Landscape tips from Digital Photo

Pretty basic stuff from Digital Photo mag but I thought I would log it as a reminder. Don't take many landscapes.

• Balance the land and sky EV. Pretty straightforward in LR. Use Levels targetted at each area in PS. Also warm up colours (in PS shift midtone slider on red channel slightly).
• Replace bland sky. Make sure sky is lit in same way as foreground. For straightforward sky, select with Magic Wand, increase selection with Select>Modify>Expand> 1 pixel. Delete old sky, drop in new sky. Use soft edged blur brush on join, then small Layer>Matting>Defringe.
• Alternative for complex skylines. Drop in new sky, change blending mode (Hard Light, Multiply, Overlay . . .) then apply layer mask by painting in black over land part, reducing size and opacity as you get nearer to join.
• Convert to mono, can afford much higher contrasts here. Convert to Sepia.
• Arty. Apply Gradient Map to image as an adjustment layer. Tick Preview. Make sure Foreground to Background and Solids are selected under Presets. Double click on Colour Stop slider to select colour for shadows and do the same for highlights to get another colour. Blend adjustment layer to taste when done. Apply dodging and burning to taste. Try a blurred vignette.