I’m into the second week of December’s One Four Challenge, originating from Robyn’s Captivate Me Blog. In it we are taking one photo and processing it four different ways during the month.
This time, I stayed with the same crop and fiddled a bit with the exposure, slightly reducing the offset and increasing the exposure giving it a summer sparkle.
I listened to Stacey at Lensaddiction and the other half of myself when I reduced the contrast just a little to show up the brick texture, then smart sharpened it by 54%. An increase in the color saturation by 20% gave a lift to the edifice along with a tune-up of the shadows and highlights which emphasized the angled planes of the balconies.
Lore from Snow Fissures And Fractures had the idea that the sky could use some attention and I agree. So, after playing for way too long on it and having it always look so fake, I decided to cut out the sky that was there and replace it with a sky I had photographed a couple years ago in Andover, Ma. I liked it and it really went well with all the reflected blue in the windows.
I really spent a lot of time on a couple of other edits which, in the end, I just deleted because they were not what I wanted at all, but I feel this one was worth the effort and I did learn some things, particularly about the process of cutting out a shape and replacing it with the same shape from another photo.
Turtlemoon Impressions 
Wow, you’ve had a really great week!!
I love that you’ve been doing lots of experimenting and had success with your sky. It really does work!
I too had lots of leftover experiments but learned so much along the way.
I’m really happy that you are being offered suggestions to try – the community effort in our challenge is fabulous!
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Yes, the participation really helps to encourage and teach/learn.
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It really does 😃
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It’s pretty easy to do. I wish I knew how to do a better job at the “seams.” I have a hard time holding the curser down long enough to cut it out and keep it steady as you go. Maybe practice makes perfect.
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I think this might be where a tablet comes in handy.
You did a great job 😜
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Great job on the sky, looks quite natural. Never tried a sky replacement myself, not brave enuf. Thanks for toning down the sharpening/grain combo, that tiny bit extra softness means the strong lines of the building now take precedence instead of it all being overwhelmed with texture.
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Well, I’ve learned how to use PS by my own trial and error method and it’s been a steep learning curve on some things (for those of us 65 or older…BIG curve). Just figuring out how to do such things is a real satisfaction for me. And yes, your point was well and cheerfully taken – you were so right! Thanks.
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Im 20 years younger and about to attempt to learn the basics of PS and I had to buy a big fat text book. So far experimenting with what I can figure out has worked ok too 🙂
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wow- you have accomplished alot…I have never even attempted anything like a sky replacement!
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Well, it took a long time. I tried reading many a tutorial that just didn’t make sense to me and finally, I think it was a quick tute by the Pixie Ladies that that shed the right light on the subject for me. They are just about to start an online class at http://www.pixeladies.com/classes/
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The sky really works well and you did a great job! I would never have realized it was a replacement if you hadn’t said anything! I much prefer this week’s version over last. What a great job!
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Oh yea, the sky is a big improvement… and it’s great that you got a similar blue that is reflecting in the windows. I hate it when a photo is ruined by white overexposed sky… nice fix.
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Thanks!
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Nice work on swapping the sky! it looks like you are having fun experimenting! That is the beauty of the challenge, isn’t it 🙂
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Thanks, it sure is!
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Like everyone else here, I’m impressed with your sky replacement. I have a few photographs with really bad skies that I’ve not been able to throw away — I’m gonna try this on them. (Why did I never think of this before…?! 🙂 )
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The adjustments and new sky really strengthens the image. For me the glass building is a little distraction. maybe a different crop would also strengthen the image as well as creating more pop with the blue contrasting with the orange.
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That’s an interesting thought! Thanks for the feedback!
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Nice work, I like what you did here. I am happy our feedback helps you and pushes you to experiment some more. That’s what I always appreciate with comments on my work.
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