Using a mask in Photoshop Raw

Kathryn posing at a creek at Indian Canyon near Palm Springs

Photoshop CC has an interesting masking feature that allows you to select different areas effectively.  I have found it excellent at selecting skies and subjects.  It also has the ability to add graduated masks like what you could do in the older CS version.  The changes are done in the Camera Raw program and then imported to the main Photoshop program where further adjustments can be made.  You can see the side menu and masking window in the image below.

Masking control panel with the various adjustment options.

In the above photo, the original image had a range of shadows and highlights that made it difficult to process both aspects of them together.  Masking allows you to select one part of the image and work it without affecting the other part.  I use HDR to work with complicated lighting situations, but I find that I can often get good results by using masking instead.  

After correcting for the difference in brightness, I then worked on the image's white balance, saturation, and levels.  After applying the global corrections, I opened the photo in Photoshop proper and completed the post-adjustment.  The entire process was relatively easy.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com