Be Creative #71

[TonyW]

BE CREATIVE #71 - REPLACING SKIES

Been busy for the last while partly because spring has finally arrived and the weather has been good, so not a lot of time to think about the next creative challenge. But when out photographing migrating tundra swans this week I thought how nice it was that I had a nice blue sky and how many blah and blown out skies I've got in my photo collection.
So this weeks Be Creative is to take one of yours (or find someone elses) pic with a blah or blown-out sky and replace it with a nicer sky. Bonus points for tackling a tricky one, with tree branches for example, and for posting a before and after so we can all see how you did.

Diana posted links to some of the many of the threads/tutorials on the ways to do it here (http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showpost.php?p=415564&postcount=2) and if you don't have a suitable sky of your own you can find some here (http://www.cgtextures.com/textures.php?t=browse&q=1345).
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The small print for the challenge is ……
Everyone is invited to participate.
Please join in, share your images, ideas, imagination and inspiration. There are no rules - feel free to experiment and, if you can remember tell us what you did so others can benefit from your experiments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Post your images (as many as you like) below in this thread.
If you would like to comment or have a question, please post here. (http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?p=447651#post447651)
Have fun!
Tony

[BJ!]

Adding a better sky sure makes a big difference, even if it's not a big area.
Thanks for the links, Tony. CG graphics offers an amazing variety of nice sky material!

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1Gobf29VVKS3ENcLTcm7r9ehCIp5a0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Gobf29VVKS3ENcLTcm7r9ehCIp5a0)


http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1iZGR3DeeN8qMF26i5Rwz2noczleT_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1iZGR3DeeN8qMF26i5Rwz2noczleT)
Inside Santa Elena Canyon, fabulous Big Bend Park, Texas

[patkc2000]

Want to buy a house? It's remodeled. :D
Click on pic to see before and after.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1LlV36LvoXyYvyNr0ojl087na97Zxp1_thumb.gif (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1LlV36LvoXyYvyNr0ojl087na97Zxp1)

[Candy3]

Ok I worked on this quickly so I wouldn't get behind on my blog. This is a scene from the walkway of a hotel in Jersey City looking at Manhattan. It was an overcast day so my sky was completely blown out. I first copied my original photo on a new layer then I used my magic wand to select the white sky, deleted the white sky, brought in the sky layer, then masked my copied photo layer and cleaned up the white sky that was left over. I adjusted the levels to highlight the "lines" in the photo I wanted to show off and played with the opacity of the new sky.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1Npcc5wi2GJMBjKm6uS8QD4RNOJTYo0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Npcc5wi2GJMBjKm6uS8QD4RNOJTYo0)

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1w80Riywm6UaxNYmHuyx50uJCYxmR_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1w80Riywm6UaxNYmHuyx50uJCYxmR)

[dspec01]

This is my attempt at replacing a blown out sky. I love these little challenges. I learn a lot by doing them.



http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1jHslkj4IGdsGEZIW8I9X3LNOA8O1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1jHslkj4IGdsGEZIW8I9X3LNOA8O1)

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1wQiJ8H2Z9PIYXyV5utKeBPIQ4MgDW1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1wQiJ8H2Z9PIYXyV5utKeBPIQ4MgDW1)

[Bamagirl]

Thank you Tony, trading skies is something that I totally avoided because I didn't think that I could do it. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. Thanks for the great link to skies, also.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/18nF4wvDu5g60ukOgyLH4sdlNlT6QD_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=18nF4wvDu5g60ukOgyLH4sdlNlT6QD)

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1LS3IdZvLjnjJ2lwZmL8FAXT3uIj0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1LS3IdZvLjnjJ2lwZmL8FAXT3uIj0)

[Sepiana]

Tony, thanks for another BC challenge. This is a very interesting and useful one. I thought the sky needed some clouds. I used a sky image I had taken in the same area the same day (Garden of the Gods, Colorado).

[pacfam]

Gonna give this a try. I was too chicken to try trees! Original taken of Matterhorn at Disneyland.

[emkayess65]

Hi, that is what I was doing today anyway.
Replacing the sky on a Hawaii picture.
The people in the picture thoughtfully took some great sky/water pictures.
Nothing else - just sky and water. Not so interesting in itself, but great for my stash.
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1PXg3C4iuxRxEi6kYkpsOJVD5vTPZ51_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1PXg3C4iuxRxEi6kYkpsOJVD5vTPZ51)

mks

[billz]

Mr. Potato Head was looking pretty washed out. The selection was made using channels and the nebula was something I made following one of Corey's tutorials.

Thanks for the fun challenge Tony .. I promise one of these weeks I'll color inside the lines. ;)

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1fBgeoDlp7vltgqQ6DlhtYsexaPWiN0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1fBgeoDlp7vltgqQ6DlhtYsexaPWiN0) http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1MAjxQcbwqDX4CBdswB5IkgsCNVd_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1MAjxQcbwqDX4CBdswB5IkgsCNVd)

Bill

[Aussie Nan]

A very useful easy tutorial, thanks Tony.

click for a before and after
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1lGFkXPaDwPebaWg77TR7NldBhDC1_thumb.gif (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1lGFkXPaDwPebaWg77TR7NldBhDC1)

[swalkr]

