Idaho Barn

[Tom Walter]

This abandoned Idaho barn and silo looks very interesting. It even has some old vehicles under the rubble, which I shot close up in a separate image. I like the color and texture of the barn and the wheat field, but am not very pleased with the sky. It was about 3 pm when I shot the photo and the sky looked like it does in the image. I wanted to include the top of the silo but was unable to get high enough to eliminate the sky. I have tried to improve the sky by adjusting levels, curves and Selective Color, but none of these helped very much. Any suggestiong for improving the sky?

Nikon D200
Nikon18-200 3.5-5.6 G VR at 105 mm
Tripod
1/125 sec at f 11
ISO 200<O:p</O:p

[David Thomasson]

Wow, nice one, Tom! Marvelous subject in beautiful country. Hope you'll post some of the closer shots of the old machinery.

One way to fix the sky: Select the sky, then use a selective color adjustment layer. I adjusted the neutrals as shown here (obviously you can tinker with the sliders). Also added a blank layer in soft light mode and applied a white gradient from the horizon about half way to the top border. Brushes for the clouds, but it would look fine with a clear sky.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2042/selectiveol8.jpg

Result:

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/8997/idahoty1.jpg

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Tom,
Was this in the summer months??? The reason I ask is that if it was at 3pm..........judging by the shadows I have circled.........it had to be as I am judging my assesment on the shadows........later afternoon hours usually cast longer shadow.... so judging by the stakes in the FG and shadow behind the barn, waiting would have been a better option or re-visiting at another time.

I think David did a nice job with the sky......but not sure adding the clouds (even though I like them a lot!).........is the way you want to go. Layers are the way to go when doing corrections and again........David did an excellent job. In todays digital age we all need to become somewhat proficient in the use of the PP tools available to us. I would recommend Robert O'Toole's tutorial........it is rather inexpensive and well thought out. You can PM him with questions.

Now personally.......I would have waited for better light and tried to do everything to avoid the poles on the right in the field...but since you mention the cars........i would also be interested to see what you came up with there........as they look to have quite a bit of character.

[Tom Walter]

David

What a change! It really makes the picture pop. Thanks for the assistance.

I reproduced everything but the clouds which look very realistic. I suspect that you used several kinds of brushes and perhaps with different opacities on the blank layer. Any suggestion as to where one can get a quick lesson on using the different kinds of brushes?

[David Thomasson]

David

What a change! It really makes the picture pop. Thanks for the assistance.

I reproduced everything but the clouds which look very realistic. I suspect that you used several kinds of brushes and perhaps with different opacities on the blank layer. Any suggestion as to where one can get a quick lesson on using the different kinds of brushes?

The brushes are easy as pie to use. One click on a blank layer, then you can adjust layer opacity if they're too bright (I didn't have to in this case). I uploaded four sets of cloud brushes to Yousendit.com. These are the ones I probably use most often. Here's a download link:
http://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d6aXRNNnlTRTUzZUE9PQ

If you search on Google, you can find others, all free.

After you unzip them, just drag them into this directory:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Presets\Brushes

When you re-launch Photoshop, they'll be in your brushes menu.

[Tom Walter]

David,

I successfully downloaded the brushes to my version of Photoshop, CS. Many thanks for the link and download instructions. I agree, they are very easy to use. They will come in handy for certain situations.

[Robert Amoruso]

Thanks David, that was very nice to provide your brushes. Sharing is what makes this website work.