Photoshop How To

When it comes to shooting outdoors we’re all at the mercy of Mother Nature, no matter the level of our skills or the beauty of a scene. And sometimes that means arriving at a great location, only to confront boring, dull skies.

Fortunately, the latest update to Photoshop includes a number of powerful sky-replacement features that can save the day. In addition to previous sky-replacement capabilities, the update enables you to batch import sky photos into Photoshop, download a brand-new sky collection for free from Adobe, and much more.

Colin Smith of Photoshop Café is one of favorite image-editing instructors, and in this episode he demonstrates how easy it is to swap skies. He also adds a few extra techniques of his own.

Smith begins by clearly describing Photoshop’s latest sky replacement features, and he explains how they can be employed to improve different types of landscape photos. Then he moves on to the specifics of adding new skies.

Once you’ve selected the new sky you want to use, it’s time to make the switch. And Smith walks you through the process from beginning to end. He then offers a few compelling tricks, like adding a refection of stars to the water in his starry sky image.

While this is a basic tutorial, it works really well. If you want even greater control, Smith supplies a link to a more in-depth approach in the description beneath the video.

Take a look at Smith’s YouTube channel for more editing advice, and don’t miss yesterday’s post with eight landscape photography hacks that deliver great results.