Blown out sky

I would really like some help on how to fix the blown out sky in this picture. (I have both LR & CS2. I have surfed the net and have tried several tutorials but none of them have sufficed. I think the reason is because of all of the leaves and branches in the background. Any and all help would be truly appreciated.
Nancy

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I have sort of fixed it, but you don't allow edits to be posted. In RAW editor the sky is all red on the clipping.

The main problem is not 'fixing it' but ensuring that the shot was not blown in the first place. That is, get the exposure correct at time of shooting. The composition of the family group is very good, but it's spoilt by the sky.

The sun seems to be almost directly overhead, which is said to be the worst time of day for photography, and this picture would seems to bear that out.

I acknowledge that you would light to save the picture with processing, and some expert will undoubtedly be able to offer some suggestions besides the obvious one of the Highlight/Shadow tool in PSCS4.

In the future, look for open shade instead of direct sunlight, and since this was a posed shot, concentrate on evaluating everything you see in the viewfinder at the time of capture and also when reviewing the shot in playback. The histogram display highlight alert would surely be blinking all over that scene.

A simple way for that shot be taken would be to expose properly for the background, then add some flash to illuminate the folks. I realise that doesen't quite help you now, but its something handy to know about.

For now... you could try to fix it using CS2, I guess, by making two copies of the same picture, one less exposed than the other, then layer them one on top of the other and erasing away one layer until the image looks right, but that would be fiddly. Shame not to try it though, any improvements would be good, its such a nice pic.

If you had CS4 you could use the alterations brush to very simply isolate the background and try to save whatever detail lurks in the RAW file...

Turning on Image Editing OK will get you some examples of how it could be done, as Nemo Man said above.

dolfinack wrote in post #8508471
If you had CS4 you could use the alterations brush to very simply isolate the background and try to save whatever detail lurks in the RAW file...

That is what I did. It's probably the best you can do for a fix. Agree about the flash. If there was no other suitable backdrop then flash would be good as no shadow should have been cast from the people. And there are some shadowy areas around the lady's neck/eyes that would have been evened out.

Image editing is now on...thanks for your help
Nancy

Thanks, Nancy.

The shot would have been helped in-camera by choosing a better back-drop, or using fill flash, as has already been said. I edited the posted shot in CS4 RAW editor (ACR). I used the brush tool to selectively darken the sky. You can see the difference, and the branches now have more detail. The brush tool and grad tool are very good, but only available in CS4 and Lightroom (I think). You could have used a wider aperture (f/4) to blur the background detail which is a bit intrusive, IMO.

I also cropped the shot. If you have part of a shot that is unwanted the best option is often to get rid of it! I think the crop adds to the shot compositionally as it makes it more intimate, and being a family shot that seems to be appropriate. Sorry if you don't like it.

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