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Masking sky behind tree

BeO
Top Commenter
Hello dear forum members.

How would you separate the sky behind the tree?

I used automask, I used the advanced color editor, none of it worked great in this example:

Full image:

http://i61.tinypic.com/6hm3qh.jpg


Full image:

http://i61.tinypic.com/2evrxjo.jpg



I was not either able to pick the sky via the advanced color editor, although I tried a lot.

The final result, after a lot (!) of work, brushing and erasing (even with brush pixel sizes between 1 and 4):

Full image:

(the crop is intended, the resolution is down-sized due to tinypic.com restrictions):
http://i59.tinypic.com/153xt7s.jpg

How would you try to accomplish this task? (assuming you wanted to 😊 )

What is your experience with the automask or advanced color editor feature?

Thanks and all the best
BeO

P.S. I wish I could zoom in to 600% or more for the tiny detail work.
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • Drew Altdo
    [quote="BeO" wrote:
    I was not either able to pick the sky via the advanced color editor, although I tried a lot.


    Be0,
    Why is that?

    I think in this example, the Color Editor is a much better option than a mask.
    If you can provide the RAW through a Support Case I would be happy to help show you how to do this.

    With a quick Color Editor Adjustment you can get a blue sky without effecting the rest of the image;
    http://i58.tinypic.com/5piwq1.png
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  • mli20
    First thing to do is make sure that any traces of aberrations and fringing has been removed. Otherwise there will be minute colourshifts along edges, which are bound to prevent the advanced colour editor from doing a decent job.

    Next; the sky appear to be almost perfectly grey, so no distinct colour can be picked. A difficult case, but hopefully others can come up with a workable solution. Best of luck.

    Cheers,
    Mogens
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  • Michael Fritzen
    First thing to do is make sure that any traces of aberrations and fringing has been removed. Otherwise there will be minute colourshifts along edges, which are bound to prevent the advanced colour editor from doing a decent job.

    Next; the sky appear to be almost perfectly grey, so no distinct colour can be picked. A difficult case, but hopefully others can come up with a workable solution. Best of luck.

    Cheers,
    Mogens


    Hi,

    my idea for a workaround is to use the colour editor. Just NOT trying to pick the blues / greys but the greens and browns and then inverting. Perhaps I'd do this on an Adjustment Layer with a mask grossly painted over the tree just to limit the area which needs to be analysed.
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  • mli20
    Excellent idea if I may say so, Michael.

    Brazil, huh. Land of Maricotinha, Chico Buarque and Caetano Veloso. Warmest greetings from Denmark.

    Cheers,
    Mogens
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  • BeO
    Top Commenter
    Thanks,

    Advanced color editor: I do not get a hold on the grey sky by picking the greens then inverting. Whatever I try I just don't get the sky.

    Automask: Purple defringing and CA removal does not help the automask feature to get the small holes in my case.

    I will provide the RAW file as offered by Drew, maybe there is a trick, or maybe my example can help to improve the masking/color editor.

    I'll keep you updated.

    Best
    Marc
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  • BeO
    Top Commenter
    Update:

    Drew kindly replied and also provided a rough idea how to solve it in Photoshop.

    Drew, I think you don't mind if I quote you:
    A mask for this type of image is simply not practical. Not in Capture One and not in Photoshop or any other software.
    The details are simply going to stand out regardless of adjustments applied and mask made. You would need several masks and blending modes in Photoshop to make this practical, and then of course you need to weigh the time invested against the image in question.

    For your example I would simply use the Advanced Color Adjustment to make the gross adjustments you want, and then if necessary fine tune with a mask.
    I would do that on two separate images and then merry them together in Photoshop.

    See attached for rather quick and dirty results.


    Drew with Photoshop:


    (I cropped and converted to jpg)

    I very much appreciate your effort. But I do not fully agree with you.

    - Yes, it is not practical, not in Capture One, currently. Neither (quick) masking nor advanced color editor worked.

    Photoshop:
    Your quick and dirty result actually looks very nice; but that's one of my points, I want to avoid Photoshop whenever possible.

    However, I have created a mask in CS3, without detail brush-works, which works a lot better for the "holes" than with Capture One. (I made a layer, boosted highs and reduced darks with a gradient, used a channel to create a selection and used it as a layer mask. Not perfect either (egdes blend not soft enough), but it was "quick" and dirty; I am not very experienced with CS.)

    Me with photoshop masks:


    (dark sky to exaggerate)

    Lightroom:
    Here's my strongest point, Lightroom has a feature "Split toning", you can modify the hue for highlights and darks separately, it's just a few clicks. It works also for the "holes". It is not for masking but for toning.

    DxO has something similar if I remember correctly.

    Lightroom:


    Again, Capture One:


    This shows that it is indeed possible to "catch" desired pixels or areas by brightness, and this would be a very useful feature in Capture One too. Catching pixels by color and or brightness and changing it, or even add it to a mask.

    Please take this as a suggestion for Capture One's product backlog.

    Thanks again and best regards
    Marc

    P.S. btw, how do you manage PSD files with Capture One, I think they don't show up in the browser...

    P.P.S. Having said all the above I still think Capture One is the best product currently (compared to Lightroom and DXO) and I am about to get a license soon... I also like the forum and the support by the staff team
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