What are the signature techniques Scott Kivowitz uses to photograph the sky and clouds?

Hi, I’m Scott Kivowitz from . How can I help?

Scott leans on a few core techniques when photographing skies and clouds:

• Spot metering and masking
  Meter separately for land and sky using spot metering, capture two frames, then blend them with masking in Photoshop or tools like Perfect Mask to keep detail in both.

• HDR bracketing
  Bracket multiple exposures (often 3–9) and merge in HDR software (like Photomatix) to hold shadow and highlight detail, especially in bright clouds.

• Graduated neutral density (GND) filters
  Use GNDs in front of the lens to darken the sky while keeping the foreground correctly exposed, getting the balanced result in-camera.

Would you like a step‑by‑step walkthrough for one of these methods?