How can I make a cloudy sky more interesting?

Question

I have an image that has a totally cloudy sky.  The clouds have some variation in brightness and it looks interesting enough to try to emphasize those variations.  What I've tried doing is to apply a layer to achieve the desired result.  I've selected the sky and then applied a Brightness/Contrast layer.  Unfortunately the sliders on this layer won't give me the range of variation I'd like to see.  I might be able to use Generative Fill but was hoping to find another way to make the sky interesting.  I then thought about using a Black & White layer on the sky.  With the various color sliders I actually can create some more variation and contrast, but the clouds shouldn't be pure B&W because they don't look natural.  I then though that if I changed the density of the mask that might work, but what that does is to apply the B&W slider changes to the parts of the image I don't want changed (the parts excluded in the full density mask).  Any good ideas out there?

Semaphoric · Accepted Answer

I would select the sky, and make a Curves adjustment layer. With that, you can emphasize contrast where needed.

josantgomez · Answer

Your post attracted me. Having been born and lived for about 40 years in a beautiful city but with a rainy climate, for a long time, even afterwards, I could not escape the aesthetics that were so familiar to me. Today I see clouds differently. But I would like to see the full photo so I can give you an opinion. A school of French painters from the late 19th century said that if you knew how to paint clouds you were already a painter... (Of Fontainebleau?). But, if what you want is to add drama, I share what they have suggested. But without seeing it, I repeat, I wouldn't know what to think about it. André Kerstesz has a photo that I will not forget: "Clueless Cloud", a sky between skyscrapers in New York. (I'm not sure if I spelled his last name correctly, and if you search for it you may find another one with the same name but who is a philosopher. My doubt is with the letter "s")

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