Project 18: Gradient Sky
Project 18: Gradient FilterThe point of this project is to swap out the existing sky for a fake, gradient sky. As far as methods go, it's about the same process as was used in Project 15: Adding a New Sky. But the point is to make a functional and realistic feeling sky using the gradient tool.
The sky was created in a file by itself using the steps described in the brief, and then pasted into the other file as a layer. Again, the sky was placed behind the other layer. One of the main differences in the approach with this image is that a mask was used to knock out the existing sky, instead of a blending mode. This was a premeditated decision, and the shot was chosen for that reason. It has nice clean edges around the buildings. So the process was fairly easy to do using the magic wand tool, and then creating a quick mask from the selection. The edges of the mask were then refined using the mask dialogue box, and a small soft brush in just a couple of places. But I wasn't finished yet - I wanted to include the windows in the building on the left side of the frame. It wouldn't do to mask them out completely, because I still wanted it to feel like a reflection. So again, I used the magic wand tool to select all of the windows. When I had the selection, I switched over to the mask and filled the selection with 50% gray in order to reveal part of the layer underneath. It was a bit too much, so with the selection still active, I used the Levels dialogue to make it a lighter shade of gray, to take down the intensity. The following are the original, the edited image, and (just for fun) the layer mask used:
The sky was created in a file by itself using the steps described in the brief, and then pasted into the other file as a layer. Again, the sky was placed behind the other layer. One of the main differences in the approach with this image is that a mask was used to knock out the existing sky, instead of a blending mode. This was a premeditated decision, and the shot was chosen for that reason. It has nice clean edges around the buildings. So the process was fairly easy to do using the magic wand tool, and then creating a quick mask from the selection. The edges of the mask were then refined using the mask dialogue box, and a small soft brush in just a couple of places. But I wasn't finished yet - I wanted to include the windows in the building on the left side of the frame. It wouldn't do to mask them out completely, because I still wanted it to feel like a reflection. So again, I used the magic wand tool to select all of the windows. When I had the selection, I switched over to the mask and filled the selection with 50% gray in order to reveal part of the layer underneath. It was a bit too much, so with the selection still active, I used the Levels dialogue to make it a lighter shade of gray, to take down the intensity. The following are the original, the edited image, and (just for fun) the layer mask used:
