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Replacing Sky with Layer Mask

Lesson 53 from: Creating Your Reality with Composite Photography

Renée Robyn

Replacing Sky with Layer Mask

Lesson 53 from: Creating Your Reality with Composite Photography

Renée Robyn

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Lesson Info

53. Replacing Sky with Layer Mask

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

09:16
2

Why You Should Sketch Your Composite

03:25
3

What to Look for in Your Background

10:51
4

Posing Your Model

08:23
5

Communicate with Your Team

10:34
6

Elements of Compositing

31:36
7

Learning from Failure & Criticism

12:27
8

On-Location Safety Tips

03:42
9

How to Nail the Right Perspective for Your Composite Photo

07:15
10

Gauging Light & Exposure On-Location

03:49
11

On-Location Posing

18:37
12

Cliff Shoot Location Final Thoughts

12:03
13

Tips for Culling Images

09:41
14

Culling Images Q&A

11:29
15

Preparing Your Image for Composite

07:18
16

Composite Image Cleanup

11:01
17

Adding Background Image to Composite

17:04
18

The Difference Between Flow & Opacity

05:41
19

Composite Sky Elements

20:58
20

Using Curves to Color Match

05:43
21

Adding Atmospheric Depth to Image

17:08
22

Using Color Efex Pro to Manipulate Color

07:37
23

Using the Liquify Tool

05:15
24

Color Theory & Monitor Calibration

10:35
25

Adding Smoke Layer to Image

07:55
26

Selective Sharpening

05:18
27

Crop Your Image

02:29
28

Goal Setting for Digital Artists

04:39
29

Review of Location Composite

01:57
30

Understand Angle & Height for Your Base Plate Image

06:15
31

Base Plate Focus Point

04:45
32

Base Plate Lighting Tips

06:10
33

How to Use a Stand-In for Base Plate Image

03:47
34

Capture On-Location Base Plate Image

05:57
35

Student Positioning Demo

09:05
36

Base Plate Sketching

07:33
37

On-Location Sky Capture

01:53
38

What to Look for in a Base Plate Model

14:30
39

Building Composite Model Lighting

10:03
40

Composite Model Test Shots for Angle Matching

19:48
41

Composite Model Shoot: The Art of Fabric Throwing

13:34
42

Composite Model Shoot: Working with Hair

05:45
43

Composite Model Shoot: Posing Techniques

21:26
44

Composite Test with Final Shot

06:12
45

Lighting Setup Overview

04:52
46

Culling Model Shoot Images

03:35
47

Adjusting Skintone Colors

04:54
48

Merging Background with Model

04:54
49

How to Mask Hair

09:49
50

Creating a Layer Mask with the Brush Tool

14:23
51

Creating Shadow Layers

07:10
52

Removing Visual Distractions with Stamp Tool

07:11
53

Replacing Sky with Layer Mask

05:15
54

Drawing Hair Strands and Atmospheric Depth

10:30
55

Creating Contrast in Your Composite

12:23
56

Adding Atmospheric Elements

06:43
57

Using Particle Shop

11:47
58

Selective Color Adjustments

07:58
59

Cropping, Sharpening, & Final Touches

10:29
60

Closing Thoughts

05:52

Lesson Info

Replacing Sky with Layer Mask

So the next thing I wanna look after, is I want to get rid of that sky. So, I am going to do what we were doing yesterday. Well, the first thing I'm gonna to do is I'm gonna to find a sky image that I like. So, I'm gonna go here, and let's pick one. Do I like that one? I think I need something more horizon line. That one's better. I like this one, this one's cool. So double clicking it. I'm probably gonna make it just a little bit brighter. It's a little bit dark. Just gonna bring up the exposure a tiny little bit. I'm not going to worry about bringing up any ... Contrast, or anything like that. Just leave it alone. Open Image. Command + A, or Control + A. Select All, Copy, Control + C, oops. Aww man, where'd it go? Control + Shift + V, paste. So I'm going to throw this blending mode of the clouds on multiply, same as I did yesterday. Gonna hit V, which is gonna move my background around, and see how we have this nice horizon line coming along here? Because I shot it pretty close to th...

