I'm going to talk about masks for a bit. Since I don't have much free time these days I'm going to break this into two sections. In the first we will discuss the general concept of what a mask is. In the second we'll get into practical application.

First let's take a look at an image that is heavily dependant on masks. Here's the first mid tone exposure more or less straight out of the camera.

Well, yuck. That's not a very exciting picture, is it? It's a little muddy, and a lot hazy.

Basically the Mt is very low contrast with the supporting hillside being dark and colorless.

Unfortunately this kind of situation is not unusual at all (in fact this image came from a client shoot last week that was dependant on views).

Obviously we need to present Mt view in a better light.

Keeping in mind that I can't control the weather I'm going to need to employ masking.

Let's take a look at this image now that I've put it through post using masks:

Whew, ok...this looks better. I can actually turn this in.

Notice the difference in the contrast and color? The Mt is much improved.

(P.S. I've cropped the final iamge slightly as well, hence the difference)

So what are these miracle things we call masks?

Masks are layers that can precisely describe the shape and intensity of a given action or effect on the main image.

Ok, ok...I just lost 50% of the audience (including myself!). That sounds complicated. But it's really not bad, just hang with me for a second.

Let's take a look at a third image:

The image to the left is an actual screen shot of all the layers utilized to create the above final image.

See all the little rectangles just to the left of the layer names? Those are masks!

Masks that are entirely white (like the top three layers) mean that the 100% of the given layer is allowed to operate on the image.

Masks with areas that are black, block that part of the layer from operating on a given image. 

This is the key to understanding masks, white = applied to main image, black = prevented from being applied to main image.

Two more things I'm going to throw at you (just to keep you off balance *wink*).

Masks can be painted on and manipulated just like a photoshop image. In fact they are exactly the same as an image...almost any photoshop operation you can perform on an image can also be performed on a mask.

Masks are hierarchal, in other words they stack. The order is important. If you apply a layer early on that turns a portion of the image into B&W, no matter what you do to masks above it (in most cases) that portion will remain B&W.

Whew! Ok, hopefully I haven't muddled this topic too much. If you are feeling confused, don't worry. This should all fall into place when we get to the practicle application section.

:)

Cheers, -B