Sky overlays

Have any of you ever used sky overlays, and if so, what ones can you suggest? Or do you only use your own? I always have photos that can benefit from them.

Its cheating.............:shame:

only if you get caught

Please...I'm interested in any serious responses but am not in the mood to get my chains yanked. A project I requested to do may backfire due to another photographer who wants to make choices he shouldn't be making. I am simply trying to find a second option for this project if things head south. Since this area is experiencing some hot days, the sky is pale or completely lacking in color. I already have some images I can use, but they need better skies. I could kick myself for not photographing my own skies in the past, but right now the need is to get sky photos as a back-up option for my project. Thanks.

Short on time but Google DSP Shop, aka Deitra Sisk Photography.

Last time I checked she had a free sky-overlay pack you can download if you "Like" her on Facebook or some such.

hark said:

Please...I'm interested in any serious responses but am not in the mood to get my chains yanked. A project I requested to do may backfire due to another photographer who wants to make choices he shouldn't be making. I am simply trying to find a second option for this project if things head south. Since this area is experiencing some hot days, the sky is pale or completely lacking in color. I already have some images I can use, but they need better skies. I could kick myself for not photographing my own skies in the past, but right now the need is to get sky photos as a back-up option for my project. Thanks.

Click to expand...

You could try Googling 'free sky images" . I know it's a simple answer, but I'm tired. I have a few sky/clouds images I took that I could let you have if you like. They are jpegs though.
I always make a habit of taking sky shots when I see a nice sky and keep them for emergencies when I need to replace the sky.

And no, it's not cheating.

JH Foto said:

Its cheating.............:shame:

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So if a painter paints a landscape and paints a different sky then what he/she he actually sees, is that cheating as well?:indecisiveness:

hark said:

Please...I'm interested in any serious responses but am not in the mood to get my chains yanked. A project I requested to do may backfire due to another photographer who wants to make choices he shouldn't be making. I am simply trying to find a second option for this project if things head south. Since this area is experiencing some hot days, the sky is pale or completely lacking in color. I already have some images I can use, but they need better skies. I could kick myself for not photographing my own skies in the past, but right now the need is to get sky photos as a back-up option for my project. Thanks.

Click to expand...

i have the same problem a lot when shooting birds in flight. I have been playing in Lightroom and boosting the blue levels of a pale sky and in many cases I have been able to change that pale grey sky to a blue sky that is still natural.

I have tried the sky replacement a number of times and it will work once in a while but so many times it looks like the sky has been replaced. I just have not had good luck with it. If you are going to do it though go out and shoot them yourself. Go out on a totally clean day and shoot in different directions, do the same on that day that has the super blue sky with the fluffy white clouds. Do a mix remembering to shoot in all directions so that you can match the quality of light of the shot you are replacing the sky in.

I can't say I do it any longer but I've been taking shots of good skies for later use. I even took out of focus shots of skies to make a more natural blend in the shots I used them.

Mainly for bird photography.

hark said:

Please...I'm interested in any serious responses but am not in the mood to get my chains yanked. A project I requested to do may backfire due to another photographer who wants to make choices he shouldn't be making. I am simply trying to find a second option for this project if things head south. Since this area is experiencing some hot days, the sky is pale or completely lacking in color. I already have some images I can use, but they need better skies. I could kick myself for not photographing my own skies in the past, but right now the need is to get sky photos as a back-up option for my project. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Lighten up and don't take things so seriously .....

Like J-see, when I see a nice sky I take a couple photos and stick them in a folder for potential use later. I've yet to use them, but I still have them. Not so much colored as later morning and early evening white clouds and blue sky.

Not sure what you need but if you can't find it and can describe it I'll see if I have something you can use.

Horoscope Fish said:

Short on time but Google DSP Shop, aka Deitra Sisk Photography.

Last time I checked she had a free sky-overlay pack you can download if you "Like" her on Facebook or some such.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Fish. I will check it out.

Blacktop said:

You could try Googling 'free sky images" . I know it's a simple answer, but I'm tired. I have a few sky/clouds images I took that I could let you have if you like. They are jpegs though.
I always make a habit of taking sky shots when I see a nice sky and keep them for emergencies when I need to replace the sky.

And no, it's not cheating.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer. I'm sure I can come up with something somehow but need to get out there and take some sky photos. Since we are in a hot spell for the weekend, I doubt I'll be able to take any soon. In the meantime, I will look for overlays. Google is my friend!

Don Kuykendall said:

i have the same problem a lot when shooting birds in flight. I have been playing in Lightroom and boosting the blue levels of a pale sky and in many cases I have been able to change that pale grey sky to a blue sky that is still natural.

I have tried the sky replacement a number of times and it will work once in a while but so many times it looks like the sky has been replaced. I just have not had good luck with it. If you are going to do it though go out and shoot them yourself. Go out on a totally clean day and shoot in different directions, do the same on that day that has the super blue sky with the fluffy white clouds. Do a mix remembering to shoot in all directions so that you can match the quality of light of the shot you are replacing the sky in.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on shooting in different directions. Wouldn't have thought about it until it was too late--and I would have wanted to kick myself in the arse! I know what you mean about boosting the blue levels of a pale sky. Many times I go in and lower the blue luminosity (either in Bridge or LR) which darkens the blue although it affects the entire image. Then I have to use the brush to tone it down where it is too strong.

And I watched one video about adding color to a sky in Photoshop. I need to find more of those videos--not sure how they selected the sky area--whether they used the selection tool ahead of time as the video started after the sky area was already selected.

J-see said:

I can't say I do it any longer but I've been taking shots of good skies for later use. I even took out of focus shots of skies to make a more natural blend in the shots I used them.

Mainly for bird photography.

Click to expand...

One of the tips I remember seeing on sky replacement videos was to blur the sky layer to match the photo. Thanks for reminding me as it is important!

JH Foto said:

Lighten up and don't take things so seriously .....

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Right back at you. I'm in a pinch and need serious answers quickly. There are threads where one person makes a joke then many of the other comments all tend to be jokes. There's a time and a place for everything, but this wasn't it. And no, I don't consider it to be cheating to use a sky overlay in this instance.

I volunteered to create a calendar to use as a church fundraiser. Then another photographer decided to take portraits and create a church directory thus wanting to use my photos of the key people and committees. I understand the need for my photos, but with him using them, my calendar images will be redundant. I am looking for ways of enhancing my exterior building shots to give those images the WOW factor.

Thats me told off then.........................

BackdoorHippie said:

Like J-see, when I see a nice sky I take a couple photos and stick them in a folder for potential use later. I've yet to use them, but I still have them. Not so much colored as later morning and early evening white clouds and blue sky.

Not sure what you need but if you can't find it and can describe it I'll see if I have something you can use.

Click to expand...

Thank you, Jake. I was still writing when you posted. I have until the fall to do this but need to be sure I focus on getting sky shots. It won't be easy as many of our hot summers days are lackluster when it comes to the sky. I can let you see a couple of the images to give you an idea of what I have.

I also want to figure out how to alter a blue sky to become a different color...I'm guessing it might be the blue hue slider? Thinking aloud...I thought there are ways to completely change one color to another such as a blue sky to a golden color?

JH Foto said:

Thats me told off then.........................

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Oh no it wasn't--not even close.

Cindy... I use the Graduated filter in LR to fix/adjust all my skies. There are tons of videos on the technique... Since they added ALL the adjustments to drop-down menu, now you can make any adjustment you want... except add clouds...

We had a few really nice days this week so I was able to get out and take several sky images--with some clouds and made sure to face different directions. So glad the weather allowed it.