Looking for a little help here ...
this is a blend of two images, one for the sky and one for the autumn leaves. I managed to get the branches into the sky quite OK with a little dodge and burn, but I'm struggling with the edge between the sky and the leaves.
I used a layer mask on the sky, which is the front layer. both layers are 'normal'.
BTW using canon digital photo professional 4 and GIMP 2.10.12 for POST
Looking forward for any help and CC !
Edit: with the help of the reactions to this post, I could solve my problem.
the original is on the left-hand, the improved version is the right-hand one.
Thanks to all !
Sorry to say, Ian - the first thing I thought on seeing the image is that the sky looks fake. To my eye, "dropping in" skies is rarely convincing. Specifically here, I think that the problem is that the foreground, especially around the path, is brightly lit. Now, it COULD be that there's bright overcast overhead and behind us, and a menacing cloud in front, but...
It is actually the real sky that was there that day. I just HDR'ed it a bit, but the effect as you conceive it with the bare eye is very similar like it is in this picture. It were 2 out of 3 exposures that I bracketed.
Included in this post the 2 out of camera JPG's (I worked with the corresponding RAW's for processing)
"[B]ut I'm struggling with the edge between the sky and the leaves." Yeah, that's a bear. The dark halos around the leaves are a dead giveaway. My suggestion would be to start from scratch and just wait for a better day instead of trying to salvage this photo.
The composition is also a bit boring. You've clipped the left and right sides of the tree with the edges of the frame and the top has no breathing room at all. Now it could be that there were other distracting things that needed to be cropped out, but you're left with a composition that is just too tight.
I figured the bright autumn leaves combined with the dark, threatening skies would make a great combination. My first attempt was to lower the highlights and to raise the shadows, but it didn't give me the effect that I liked ...
I think you're right about the image being too tight though, I could have backed up a bit more.
I tried to redo the only exposure that I didn't use in the composite (the middle one), but I miss the detail in the sky...
(included: the redone image + the original JPG of it)
You could use a simple gradient to blend the two images. I'm not saying this is better, but it's something to try:
I like that, being inexperienced in post as I am, I wasn't even aware of the possibility ! Thanks !
I might use all 3 in this exercise ...
There is the "Background Eraser Tool" in PS,even my old CS3 version has it. Be super careful using it, as it's destructive editing. (so make layer copies) Will take some playing around with to get the proper settings to cut the sky out and leave the branches.
The software suite "Luminar" also has sky replacement that's fairly good.
Just throwing out ideas/options, as they would say, nothing more. :)
Thanks for the suggestions, however I think I can hold my ground for now with cheap-ass (read 'free') tools like GIMP ...
I'd rather put my money in glass ;-)
Full respect. I've saved a ton of money having never owned any type of cell phone myself. That completely blows peoples minds. :)
Thank you !
The right-hand one is actually the outcome of the discussion ... I had a problem with the first (left-hand) one, and through the discussion I could create the image I really wanted to create !
It was the gradient layers that did it :-)