Ever since there was Photoshop, I think photographers have been enhancing and/or replacing the skies in their images – by a variety of means and primitive sky replacement tools.
I am included in this group. In fact, back in 2011 I was writing about the sky replacement technique I called “sky plopping” to help over come bald skies in an otherwise great landscape shot. Back then the technique involved some Photoshop finesse and honestly I never used it that often because the results more often than not, were less than acceptable.
But now in 2022 almost every photo editing app including Photoshop 2021, Luminar 4 and Skylum’s new NEO, has a sky replacement tool – making the task of sky plopping a one click process. Just about any image is now a candidate for a new look, and heck, the sky you plop doesn’t even have to be a sky you photographed. The technology is very good, and the results are (can be) very realistic and no one would be the wiser!
So what does this mean for photography? What does this mean for you if you are in the starting our phase of your artistic journey? What if you’re an established photog – how can your audience appreciate your work if help of it isn’t even real or your own work?
I’ve drawn a line in the sand – my take on this has evolved or de-evolved, to take into account the now easy and widespread use of sky replacement tools, and the plethora of AI altered images all over social media.
So my personal stance (and this is for my work and the genres of images I make) is this:
I will not replace skies in my images that are meant to be photographs – as opposed to the images I make that are art, and already heavily manipulated. So if it looks like a “normal photo” I will not post process the sky other than the typical adjustments photgs have been making for ages – colour balance, white balance, detail, de haze, sharpening etc.
I will alter skies if the image doesn’t look like a photo – if it’s heavily textured, purposely “arted up,” or otherwise clearly a manipulated image not purporting to be a photograph.
Yes, I know you may be saying “Well, if you’re editing it with adjustments, what’s the problem with plopping in a new sky or a few clouds?” This is legit and I get it. But for me, I want people to respect me both as a good photographer AND an crazy artist. So I make 2 kinds of images – photographs and art. Keeping all the “tricks” for the art seems like a good way to go.
What do you think about instant sky replacement tools? Have you tried them?
Rolf
Interesting question. Ansel Adams did lots of burning and doging in the darkroom – but that took skills. I’m not sure clicking an insert button to swap in a sky takes skill.
But it’s all computers now anyway – how much hands on editing to any of us do?