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  Doug submitted the photo below to the digital photography tutor page to be critiqued.

Ed liked the photo, but felt there was something lacking. That 'something' he felt was in the sky. A more dramatic sky would really lift the image.

(roll your mouse over the image to see the two photos)

Photograph of lone saguaro - submitted to digital-photography-tips.net by Doug Weber


The changes Ed made were made in Photoshop Elements.

He selected Layer, and then New adjustment layer, and then selected Gradient map... He clicked OK in the next box.

From the Gradient map dialog box he chose a gradient map that suited the sky.

Next, he clicked on the layer mask, and selected the tree and the grasses. After selection he filled them with pure black (masking them from the gradient map).

And the result is above.

With more time, and a larger starting photo Ed could have carefully masked out the tops of the grasses too - using a small, pure black brush on the layer mask.


Have a photo you'd like Ed to critique? Click here to submit your photo to the digital photography tutorials page