Masking In A Sky ... It's All About The Details

I can't count how many times I've traveled off the beaten path for a landscape shot, only for Mother Nature to deal me a dull, bland sky. Fickle girl. But, all need not be lost. If the "bones" of the photo are there (to borrow a Karen Hutton term), substituting in a sky with character can rejuvenate the dull parts of an image.

The basics are easy and any tool that supports layer masks is all you need. However, it's the attention to detail that will ultimately yield success - color matching, angle of the sky, a smooth mask, and handling reflections. In this video, I show an example where I mask in a sky and handle a reflection in a still pool of water.

What tips or tricks do you have for masking?

Scott Davenport

Scott Davenport is a landscape photographer and photo educator and based in San Diego, California. He leads photo workshops, writes photo books, hosts podcasts, makes tutorial videos, and feels weird referring to himself in the 3rd person.

He also can't help getting his feet wet photographing at the beach.

https://scottdavenportphoto.com
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Another Day In Paradise

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