Post-Processing Tip: How to Use Filter Masks to Enhance Your Landscape Photos
Let's face it - no matter how gorgeous a landscape is, no matter how dialed in you are in the process of creating the photo, the chances are good that you will need to do some fine-tuning to your images to get them just right.
In many cases, that means pinpointing your edits by using layer masks to make very fine, non-destructive edits.
In this quick post-processing tutorial, you'll learn how to use layer masks to create powerful, eye-catching landscape photos.
Using David Johnson's video above as a guide, we'll go step-by-step through the process using Luminar 3.
Step 1: Add an Adjustment Layer
YouTube Screenshot/David Johnston
By adding an adjustment layer, you give yourself the option to perform edits on your image without working on the original image itself.
This enables you to preserve the original details of the photograph while also experimenting with changes that can make your photo pop. You can stack layers as well, so you can utilize each layer to work on a single, specific aspect of the photo without interfering with the adjustments you've made on any of the other layers.
In Luminar 3, the process of adding an adjustment layer is simple - as shown in the screenshot above, simply click on the plus sign in the Layers panel and click "Add New Adjustment Layer."
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Step 2: Add an Effect to the Adjustment Layer
YouTube Screenshot/David Johnston
Now that you have a new layer created, it's time to add an effect to the layer.
In David's video, he elects to add the Orton Effect, which add glow and focus effects to the shot to give it a dreamy, ethereal look (as shown below).
The Orton Effect is just one of 16 Creative Filters. There are also Essential Filters, which includes the powerful Accent AI filter that automatically applies about a dozen changes to the photo that you can adjust quickly and easily using a single slider. Also included in the Essential Filters is the AI Sky Enhancer, which automatically detects the sky area in a landscape and enhances the color, contrast, and details to make the sky pop.
YouTube Screenshot/David Johnston
Additionally, you can choose from the Issue Fixers Filters, which include Clarity, Dehaze, Denoise, and sharpening, among others.
There are Professional Filters as well, which give you the ability to control everything from color balance to curves, HSL to LUT mapping, and a variety of other things.
The Utility Filters round out the selection, and include Adjustable Gradients, Brightness and Contrast, Exposure, and Highlights and Shadows, among many others.
The point is that in Luminar 3, you not only have the power to make non-destructive edits to your images by using layers, but in those layers, there are a multitude of options for enhancing your photos.
Step 3: Use a Filter Mask to Fine-Tune Your Edits
YouTube Screenshot/David Johnston
When editing your image via an adjustment layer, the changes you make will be evident throughout the entire image.
But sometimes you might want the changes you've made to impact only part of the image. That's where masking comes in.
If you look at the filter you've applied to the image (in this case, the Orton Effect), you'll see a paintbrush icon as shown above.
When you click this icon, you're given a number of masking choices, including a Brush, a Radial Mask, a Gradient Mask, and a Luminosity Mask.
Before Layer Mask is Applied. YouTube Screenshot/David Johnston
After Layer Mask is Applied. YouTube Screenshot/David Johnston
By using a brush, you can paint the masked area freehand, as David does in the video. This gives you the most control over what parts of the image are masked and unmasked.
If there are circular or oval shapes (like the sun) in your photo, a Radial Mask is a good choice because you can create a circle or an ellipse-shaped mask to create a smooth blend between the masked and unmasked areas.
A Gradient Mask, on the other hand, can be used to create a very smooth, linear transition between the masked and unmasked areas.
Finally, a Luminosity Mask allows you to make changes to the layer based on how dark or light the pixels are. This is particularly useful for adjusting areas of the image that are overexposed or underexposed.
YouTube Screenshot/David Johnston
It's important to note that when creating a filter mask, you have a great number of adjustments you can make to get the desired effect when using the brush tool.
As you can see above, you can adjust the size and softness of the brush as well as its opacity.
You can also elect to use the brush to paint in the mask or to erase masked areas.
YouTube Screenshot/David Johnston
Additionally, when using the brush to add a mask, you can see the areas that have been masked and those that remain unmasked.
In looking at the screenshot above, you can see the white and black square to the left of "Orton Effect."
The white areas are those that are masked while the black areas are those that are not masked.
In other words, the filter mask that David has applied has allowed him to make a local adjustment with the Orton Effect as opposed to applying it globally to the entire image.
You can use this same process of adding layers and filter masks to include many other filters and effects. The key is to practice fine-tuning the process of layering and masking, that way you can pinpoint your edits to create beautiful and impactful landscape photos.
