Luminance Masks

[Thlayle]

Greetings,

I am almost a year into learning Photoshop via a CC subscription, I am feeling I have learned the basics quite well and am looking into more and more techniques that can add to my tool set for post-processing.

Lately, I have been trying out luminance masks and find them quite helpful, easy to use and quite effective at bringing out detail in the tonal range, especially in situations of high contrast and/or low light levels.

I have found several sources for ready-made luminance masks. It seems worth the time to work with them as opposed to generating my own

My question is: are you using luminance masks? If so, when? And are there better approaches or tools for the same purpose? Are there situations where they do not seem to work well?

The attached image was processed via luminance masks and some other steps. I started with a set of RAW images stitched together in Photoshop for the panoramic. Shot with a Canon T2i and a Rokinon 14mm UWA.

-Randy

[James G]

Hi Randy,
You are asking a very wide ranging series of questions.

I use them to prepare specific selections of 'Dark' or Light areas of an image I may wish to work on. The task in hand varies enormously since I could be targeting areas I want to sharpen, or remove global sharpening effects. Sometimes I want to adjust colour or vibrance or.....well I could go on for ever ......

Basically, if you can apply a luminosity mask to a layer then you can apply any specific adjustment you wish to the masked area.

It is a big subject, and there are lots of tutorials available on the web. There are also a lot of books available.

I don't normally make recommendations but in respect of luminosity masks I suggest you take a look at the free tutorials and resources available from 'Jimmy McIntyre'.
He is a professional photographer who has published a lot of 'free' resources and luminosity mask techniques on his website.

http://www.throughstrangelenses.com/

Check out his free actions....

[Thlayle]

James G,

Thanks for your input. As a matter of fact, I have looked at several resources on this & it is Jimmy McIntyre's masks that I am currently working with.

I realize it is a big subject and your comments are very helpful. Specifically, I am trying to get a feel for how useful that others with more experience than me are finding this specific tool. They seem to be working well for me and they are easier than some other techniques I have tried for improving the tonal range & making localized improvements / adjustments in lots of different shots.

-Randy

[IzzieK]

Here is a tutorial for it, if this is the one you are looking for:
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/p...minosity-mask/

[Thlayle]

Here is a tutorial for it, if this is the one you are looking for:
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/p...minosity-mask/

Thanks, Izzie. I actually have reviewed that one, among others, before.

Do you use luminance masking in your post-processing? Very often? Or do you use other methods work better?

[dennybeall]

Thanks IzzieK, That tutorial is very well done and complete. Was able to follow through easily.

[cuilin]

Here is a tutorial for it, if this is the one you are looking for:
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/p...minosity-mask/

i've used luminosity masks before, found them via jimmy mcintyre, but i hadn't seen this one before. thanks for posting.

[PhotoByTrace]

I use luminosity masks in my landscapes fairly extensively, but I also LOVE colour and surreal scenes. I started out following tutorials by Tony Kuyper and then "splurged" some money on Sean Bagshaw's video series and was extremely pleased I did. Of all the money I've spent on photography-related accessories in the past 2 years, I think that was definitely the best value for money. It really gave me a variety of tools in how I applied the luminosity masks from blending multiple exposures, using the masks to bring out midtones, or to painting through the luminosity selections. I also enjoy Jimmy's tutorials too, he keeps it short and simple and best of all... free

There are scenes I shoot where I won't use the masking; especially non-blended night skies or where I want to keep it a low contrast scene. But if it needs blending to get the dynamic range, I'll often use luminosity masks to assist with the blend; so for many of my sunrises and sunsets. Also anywhere I feel the midtones could do with some punch, or if there is a particular tonal range I want to accentuate selectively, I'll use a luminosity-based mask.

[IzzieK]

Thanks, Izzie. I actually have reviewed that one, among others, before.

Do you use luminance masking in your post-processing? Very often? Or do you use other methods work better?

Yes...I do use it sometimes when I remember...I am sort of lazy to postprocess most of the time and when I do, I will post my work to ask questions and usually get a few responses that I can try and will try to do.

James G -- thanks for the link...I enjoyed reading one of his articles offline already...I will have something to read during my break times today...after I wake up, that is...

[ajohnw]

It might be worth mentioning how luminosity masks are handled in the GIMP. Maybe the same in elements. There is a GIMP plug in that will break down the luminosity in as many steps as might be needed. Great for some things but can be confusing.

One of the options on add layer mask is a grey scale copy of the image. Just use that and then apply thresholds to it. One trivial use to get a feel for it's use is when a dark area needs brightening. Create a desaturated, inverted copy in overlay mode.Then add the layer mask and use thresholds to restrict it to just the areas that need brightening. The same thing can be done with a colour copy in soft light mode used to give images a glossy look or to add contrast. Or a layer in normal mode where curves or what ever has been applied and the luminosity range affected needs to be restricted.

John
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[mrinmoyvk]

I am completely new to photoshop and always refer youtube before trying something. Not sure about Luminance masks but I increase Luminance in adobe camera raw while editing raw files, in case I want to reduce the noise. Increasing it reduces the sharpness a bit but that can be handled by increasing clarity to 2 or 3. I might be complete off topic but I picked up the Luminance word from your post as only that was relevant to me

[Thlayle]

I use luminosity masks in my landscapes fairly extensively, but I also LOVE colour and surreal scenes. I started out following tutorials by Tony Kuyper and then "splurged" some money on Sean Bagshaw's video series and was extremely pleased I did. Of all the money I've spent on photography-related accessories in the past 2 years, I think that was definitely the best value for money. It really gave me a variety of tools in how I applied the luminosity masks from blending multiple exposures, using the masks to bring out midtones, or to painting through the luminosity selections. I also enjoy Jimmy's tutorials too, he keeps it short and simple and best of all... free

There are scenes I shoot where I won't use the masking; especially non-blended night skies or where I want to keep it a low contrast scene. But if it needs blending to get the dynamic range, I'll often use luminosity masks to assist with the blend; so for many of my sunrises and sunsets. Also anywhere I feel the midtones could do with some punch, or if there is a particular tonal range I want to accentuate selectively, I'll use a luminosity-based mask.

