skies. Is there anything that
anyone here does to try to fix them beyond, say, cropping them out as much
as possible?

You might try a gradient selection in PS to make them darker and then play
with the levels on the same selection to bring out some detail, if any is
the sort of a post-processing ND filter. I also tend to end up cropping
them out as much as possible.

Eric Miller
www.dyesscreek.com

Eric Miller wrote:
"Cynicor" wrote in message
t...
I've just come back from a couple of weeks in Scotland, and on most days I
was fighting a losing battle against dull skies. Is there anything that
anyone here does to try to fix them beyond, say, cropping them out as much
as possible?

You might try a gradient selection in PS to make them darker and then play
with the levels on the same selection to bring out some detail, if any is
the sort of a post-processing ND filter. I also tend to end up cropping
them out as much as possible.

I'm thinking about creating my own stock library of various cloud
photos, just so I'll have something to add a bit of texture in the
worst-off shots.

On Aug 21, 4:08 pm, Cynicor wrote:
Eric Miller wrote:
"Cynicor" wrote in message
et...
I've just come back from a couple of weeks in Scotland, and on most days I
was fighting a losing battle against dull skies. Is there anything that
anyone here does to try to fix them beyond, say, cropping them out as much
as possible?

You might try a gradient selection in PS to make them darker and then play
with the levels on the same selection to bring out some detail, if any is
the sort of a post-processing ND filter. I also tend to end up cropping
them out as much as possible.

I'm thinking about creating my own stock library of various cloud
photos, just so I'll have something to add a bit of texture in the
worst-off shots.

I sometimes found that a dull sky has a lot of potential to accentuate
the mood of a photograph. With some manipulation, you can bring out
the reflection of a dull sky out of a water body (pond, river, etc),
creating very rich, colourful photos. I could not do that in a very
bright day.

I do have some selection of cloud pictures at this location
http://picasaweb.google.com/aniramca/Colourful_Sky

Eric Miller wrote:
"Cynicor" wrote in message

I've just come back from a couple of weeks in Scotland, and on most days I
was fighting a losing battle against dull skies. Is there anything that
anyone here does to try to fix them beyond, say, cropping them out as much
as possible?

You might try a gradient selection in PS to make them darker and then play
with the levels on the same selection to bring out some detail, if any is
the sort of a post-processing ND filter. I also tend to end up cropping
them out as much as possible.

Or crank up the contrast and color saturation and make the whole scene
more vibrant.

--
Ray Fischer

On Aug 21, 11:15 pm, (Ray Fischer) wrote:
Or crank up the contrast and color saturation and make the whole scene
more vibrant.

even better, select the sky and increase contrast and saturation, so
that the rest of the scene does not get affected. You could also try
adjust color temperature (very easy with Picasa).

Ray Fischer wrote:
Eric Miller wrote:
"Cynicor" wrote in message

I've just come back from a couple of weeks in Scotland, and on most days I
was fighting a losing battle against dull skies. Is there anything that
anyone here does to try to fix them beyond, say, cropping them out as much
as possible?
You might try a gradient selection in PS to make them darker and then play
with the levels on the same selection to bring out some detail, if any is
the sort of a post-processing ND filter. I also tend to end up cropping
them out as much as possible.

Or crank up the contrast and color saturation and make the whole scene
more vibrant.

Yeah, I do that a bit but I don't want to get into Ken Rockwell
territory.

I've tried bracketing or sandwiching two exposure levels from a RAW
file, but I never get the sky selection feathered quite right.

The other problem I had was the constant mist and showers as I tried to
shoot. I would compose, have to wipe off the front filter, and
recompose. I had bought this "probrella" at B&H - it attaches with a
standard tripod screw - but it actually blew off and down a cliff while
I was in Ireland!