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Gradients & Skies >

3 - Darken a Sky with Trees

If the sky has trees or other objects, use a selection tool, such as the Magic Wand tool, to select the sky.

Be sure to check off as you go along.

Preparation

1) Preserve your original file.

If you haven't already done so, go to Preserve Your Original File.

2) Create a Background copy layer.

If you haven't already done so, go to Create a Background Copy Layer.

Sky Selection

1) Select the Magic Wand tool.

Make sure Opacity is at 100%, and Anti-alias, Contiguous, and Sample All layers, are deselected, all in the options bar.

Set the Tolerance in the options bar.

Use a smaller number to select less of the sky, and a larger number to selected more.

Here, a tolerance of 50 was used.

Click on the sky.

2) Check to make sure nothing is selected, other than the sky, by using the Selection Brush tool as a "mop."

If you haven't already done so, go to Selection Brush Mop.

3) Set feathering after you make the selection by going to Select > Feather.

A radius of 2 was used here.

4) Select a color for the sky.

Click the foreground color to open the Color Picker window.

Select a color in the Color Picker window.

The following RGB values were entered into the RGB boxes in the Color Picker window.

R: 70 G: 132 B: 245

5) Select the Gradient tool.

Select the Foreground to Transparent gradient from the Gradient Picker window, as described in the first section.

Foreground to

Transparent Gradient

Make sure, in the options bar, that Mode is Normal and the opacity is 100%.

Make sure Reverse, in the options bar, is not selected.

Make sure Dither and Transparency, in the options bar, are selected.

Click, hold, and drag a gradient from the top of the photograph to the center.

Here, the gradient was drawn at an angle, so the sky would be brighter on the right side of the photograph.

6) Be sure to save the selection if you may need to return to do more work.

If you haven't already done so, go to Save the Selection.

Enter sky as the name of the selection.

7) Deselect the selection by pressing Ctrl + d.

8) Reduce the opacity of the Background copy layer.

30% was used here.

Original

Blue Sky Added

Reflections Selection

The reflections in the water no longer match the color of the sky.

1) Repeat steps one and two above, but select the reflections of the sky on the water.

Lower the tolerance, so only the brightest part of the reflections are selected.

2) Check to make sure nothing is selected, other than the reflections of the sky in the water, by using the Selection Brush tool as a "mop."

If you haven't already done so, go to Selection Brush Mop.

3) Save the selection as reflections, if you may need to return to do more work.

If you haven't already done so, go to Save the Selection.

4) Select the Paint Bucket tool.

Make sure the blue-sky color is still the foreground color.

Make sure Mode is Normal, and the opacity is 100%, in the options bar.

Make sure Opacity is at 100%, and Anti-alias, Contiguous, and Sample All layers, are deselected, all in the options bar.

Set the tolerance in the options bar.

Use a large number to fill the entire selection with the color.

Here, a tolerance of 70 was used.

Click on the selection.

The reflections of the washed-out sky are now blue like the new sky.

Original

Blue Sky Added

Blue Sky & Blue Reflections Added

Saving the Photograph

If you haven't already done so, go to Saving Files.

You edit a preset gradient to better fit your needs.

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