Thanks, Trace. That is where I use the luminance masks quite a bit: landscapes. I have assumed all along that they work best where there's a wide tonal range. I haven't tried them on night shots but I am thinking they can be quite helpful in some situations, such as Milky Way shots. I will have to look into Sean Bagshaw's work if that is readily available (& within budget - ).

[Thlayle]

It might be worth mentioning how luminosity masks are handled in the GIMP. Maybe the same in elements. There is a GIMP plug in that will break down the luminosity in as many steps as might be needed. Great for some things but can be confusing.

One of the options on add layer mask is a grey scale copy of the image. Just use that and then apply thresholds to it. One trivial use to get a feel for it's use is when a dark area needs brightening. Create a desaturated, inverted copy in overlay mode.Then add the layer mask and use thresholds to restrict it to just the areas that need brightening. The same thing can be done with a colour copy in soft light mode used to give images a glossy look or to add contrast. Or a layer in normal mode where curves or what ever has been applied and the luminosity range affected needs to be restricted.

John
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Thanks, John. I will have to try that. I have done something similar when in the process of duplicating a layer for a specific purpose, such as high pass sharpening, and noticed an effect that I liked right away just as a result of the duplicated layer.

John, when you refer to 'thresholds' are you referring to the opacity level of the layers?

Thanks,

Randy

[Thlayle]

I am completely new to photoshop and always refer youtube before trying something. Not sure about Luminance masks but I increase Luminance in adobe camera raw while editing raw files, in case I want to reduce the noise. Increasing it reduces the sharpness a bit but that can be handled by increasing clarity to 2 or 3. I might be complete off topic but I picked up the Luminance word from your post as only that was relevant to me

Thanks, Mrinmoy. I started the same way, but with Aperture not Lightroom. Then Apple pretty much stopped developing Aperture so I am now working in Lightroom and Photoshop. So in Lightroom, or even ACR, I would do something very similar. Luminance masking has seemed to give me a quicker way to get at entire tonal ranges that may show up throughout different areas of an image.

[James G]

I just love this forum.... there is always something new to learn or a flip to something you also think you are really familiar with!
I've been using luminosity masks for years, primarily for landscapes.
I has never occurred to me to use them for night sky shots! Can't think why now you've mentioned it! Thanks Trace

Izzie, glad you like Jimmie McIntyre... he is quite generous with his techniques. I've followed him for quite a while.

[Thlayle]

I just love this forum.... there is always something new to learn or a flip to something you also think you are really familiar with!
I've been using luminosity masks for years, primarily for landscapes.
I has never occurred to me to use them for night sky shots! Can't think why now you've mentioned it! Thanks Trace

Izzie, glad you like Jimmie McIntyre... he is quite generous with his techniques. I've followed him for quite a while.

James, It's what I really like too: the sharing of ideas & segues to new things to try out. The luminance masking technique for Milky Way shots is something I have seen referred to before, but that was before I had even a clue as to what they are and I did not have access to Photoshop or a program like it. David Kingham (http://www.davidkingham.com) is I think the first one I came across who was recommending luminance masks for night photography. And...speaking of buying things that are good investments (Trace!), I bought a series of e-booklets from him that have been a great help to me.

[ajohnw]

Thanks, John. I will have to try that. I have done something similar when in the process of duplicating a layer for a specific purpose, such as high pass sharpening, and noticed an effect that I liked right away just as a result of the duplicated layer.

John, when you refer to 'thresholds' are you referring to the opacity level of the layers?

Thanks,

Randy

Thresholds is a sort of adjustment. A black to white scale with 2 pointers all shades below the white pointer go to white. Opposite way for the black end pointer. It's intended to create masks based on luminosity. In the GIMP it's under colours. I would suspect it's somewhere or the other in any layers type package that can use layer masks. Sometimes they can part do a hand painted mask job saving time.

I don't know if you are using the GIMP but BSS sharpen adds a sharpening layer. Mild but the strength can be increased by duplicating it. These can have masks added as well.

John
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[Thlayle]

Thresholds is a sort of adjustment. A black to white scale with 2 pointers all shades below the white pointer go to white. Opposite way for the black end pointer. It's intended to create masks based on luminosity. In the GIMP it's under colours. I would suspect it's somewhere or the other in any layers type package that can use layer masks. Sometimes they can part do a hand painted mask job saving time.

I don't know if you are using the GIMP but BSS sharpen adds a sharpening layer. Mild but the strength can be increased by duplicating it. These can have masks added as well.

John
-

Thanks, John. I just thought of it: on the histogram, I have those pointers on each side, though I think on mine the turn some other colors to indicate the blown whites & blacks.

-Randy

[IzzieK]

Yes...I did. I think I will use luminance mask from now on instead of Lab Colour or something to clear up my messy shots... that is why I am trying to achieve SOOC (my goal with my new camera)...

I just love this forum.... there is always something new to learn or a flip to something you also think you are really familiar with!

Izzie, glad you like Jimmie McIntyre... he is quite generous with his techniques. I've followed him for quite a while.

[Richard Lundberg]

You don't seem to have used a luminance mask on the jungle or cliff or foliage or whatever it is, so that it would be at least recognizable. Why is that?