I used the magic wand with tolerance set at 20 and only anti-alias checked. I tried to expand to 1 pixel, but that got rid of a lot of detail, so I left it as is. This is a .gif, so if you wait 2 seconds, it should change from old sky to new sky. There is a little bit of a purple fringe. Don't know how to get rid of that.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1xgilm6tyLY56dQ3B2vxp1UtlP9loM1_thumb.gif (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1xgilm6tyLY56dQ3B2vxp1UtlP9loM1)

[Martha]

Thanks, Tony.
It seems that I have many photos with Blah-looking sky. I replaced the sky in this one with one that I took a little after sunrise one morning. It is animated.
Martha
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1KH8v0K2dn0JQmSHHvwVaGDCEDWiK_thumb.gif (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1KH8v0K2dn0JQmSHHvwVaGDCEDWiK)

[Deborah]

My granddaughter took this in the car. She wanted to take a picture of the train.
Before:
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/16beiHwnMQcj4IQXvPRACN3Khl1E1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=16beiHwnMQcj4IQXvPRACN3Khl1E1)
After:
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1bbhazQ41XaEK5NAhSs60abok9GKa0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1bbhazQ41XaEK5NAhSs60abok9GKa0)

[sosdog]

Cliffs of Moher in Ireland taken a couple of years ago. The selection was easy enough but trying to make it look realistic was another thing.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/192dSQZGc57lghQLWxJHWGUoRfQsW0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=192dSQZGc57lghQLWxJHWGUoRfQsW0)


http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1u7nnI5oBcL9eVjynXvTbpxmCS10_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1u7nnI5oBcL9eVjynXvTbpxmCS10)


http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1hpZjeOd7oSEzRRkPGJaivm9GAtrJ_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1hpZjeOd7oSEzRRkPGJaivm9GAtrJ)

[BJ!]

Terrific new skies, everyone! It seems a better sky makes a good photo look even better!

Thanks for this week's tutorial, Tony

[Deborah]

I agree, what a difference a little sky can make to a picture
Thank you for bring this tutorial to us Tony

[emkayess65]

Hi Tony, thanks for the sky tutorial.
Could not have come at a better time for me.
Seems like I have been changing skies all over the place.
I took my Hawaiian Sky to the Colloseum(?) in Rome and to the
Italian towns that hang on the mountain -- Cinque Terre, Italy
Not me; the kids(sigh). Click -- It's animated.
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1nmb7HFYsj5qdZae2nbzeTT1cK20_thumb.gif (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1nmb7HFYsj5qdZae2nbzeTT1cK20)

Thanks again, Tony.
mks

[swalkr]

Very nice MKS. In your original you can't even see the distant mountains (or hills?) Great job.

[Sepiana]

Toni, here's another one. I found it more challenging because of the trees on the horizon line. The sky is from cgtextures.

[TonyW]

Here's mine. Not too happy about the tree branches - not quite right yet but getting closer so it's time to quit ....

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/19bwgNJJP2zVMpJt3fB8PW72kCXiko_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=19bwgNJJP2zVMpJt3fB8PW72kCXiko) http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/107U8kM8LeVIbCKhllGPjkUvyj9I0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=107U8kM8LeVIbCKhllGPjkUvyj9I0)

Tony

[emkayess65]

Hi Suzanne, thank you for your nice comments on my Italy picture.
I -- umm -- don't want to be misleading. I took my Hawaiian skies to Italy. The far shore is not visible because it is in Hawaii. Too far - curvature of the earth and all.
I am having lot's of fun with Hawaiian skies. Taking them all over.
mks

[swalkr]

Well, now I know it is REALLY good! I couldn't tell the difference.

Hi Suzanne, thank you for your nice comments on my Italy picture.
I -- umm -- don't want to be misleading. I took my Hawaiian skies to Italy. The far shore is not visible because it is in Hawaii. Too far - curvature of the earth and all.
I am having lot's of fun with Hawaiian skies. Taking them all over.
mks

[Martha]

I did another one, this time darkening a nice blue sky. The new sky is Render>Clouds. The effect is animated
Martha
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1CckKEzQ7QFAg9ziTJ82XFrWU9hYtD_thumb.gif (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1CckKEzQ7QFAg9ziTJ82XFrWU9hYtD)

[BJ!]

Martha, great effect. That would be terrific for halloween!

-- BJ

[Martha]

Thanks, BJ, it would. The shame is that it was once such a beautiful home! After it was sold, it deterioated (Spelling?) into what you see here, and that was taken almost 2 years ago!
martha

[bekster]

I tried this and came up with the following... I used a sky from the suggested skies link
This was taken at Colorado National Monument National Park near Grand Junction Colorado

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1JKa0CUDTQhhakOe5c89CLKSJIkNs8_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1JKa0CUDTQhhakOe5c89CLKSJIkNs8) After http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1nKIsMqC4mGTIXQM3uEtsQ6VdrIDML_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1nKIsMqC4mGTIXQM3uEtsQ6VdrIDML)

After

[mljrbg]

Thanks Tony for a very useful lesson.

This is a photo I did for the 365 Challenge. I replaced the upper sky with our own Karen Alibony's (http://www.alibony.com/video/video-lesson12.htm) tut.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1c2MFrQEZDpRzofoHBKOiD7gwTTn1O1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1c2MFrQEZDpRzofoHBKOiD7gwTTn1O1)

[TonyK]

Everyone has done really good with replacing their skies. I've only done this once, it hard to match the right lighting for sure. Some look really hard to make look right but they really make a big difference in the images.