I went to an annual weekend Tractor Fest not far away from my home. To me the most interesting tractors were historical steam powered models. As they were started up in the early morning they belched clouds of smoke which I found picturesque and photographed. But the pictures were rather lifeless as there were no workers about. In an hour or so the workers arrived and started up the saw mill which was attached to the tractor by an array of belts. I took more pictures but by that time the sky had gone bland gray. After doing some post processing in Adobe Camera Raw I opened the file in Photoshop, Select>sky>inverse, then brought in a cloud image I had shot in the past as a new layer and placed it below the tractor layer to fill the blank sky.
Equipment: Hand held Canon R5, Canon 24-105 zoom lens
What do you think and what would you do differently?
This round’s discussion is now closed! 9 comments posted
Julie Deer
Oh Henry, clever you! I like the story telling in your image, including the yawning man on the left. Your image is a bit small to tell, but there is a lot of detail in the machine of the original image that may be lost in shadows in the larger one. Good work! Posted: 09/06/2023 23:18:55
Henry Roberts
Thanks Julie.
Posted: 09/22/2023 11:06:00
Ling Ling Juang
Henry,
Again a wonderful shot! Colorful, balanced and very American. I think the sky replacement is nicely done, clouds made the picture more interesting indeed. I sometimes choose different sky pictures to see if I can make the mood changed. Posted: 09/09/2023 09:42:40
Henry Roberts
Thanks Ling Ling. I live on the shore of Lake Superior and have recorded a number of cloud pictures which I can use in other images. Posted: 09/22/2023 11:08:48
Andrew Hersom
An interesting subject and well taken. A nice piece of history. I think you have improved the picture by replacing the sky, that's nicely done. To be picky the circular saw is neither sharp nor blurred; my preference (next time) would be to use a slower shutter speed to blur the saw blade but that's just me. Posted: 09/13/2023 09:00:26
Henry Roberts
Thanks Andrew, I will use a slower speed next summer. Posted: 09/22/2023 11:10:06
Catherine Honigsberg
You did a great job in post process in bringing out more color and details in the steam saw and the new sky. A lot of interest and color. Nicely done. Posted: 09/18/2023 11:44:55
Don Hill
Hey Henry. A nice preservation of History. I am still torn about sky replacement but it looks natural. I did open the original in Adobe Camera Raw (basicaly Lightroom) and I was able to isolate the sky with an adjustment mask and I was able to pretty much bring back the sky. The interesting thing was that it pretty much looked like the sky you used to replace it, so , I guess there is not issue. I like preserving history and telling stories. Nice job. Also you did a great job of getting everyone to look in the right direction for your shot. Nice. Posted: 09/18/2023 19:04:34
Henry Roberts
Hi Don, thanks for the comments about history and telling stories. As to adjustment masks, I need to work with them. Posted: 09/22/2023 11:15:35
