Range masking is one of the less used yet more powerful features in Adobe Lightroom. If you haven't used them, check out this tutorial covering the ins and outs.
Photographer Michael Shainblum and his dog bring us a great tutorial covering the use of the range mask. It is available on any of the Lightroom adjustment tools like the radial filter, the graduated filter, and the brush. The idea is to refer to the image's color or luminosity and only affect the targeted range.
I almost never use global adjustments beyond some simple fixes. Targeted adjustments are really where you can take your photos to the next level. If you only want to adjust the bright area, you can use the range slider. There is also an eyedropper tool to choose a color instead of just the luminosity. Turning the visible mask on and off lets you really refine the mask to suit your needs.
Shainblum walks us through some practical examples and shows how to choose parts of the photo and effectively fix exactly where he wants quickly. The tips are easy to follow, and if you are unaware of the power of range masks, this is a great overview. I love learning tricks like this that seem so obvious after you get used to using them and make you wonder how you got by previously without them.
Thanks for sharing Michael!
My pleasure, Michael Shainblum!
I have been hoping for over a year that it would be implemented in Lightroom mobile, it’s almost essential now, (of course with merge pano and merge HDR). 😊.
I did not know the feature was missing there. You'd have to imagine they will add it eventually.
This is such a time saver! Using the auto mask function with the brush worked to an extent but I always have to go back and erase areas that I did not want masked. Sending you a cyber beer, thanks for this one Michael! Cheers!