Wednesday 01 Mar 2006
Advanced techniques to change the time of day - part two creating a sunset.
Creating a sunset
Dramatic sunsets have to be one of the most beautiful natural sights people can witness, but for photographers, waiting for such an event to occur can be frustrating and disappointing. Traditionally, when the light isn’t producing the desired result, various camera filters such as coloured grads are used to add the required drama.
Fortunately, using digital technology, almost any image can be transformed into a sunset by adjusting tonal values and adding warm sunset colours. When creating a sunset, start with a scene that was photographed late in the afternoon, and preferably one that contains interesting clouds.
Since dramatic sunsets largely depend on dramatic skies, this produces a better result. Also, the direction of the light should be similar to a natural sunset. Avoid scenes photographed in the middle of the day as the clouds will be lit from above, which is unnatural for a sunset.
1. Although this scene has the necessary dramatic clouds and interesting light, the expected sunset colours simply did not materialize. It is necessary to add the final touch digitally.
2. Begin by making the scene more dramatic. Create a Levels adjustment layer above the main image and use the sliders to increase the contrast and colour. Control the local effect of the Levels adjustment layer by painting with different opacity brushes on its layer mask.
3. Shadow details in scenes such as this often become flat, and local burning and dodging may be required. Use the Layer > New Layer dialog to create a layer filled with medium grey, and set the blending mode to Overlay. Paint on this layer with light or dark brushes to respectively dodge and burn local areas of the image. Here I have lightened the tops of the rows of trees.
4. The final step is to add the powerful sunset colour to the required areas. A quick way to do this is to add a new Solid Color Fill layer in Overlay mode from the Layer > New Fill Layer menu, as shown in the dialog boxes.
The layer mask automatically added to the Fill layer can be painted on to control where the colour is applied. In the final image I have painted on the Fill layer mask with a black brush to remove the warm colour from the blue sky.
Les Meehan
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