Alright, so yesterday I was messing around with some photos and wanted to get that super popular “sky looks blue” effect. You know, where the sky is just incredibly vibrant and blue? I figured I’d give it a shot in Lightroom, and here’s how it went down.
Getting Started
First, I grabbed a photo I took a while back. It was a decent shot, but the sky was kinda blah – washed out and not very interesting. I opened it up in Lightroom’s Develop module, ready to work some magic.
Tweaking the Basics
I started with the basic adjustments. I usually bump up the contrast a little to make things pop. Then, I played with the exposure, making sure it wasn’t too dark or too bright. The highlights and shadows? I adjusted those too, just to get a good balance.
The Color Game
Now for the fun part – the colors! I headed over to the HSL/Color panel. This is where you can really control individual colors. I selected the blue color and started messing with the sliders:
- Hue: I shifted this a bit towards the cyan side, making the blue look less purple and more of a true, deep blue.
- Saturation: Oh yeah, I cranked this up! This is what really makes the blue sky stand out.
- Luminance: I lowered this slightly, giving the blue more depth and making it look richer.
Finishing Touches
After getting the blue just right, I sometimes like to add a little bit of clarity. This can help sharpen things up and make the clouds look more defined. I also sometimes play with the vibrance and saturation sliders in the basic panel, just to give the overall photo a little extra oomph.
Finally I find a preset online, it called “Teal and Orange”, I download and install it, and apply it to my photo, adjust the preset a little bit.
The Result
Boom! The sky in my photo went from dull to absolutely stunning. It was vibrant, deep, and just looked amazing. It’s a pretty simple process, really, but it can make a huge difference in your photos. I’m definitely going to be using this technique a lot more!
