I'm really happy with this shot, but I ended up with a blown out area on the left where a building was reflecting and I didn't notice it. Can someone point me to a tutorial or give me some advice on how I might fix that? I'm using CS4 currently, but willing to go to the subscription if i need to.
If it is actually clipped then there is no fix, the information in the highlights is lost. Did you try pulling the highlights slider all the way down? Reduced exposure by 1 stop and on top of that pulled the highlights down? If that doesn't fix it, I'm afraid there's nothing you can do.
I know this may be taboo for some people but i would use the patch tool, maybe stealing from another photo from the same shoot and location using the green from the background.
Create a layer mask using any method you like ( Luminosity masks is the way I'd go for this ) and blend in a similar sky from another shot.
By the way, you should also tick the Remove Chromatic Aberration in Adobe Camera RAW, you've got some terrible fringing around the branches.
It's a simple click ( if not removed perfectly, you simply need to fine-tune its removal using the two fringing sliders in ACR ).
Thanks, I will do that.
If one was given the opportunity to use a lens that offered a better bokeh, take it. If one is unfamiliar with this tern, It refers to how the background looks as a results of focusing on a few particular foreground subjects. try this image again with a better lens or one with a better Bokeh.
You could also try using the brush tool and decreasing the exposure on the selected area.
True, true.