LIGHTROOM TUTORIAL

Darken the sky to draw focus into an image

Use colour range masks for dramatic skies, and darken the sky to draw focus into an image

In this tutorial, I will teach you how to darken the top of the sky using a colour range mask. I do this with most of my photos because I like using the sky as a natural vignette. It’s a way to add more contrast to the photo, and it helps to draw the eye away from the edges of the frame and into the centre and key elements of the image.

1

SELECT AND APPLY FILTER To darken the sky in my images, I apply a graduated filter. By darkening the sky gradually, you’ll lead the viewer’s eye away from the edges of this frame towards the key focal areas. The first stage is to import the image into Lightroom.

2SELECT

‘COLOUR’ RANGE MASK I use the ‘colour range’ mask within the graduated filter to target the adjustment to the blues in the sky. I don’t want to darken the clouds. Click the colour picker on the sky to select the blues. You can hit ‘O’ to see the affected area.

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ADJUSTING COLOUR RANGE MASK You may find that the automatic selection is either too broad or minimal, so try shifting the ‘amount’ slider until you have a selection you’re happy with. Failing that, try brushing away parts of the selection using the ‘Brush tool’.

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DARKEN THE SKY Next, reduce the filters’ exposure and increase the dehaze to darken the sky. You could also reduce the highlights and blacks which will add further contrast between the blue sky and white clouds, which will really make it pop.

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REDUCE THE LUMINANCE Once you’re happy with the graduated filter, go to the HSL menu. Hit luminance, and reduce the blue luminance. This will further darken the sky. However, reduce this minimally as it will affect the luminance of every blue part of your image.

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ADD A VIGNETTE Lastly, open the effects menu. Using the highlight priority style, create a light vignette to draw focus to the subject of the photo. Finish off by playing with the midpoint and roundness, and feather until you’re happy with the results.

Before KARANGASEM, BALI I was happy with this photo taken on my Mavic 2 Pro. However, you can see the sky is a little flat compared to the rest of the landscape scene BEFORE

After DRAMATIC SKY I love the end result. I have darkened the sky which adds depth to the photo, as well as helping to draw focus to the most important elements of this image, the volcano and house