Cloud cover

Alistair Campbell explains how to get the most from your skies with smart filters

It often feels like we digital photographers are always hankering for something else – more megapixels, more dynamic range, more colours and more filters. But the better you become at editing, then you will be able to get more from what you already own.

Last year, I picked up a compact Fujifilm X-E1 with a 35mm lens to use as my pocket camera. I love it when I spot a sky full of detail forming overhead; I’ll snap it and might not do much with the images, but every now and then I will mess around with one of them in Lightroom.

In the past, I found that pulling down a graduated filter from the top of the frame was an ideal way to extract more detail. And the ‘Select Sky’ filter in Lightroom’s most recent update makes things even easier – doing a neat job of selecting the entire sky, with minimal bleeding into hedgerows, trees or foregrounds.

So go ahead – snap some quick shots of the sky and open your images in Lightroom. Start by choosing the ‘Select Sky’ option in your Adjustment brushes. And here’s a top tip for you: press ‘O’ to see your mask in red. www.adobe.com