[P Plates]

This image is doing my head in after seeing Alan's edit and not sure if I have enough years left to get as good as Alan is Mick. Was just saying to hubby yesterday, imagine how much longer it would have taken us to learn both photography an PP before the WWW.

It's mainly the gaussian blur I was struggling with Alan. I did watch and attempt an Orton effect on this scene which I'm happier with. This was actually 3 exposures manually blended but think I may have overdone the dodging of the sun rays.

583-copy-one-black-cloud-II by AusGabby, on Flickr

[Alan]

Looks like you getting the hang of it quickly

If you have RAW files it makes getting a few layers of different exposures from the same file relatively easy - then just blend them together - masks make correcting mistakes easier, but I just use the eraser. To give the sky more oomph I use another layer with Multiply Mode and vary the opacity and erase the foreground.

Rays may be a tad overdone, but you've lost detail in the cloud. I did that as well on my first attempt (with blur) and had to go back and do it again without it on the cloud

have fun

[P Plates]

Thanks Alan, so much to learn and remember with PS. I tend to use masks as that's what I originally saw and learned. I think when I used the Orton effect I brushed it into the scene and did brush some into the clouds - should have left them alone. Will have to redo the rays, they look way too artificial in the last one. I tried using just the gaussian blur tool, at different % and blend modes and just couldn't get the effect right at all.