Editing flat images in Lightroom can seem tricky, but mastering masking tools can dramatically improve your final photos. Understanding masking allows you to add depth and dimension, turning good shots into visually impactful ones.
Coming to you from Christian Möhrle - The Phlog Photography, this detailed video demonstrates how to enhance flat images effectively using Lightroom's masking features. Möhrle begins by adjusting basic settings like exposure, highlights, shadows, and temperature to set a solid foundation. He intentionally selects the Adobe Standard profile over Adobe Color to better control contrast levels. Lowering exposure reveals intricate cloud details, and strategic tweaks to shadows and whites subtly lift contrast without overdoing it. This balanced method ensures the image remains authentic but visually appealing.
Möhrle then explains the power of linear gradients in masking. He strategically places multiple linear gradients to enhance specific regions of the sky, adding darker and lighter areas for depth. Each gradient builds upon the previous one, layering contrast and clarity to reveal dramatic cloud textures. This careful layering technique is essential because it creates natural-looking gradients rather than harsh edits. His process illustrates why masking is crucial for achieving professional-quality landscape edits without artificial results.
The video moves beyond the sky and into the landscape, demonstrating how masking can also bring flat foregrounds to life. Möhrle applies gradients again, carefully positioning shadows and highlights across fields and hills to create the perception of three-dimensional space. He uses subtractive masks to avoid unwanted adjustments, a critical step to keep edits targeted and realistic. Additionally, Möhrle introduces radial gradients to generate subtle glow effects, providing another level of nuance. These techniques emphasize masking’s versatility, showing you can dramatically alter an image’s feel with minimal but precise adjustments. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Möhrle.
And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, "Photographing the World: Japan II - Discovering Hidden Gems with Elia Locardi!”
What does this picture have to do with photography? It's a random pixel soup that doesn't require a camera. As a digital image, a digital painting, it's nice to look at, but it's no longer a landscape photo. It's just image processing, pixel pushing. I don't need a camera or photography for that and I don't even have to get my bum outside.