Yes, you can fake a polarizer in JPEG, but you get more control by shooting and editing in RAW.
One drawback to using Selective Color to darken the sky is that any noise will be amplified. If the image was shot in raw, the same results can be achieved in Adobe Camera Raw, either in Photoshopor in Lightroom 2, and that is also the place to start with noise reduction.
In the Adobe Camera Raw window, below the histogram display, go to the fourth tab to the right, the HSL tab (Hue, Saturation and Luminance). Click the Luminance tab and drag the Blue slider to the left. Caution: it will be powerful if there is much blue in the sky to start with. If the color is not right, go to the Hue tab and adjust the Blue slider there. Back in the Luminance tab you can also lighten the Greens and Yellows in the leaves, as shown below.
If you are using Lightroom 2, click on HSL on the HSL / Color /Grayscale tab (right) to get equivalent adjustments. The color channels are different but you can easily find which ones work for your image.
If this brings out noise in the sky, in Adobe Camera Raw click the tab to the left, Detail, shown below, and move the Luminance noise slider to the right. Going too far with this slider can soften detail, so zoom in to 100% to find the optimum point. (The Color noise slider won’t soften details.) I prefer to leave sharpening at its default settings, as shown, and only sharpen after resizing for print or other output.
In Lightroom 2 the equivalent adjustments are found in the Detail tab.
Diane Miller is a widely exhibited freelance photographer who lives north of San Francisco in the Wine Country and specializes in fine-art nature photography. Her work, which can be found on her web site, has been published and exhibited throughout the Pacific Northwest. Many of her images are represented for stock by Monsoon Images and Photolibrary.