e same angle. And there's enough going on here. So I'm going to create a luminosity mask, like we did yesterday, when we were using channels. So, first thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna create a curves layer, 'cause I just wanna extract the sky. So I'm going to bring that up, and bring this down. So I'm just creating enough contrast. And hopefully I'm gonna get like a relatively clean cut on the trees. 'Cause like I said, we don't... You guys have seen how to do trees and cutting all that stuff out. So, I'm going to go to my channels. Red channel looks like that. Green channel looks like that. Blue channel looks like that. So I'm gonna try to, I'm picking the channel that's giving me the most black along this horizon line. I'm gonna hold Control, which is going to bring up that square. Gonna go to Layers, I'm gonna go to my sky layer, and I have my dancing ants, so I'm just gonna click on the mask. I'm gonna get rid of that curves layer. And so of course this isn't going to be totally perfect. I'm gonna hold Alt on my model. Sorry, Alt + Control on the model. I'm gonna go to my brush, and I'm going to invert my selection, Control + Shift + I, and I think that'll get me where I need to be. Oh no, damn it! See there's 50% chance right of getting it right, remember I was saying this? This is one of those things. Make sure we're clicking on the layer mask. There we go. Okay select that, and now I just have to clean up ... All this stuff here. So, I'm using far too soft of a brush, and I'm gonna use that dodge and burn technique here. Actually gonna lighten this up along the horizon line a little bit, whoops. Nice and low ... Too much. So remember the things that are further away, have less information. Alrighty. Now, I'm going to hold Alt, click on this, and see how we're doing here along the horizon line. So I'm going to go back to that dodge and burn technique, and I don't remember which retoucher it was. It could've been Glenn Duis, who's out of the UK. He does really nice work in retouching. It totally could've been him, but I don't remember who it was who showed me. It was just like some random YouTube video, so I cannot take credit for figuring this out. It was definitely on the internet. So, we have a little bit of haloing going on here. This grass, like these foresty trees and stuff like that, I probably would spend a lot of time going in and cleaning it up. We don't have time for that today (laughs). I don't wanna do that to you. So, I am just gonna take my brush, nice and small, and I'm gonna bring over some of this sky into her hair because we can, and it's going to look a lot more realistic. So, I've got some malfunctions in her mask going on here. Oops. Here we go.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Texture Sample Pack
Layered Beach PSD Composite
Layered Cliff PSD Composite

Ratings and Reviews

Dino Maez
 

i have to say, the class was AMAZING! in every way from the tricks and technique's of mastering this art form to the personalized attention given by Renee. through the class you are able to learn information that would normally take the average person years of trial and error. Renee gives you the gift of benefitting from her her experiences and what she has learned THE HARD WAY! Renee is an outstanding instructor full of passion for what she does, and with a strong desire to not only improve the art, but more importantly, pay it forward, by sharing her knowledge with others. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the event in person, truly a once in a lifetime experience for me, the staff at creative live were THE BEST! they are helpful in every way and really made this event something special, i can't say enough about the experience i had and would highly recommend that anyone who has the opportunity to go down for a class, it will be an experience that you will never forget. but the best part of creative live is that wether you are there in person or wether you are watching from the comfort of your own home, you are involved in the class in REAL TIME, you have the ear and attention of the skilled artist giving the instruction, being there myself i can tell you that Renee was regularly given questions and comments from the viewers via the creative live staff and she would respond to them as they came, in that way you are very much apart of the class you are never left without getting that personalized attention of an amazing artist or that specific question you have answered, and even better you have the option to purchase the class and have it as a constant resource in your tool kit that you can refer back to at any point that you need a refresher or want to recall that special technique that was demonstrated. thank you thank you to renee and all the staff at creative live you have a life long member in me. and i would recomend that everyone take advantage of this valuable resource dino maez

stephen lenman
 

I have completed many creative courses. This is by far the best so far. Quite the most amazing and inspiring presenter with a true passion for their craft. The core information is excellent, but the thing i liked most were her subtle tangents, dropping incredible information completely on the fly. A complete real world honest view of business and practical side of the industry. Especially her advice on how she started to her business. Saving up enough in her day job so she could pay the rent, and do photography for 3-6 months.

Sheldon Carvalho
 

Awesome class. I've been following Renee for a very long time. I love her work and to finally see her work and get an image done from start to finish was quite something.. I love the way she sees things and the way she treats her work and all fellow creative. I would recommend this to everyone interested in getting into composting. Looking forward to creating and making my own art work. But it now :) Have fun creating. :)

Student Work

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