Turning an Overcast Sky Blue

©JP Parmley

I recently had someone ask me how to turn an overcast sky blue.  If you have trees that you can see through and they are high above the horizon, this can be very tricky.  But if they are low, like the example below, there are several methods you can use to get the affect, but one simple way for even novice Photoshop users is to add a blue gradient fade.

First, use any selection tool to select just the sky.  Don't worry about being perfect around the horizon because the blue will be fading to transparent at that point.   Once you have the selection, choose the gradient tool and put it in a color to transparent and linear mode  (see red arrows). Then select a light blue for your top color.

Then use the gradient tool drawing from the top of the picture to about 3/4 way down the selected sky.  If you do not like the result, try drawing longer or shorter lines.  Just be aware that this tool is additive.  If you do not like the first result, undo it.  If you keep using the tool on top of an existing blue gradient fade, it keeps adding to the blue.

Try playing with different shades of blue and opacity. 

Enjoy.

  

Original Picture with Overcast Sky

Use the this mode for the gradient tool

Blue sky added.