Project 52 - Week 29: Sky

As I sat down to write this week's blog, the skies opened up with torrential downpours and loud thunder.  This is not a new thing here in Northeast PA.  EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. THIS. HAPPENS.

It's significant for me today because I had planned on taking one of our dogs over to the park to sit on a dock while I shot what I thought might be one of our great sunsets.  Nope.  Silly me.

So instead let me tell you about the three ways I use "Sky."

 Sometimes I get lucky and just use SKY as is.  That was the case here, chem trails and all.  This photo is quite a number of years old, taken with a Sony point-and-shoot.  I have done little to it, except to bring out the horse in the front a little more and add some lavender tones to the sky.  In this case I used the existing sky to enhance the look and feel of the photo.  Two horses high on a hill above the barns where you can even see the cloud patterns on the hills that surround them. Without this lovely sky, this would be quite a different photo.

Photographers will tell you we are not always so lucky.  We try to pick the best days and best times to take photos, but Mother Nature tends to have her own plan.  Just like today and the rain coming down in buckets around me.

I combat Mother Nature's plan A, by using my plan B.  Whenever I am somewhere where the sky is great and there is a nice scene, I take a photo of it.  Then I use my own photo as the launching off point or background to create a composite.  The dog (Tinker - which must mean stick chaser in some language) was in a different photo on a dreary day, so I dropped him into my backdrop.  I must admit, "dropped" makes it all seem easier than it is, but with loads of practice under my belt, I am much more confident about this type of SKY activity.

And finally, I use a sky overlay as an option in some of my photography work.

I really never want the sky to overwhelm or outshine my subjects, so in this case, I used a subdued version of an overlay.  Overlays are relatively easy to use so long as you don't have too many little intricate spots you need to work the sky into, like a mane and forelock....LOL.  Ah well, it all worked out, didn't it?  In this case the sky was not blue or even white....it was gray.  The overlay gave this photo an entirely new life and look and brightened it extensively.

Always be aware of your SKY and how you can use it to an advantage to enhance your photography.

For more peeks of SKY, the blog circle is ready and waiting.  This week start with Dog Photography by Browning Photo, serving Columbus Ohio pets and their families.  I am sure Lisa has something great in store for us.

Hopefully your weekend skies will be blue, with no rain in sight!