Dan; I would suggest another technique along with what Dan both the above said. First, duplicate the original so that you don't lose it and then work on the copy. Here, I used the quick select tool (works only where you have a really clean background and good contrast between background and subject) to select the background. Invert selection and then press ctrl-J to put the statue, bldgs, ets, on their own layer.
Now, hold down the ctrl key and click on image in the new statue layer. This will reselect the statue. Now highlight the copy layer and hit delete. This removes the foreground from the copy layer.
Now, click the eye to the left of both the statue layer and the original layer. you should have only the copy layer showing with a hole where the foreground objects were.
You can now use the content-aware fill tool to fill in the holes. Also by having the background on its own layer, you can play with color, contrast, etc. to best bring out the clouds.
This sounds confusing but it actually only takes a couple of minutes. Here's my results.
Untitled-1 by
G. Hinson White, on Flickr
Artist tools: Lumix FZ1000 (Canon 60D, 28/2.8, 10-22mm, Tamron 28-300mm VC ALL NOW FOR SALE - REASONABLE OFFER)
Blog: www.jerrywhitephotography.com
Flickr
IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/63619687@N03/8395604994/ 
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