How to Make Skies Beautiful with GIMP
Shoot at a slow ISO speed, if your camera supports changing this., Use a graduated neutral density filter when taking your photos., Underexpose if you're not using a neutral density filter.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Shoot at a slow ISO speed
For point and shoot cameras, this should always be the slowest speed you have.
If you have a digital SLR, this is less important, but you should still err towards using slower speeds.
Our example used 100 ISO on an ancient Canon D30; more recent digital SLRs will be fine at much faster speeds.
We'll get to the reason for this in a bit. , Consider getting one if you don't have one.
A graduated neutral density filter blocks out light in part of your photo; since skies are typically much brighter than whatever is below them, this allows you to get a more consistent exposure across your photo.
But, if you don't have one, or you have no way of fitting filters to your camera or lens, don't worry about it; see the next step., This can be by as much as a stop or two; anything that ensures that your sky does not go pure white (or largely so).
The lost detail in dark areas can often be recovered later.
Blown highlights (from an overexposed sky) can never be.
The opposite is often true of film cameras; even massive overexposure does not result in blown highlights, but shadow detail is often impossible to recover.
This is part of the reason you should shoot at a slow ISO; recovering shadow detail brings out noise.
Also, the technique used here will bring out any noise that is in the sky, too.
If your photo is already noisy (as it will be at faster ISO speeds), then the end result will be ugly. -
Step 2: if your camera supports changing this.
-
Step 3: Use a graduated neutral density filter when taking your photos.
-
Step 4: Underexpose if you're not using a neutral density filter.
Detailed Guide
For point and shoot cameras, this should always be the slowest speed you have.
If you have a digital SLR, this is less important, but you should still err towards using slower speeds.
Our example used 100 ISO on an ancient Canon D30; more recent digital SLRs will be fine at much faster speeds.
We'll get to the reason for this in a bit. , Consider getting one if you don't have one.
A graduated neutral density filter blocks out light in part of your photo; since skies are typically much brighter than whatever is below them, this allows you to get a more consistent exposure across your photo.
But, if you don't have one, or you have no way of fitting filters to your camera or lens, don't worry about it; see the next step., This can be by as much as a stop or two; anything that ensures that your sky does not go pure white (or largely so).
The lost detail in dark areas can often be recovered later.
Blown highlights (from an overexposed sky) can never be.
The opposite is often true of film cameras; even massive overexposure does not result in blown highlights, but shadow detail is often impossible to recover.
This is part of the reason you should shoot at a slow ISO; recovering shadow detail brings out noise.
Also, the technique used here will bring out any noise that is in the sky, too.
If your photo is already noisy (as it will be at faster ISO speeds), then the end result will be ugly.
About the Author
Amy Edwards
Enthusiastic about teaching practical skills techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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