Masks in Lightroom have become much more powerful, offering a way to fine-tune your edits with precision and creativity. Here's how to get the most out of them.
Coming to you from Nick Page, this detailed video walks through effective ways to use masks in Lightroom to enhance your photos. Page starts by showing how to establish a strong foundation for your edits. By adjusting exposure and increasing saturation, you can identify the full range of colors in your scene. This helps you set an accurate white balance that reflects the mood of the image. After resetting the sliders, Page uses the camera calibration panel to reintroduce saturation in a natural way, balancing the scene without overdoing it.
Page explains why subtlety is key in handling high dynamic range scenes. Overusing global adjustments can flatten your image, destroying natural contrast and depth. Instead, Page demonstrates how to use local adjustments for targeted changes. For example, selecting the sky and intersecting the mask with a linear gradient helps retain natural blending near the horizon. This combination avoids harsh transitions that can make your edits look artificial.
The video also covers techniques for adding depth to your photos. By applying a soft linear gradient to the bottom of the frame, you can subtly darken shadows and increase contrast. This technique draws the viewer’s eye deeper into the scene. Similarly, Page shows how to mimic atmospheric haze in distant elements like rock formations. Using masks combined with luminance ranges, he lifts shadows in specific areas to create a sense of depth and separation.
Another highlight is how intersecting masks refines your control. Page illustrates this by combining object selections with luminance ranges, ensuring adjustments target only the desired tones. This method is especially useful for enhancing details in shadows or midtones without affecting highlights. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Page.
