GUC., Rothersthorpe, Northampton. {Courtesy of Adobe PS Sky Replacement}

[Ian Paul]

EH8A0018-2 by Ian Wheatley, on Flickr

Taken around a month ago. Posted similar previously but this has the added bonus of the addition of a Photo Shop Sky, released only today. This and Luminar 4 certainly divides opinion as to their merits so how do other members feel on this matter. For me Luminar 4 has the edge in that there are more skies to choose from and the workspace is easier to navigate for better results. Also in 2021 L4 will be updated to show sky reflections accurately in any water included in your shot, essential in my opinion, although I guess it will come at a cost. Regards to all, Ian W..

[Trev B]

Nice shot, know nothing about Photo Shop Sky or Lumimar 4. It will appeal to many, but to me my photographs are an exact record HOPEFULLY of what I see at the time -- but everyone to their own thing.

[Skyelines]

The problem with replacing a sky is that the shadows don't always relate to the light source.

In this shot, by the shadows, the light source appears from behind and to our left but the light from the sky is towards us.

[Brian Sugden]

It looks dramatic but I'm with Trev. I prefer to try and record an accurate image with just minimal post-processing.

[DougZ]

I see Luminar is releasing a new version that is totally AI based & will automatically adjust every aspect of your photo, not just the sky as in v4.
No doubt it will be happily adopted by the Insta crowd.
Photography will eventually be reduced to algorithms in a piece of software

[Ian Paul]

See, I said it was divisive. Not one vote for it so far. But lets be honest here, if you shoot Raw, and if not, why not, then all your images require post processing, minimal or otherwise. Period. I often spend ages on a single image, sometimes returning to it frequently over a period of days until I am eventually satisfied with it. The great Ansel Adams would spend days in his darkroom on a single image, dodging and burning, until he got the result he was after and look at how much his prints fetch now. Sky replacement, used sparingly, can be a useful tool in that it can rescue an otherwise dull drab discarded image, one that you may never get the chance to shoot again, and give it a completely new lease of life. Regards, Ian W.

[DougZ]

I totally take your point Ian, but, do you think your average 18y.o insta user will use it sparingly when you can do this in five mins using Luminar with a (truly!) single click?

[DougZ]

[Ian Paul]

Thanks for you input Doug and also for taking the trouble showing some of your before and after efforts. I think all here would agree that a most are a tad OTT and add nothing to the original picture, which I am sure is what you were trying to illustrate. I seem to remember not too long ago you posting here some very well received pictures that included the Milky Way, no trickery just great natural shots. As for the 18 year old insta users you mention, do you think they would go to the bother, not to mention the expense, of subscribing to Adobe or purchasing Luminar 4 in the first place? A few may I guess, but not many IMO. As for Adobes Sky replacement, having had a couple of days to play with it I have to say I am totally underwhelmed by it. I expected better from them. L4 still has the drop on them. To wrap it up, yesterday I returned to the spot where I took the original photo I used to accompany this post and re shot it as it was so to speak. Au Naturel. Cheers Doug, regards Ian W.
GUC., Northampton Arm, Rothersthorpe. by Ian Wheatley, on Flickr

[DougZ]

No problem at all Ian!
I love a good debate & thinking more about it, I really don't care too much as long as any trickery was declared up front.
Have a great weekend - we have a three day one here so will be leaving shortly to visit two new locations & hopefully get some nice shots. Yay!
Ps: Your last photo is every bit as good as the adjusted one!
Cheers.

[Ian Paul]

Thanks Doug. Have a great mini break. Look forward to seeing the results next week. Ian W.

[davcoll]

Apparently you can use Luminar AI in slider mode, from what I can see with most other software they are all taking the AI route, On1, Adobe etc. I am not sure about Affinity. I left Adobe awhile back I cannot justify £10 a month from my pension.

Dave

[Ian Paul]

Difficult choices here Dave as I too am a pensioner. I run Linux on an older laptop as my daily go to so to speak and only resort to using Windows 10 on a newer machine for my photo editing as the options on Linux are truly abysmal. Tried them all but nothing comes even close to Adobe so grudgingly continuing to subscribe for now. Regards, Ian W.

[tesarver]

Personally I prefer the image that was taken, than adding things to the image that wasn't there. Don't get me wrong that the Sky replacement in the 1st image is not bad, however and it adds interest to the photo, However it then allows photographers to become lazy in that you now can take beautiful sun rise or sun set images without ever being there at that time.

Tom