Looking For Suggestions On How To Complete A Process

I'm trying to replace a background and I'm able to do it for most of the picture but, have run into a bit of a problem.
The picture is of a bird perched on a branch of a spruce tree.
The background is a clear sky which is completely blown out.
I'm trying to replace the blown out sky using another image of a clear blue sky.

The issue is the space between the needles of the branch the bird is perched on.

I can get the majority of the background the blue colour I want using the method in the provided link but, the space between each needles remain white using this method.
There are a lot of needles with a very small space between each of them.
Cropping part of the branch out isn't an option.

https://helpx.adobe.co​m …e-replace-background.html
The video is a short one, only about 3 minutes.

Is it possible to do what I want without spending a lot of time and tedious work?

Have a look at channel masking. 7minute video below.

https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=csWUI9sQIG4

lacogada wrote in post #18629175
Have a look at channel masking. 7minute video below.

https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=csWUI9sQIG4

Thanks for the link.
The video looks like it provides information to help with what I want to do.
I'll bookmark it for future reference.

Since I posted my question, I found a way to do what I wanted to do.
It was quite by accident how I ended up doing it.

I was following instructions for a Photoshop CS5 tutorial someone had posted about a similar request and I think I did something I wasn't supposed to do.
Either that or the same steps when using Photoshop CC , gives a different result.
Whatever I did, it masked perfectly what I needed.
I then copied the masked portion and then pasted it on the picture of the blue sky.
Turned out exactly how I was hoping it would.
It only took about two minutes to do everything.

canongear wrote in post #18629198
Thanks for the link.
The video looks like it provides information to help with what I want to do.
I'll bookmark it for future reference.

Since I posted my question, I found a way to do what I wanted to do.
It was quite by accident how I ended up doing it.

I was following instructions for a Photoshop CS5 tutorial someone had posted about a similar request and I think I did something I wasn't supposed to do.
Either that or the same steps when using Photoshop CC , gives a different result.
Whatever I did, it masked perfectly what I needed.
I then copied the masked portion and then pasted it on the picture of the blue sky.
Turned out exactly how I was hoping it would.
It only took about two minutes to do everything.

Good ... maybe post the link as it may help someone.

canongear wrote in post #18629127
The picture is of a bird perched on a branch of a spruce tree.
The background is a clear sky which is completely blown out.
I'm trying to replace the blown out sky using another image of a clear blue sky.

Instead of describing the picture, why not show it?

lacogada wrote in post #18629247
Good ... maybe post the link as it may help someone.

Sure
http://www.pxleyes.com …-A-Tree-In-3-Minutes.html
I only went as far as step 3.
Like I mentioned, I might have done something accidentally I wasn't supposed to do so, I can't guarantee results other users may get.

Peano wrote in post #18629289
Instead of describing the picture, why not show it?

I thought if someone was going to help and if my description of the picture didn't provide enough information for them, then I would've posted the picture if requested.
But, I get your point so, here are a couple of pictures.
The first one is the starting point and the second one is a quick redo with the results of using the method from the link I included in my initial post.
It was the white showing in the gap of the needles that was the issue I was wanting to fix.

Personally, I don't mind the blown out sky in the first picture but, someone asked me if I was able to change the colour.
I was sure that was possible but I just didn't know at the time how to do it and that's what's lead me to this point.
I ended cropping off some of the background branch on the right as well.

Thanks for posting the image. In this case you don't need to mask out the pine needles at all. You can create a blue sky with a Selective Color adjustment layer.

.

Peano,

I really like the soft, pastel blue in your edit.

I think that bolder, richer blue skies are a real problem, and I do whatever I can to avoid them in my bird images. . White skies, or very pale grey or blue skies (like yours, or even paler than yours) are much to be preferred.

I realize that what I've said here really has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I wanted to give my opinion about sky colors, even though it is off topic.


.

Or put a new sky in there using this method. It's very easy.

Peano wrote in post #18629383
Thanks for posting the image. In this case you don't need to mask out the pine needles at all. You can create a blue sky with a Selective Color adjustment layer.

Thanks Peano ... that's surely a new for me.

Peano wrote in post #18629383
Thanks for posting the image. In this case you don't need to mask out the pine needles at all. You can create a blue sky with a Selective Color adjustment layer.

Thanks very much for that tip.
I don't use Photoshop a lot and have never used that selective colour adjustment tool.
Showing what adjustments you made was a big help as well.

Damo77 wrote in post #18629409
Or put a new sky in there using this method. It's very easy.

Hosted photo: posted by Damo77 in
./showthread.php?p=186​29409&i=i231700287
forum: RAW, Post Processing & Printing

Thank you for that link. I'll bookmark that one as well.
I do like the use of the clouds in your example.
I would've use some in mine as well, but it was a clear blue sky the day I took the sky picture.

Here is the before and after using the method I mentioned in post#6.

Damo77 wrote in post #18629409
Or put a new sky in there using this method. It's very easy.

Thanks Damo77 ... some great tips here also.

canongear wrote in post #18629561
Thanks very much for that tip.
I don't use Photoshop a lot and have never used that selective colour adjustment tool.
Showing what adjustments you made was a big help as well.

Glad it helped. Here's a little refinement for creating clouds using that method. First, set white point on the sky to make sure it is pure white (255.255.255). Then use black cloud brushes (free and easy to find online) on the layer mask to knock out the blue created by Selective Color. For shallower depth of field (clouds out of focus), just blur the layer mask

Blurred layer mask: