# Luminosity Masks / Blending etc - Where to start learning



## Hector1970 (Jun 10, 2015)

Hi All,
I'm really interested in learning to use Photoshop properly.
I use it quite alot but never learnt in a structured way.

I buy magazine like Advanced Photoshop but often find the instructions baffling and assume you are already and expert (I guess it is "Advanced " Photoshop).

I really want to learn about Masking, Luminosity Masks and blending.
I can create Luminosity Masks but I don't know how to best use them once I've created them.
I play around with blending modes but can find a use for most of them but I'm sure they all have a use.
I struggle with layer masks once I have many of them. Between black masks and white masks I get lost as to what adjustements are impacting the image and what are not.
I can follow instructions but I'm not really getting a basic understanding of what I'm actually doing and how each type of layer is impacting the picture.

Is there anything out there in terms of education /books / videos that is really good in terms of going from the start to advanced. (I'm quite happy to go back to the beginning and learn it all properly.)
Youtube videos can be good but not necessarily structured.
Even tips on how you got started with it and how you learnt it would be great.
Thanks


----------



## Coldhands (Jun 10, 2015)

I would recommend Tony Kuyper's tutorials on the subject as a good starting point. I seem to recall they are quite thorough. For some bizarre reason my workplace network is blocking his site so I can't give the exact URL, but it should be easy to find through google.

I also recommend Chip Phillips' landscape processing videos. He dedicates a fair bit of time to luminosity masks and shows how to use them in blending multiple exposures. http://www.photocascadia.com/blog/image-editing-volume-1/#.VXgXuflVhBd

I will say that there is a bit of a learning curve to using luminosity masks effectively and it took me quite a while to get to the point where I was happy with the results. Like most things, practice makes perfect.


----------



## Hector1970 (Jun 10, 2015)

Thanks Colin - very useful suggestions. I'll have a look at them
If there are other suggestions from anyone I'd be delighted to get them.


----------



## unfocused (Jun 10, 2015)

Are you mostly a book person or a video person? 

Are you a "start at the beginning and work through the exercises" person or a "I need to know it now, so I'll jump around and learn as I do" person?

I'm a "book" person and a "jump around and learn as I do" person. So my advice comes from that perspective.

The two major books are Martin Evening's Adobe Photoshop for Photographers and Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop for Digital Photographers.

Evening takes a very comprehensive approach, providing instruction in almost every aspect of Photoshop that a photographer might need. Kelby is more of a "tips and tricks" guy who shows you how to achieve specific effects and corrections. I tend to use Kelby's book a lot when I'm working on a project and come to a specific problem that needs fixing or I'm looking for an interesting effect. 

There are also any number of books that go into great depth on specific aspects. For example, "Photoshop Masking and Compositing" by Eismann, Duggan and Porto, is a very comprehensive guide to masking and creating composite images. From Oz to Kansas by Vincent Versace is a very thorough guide to black and white conversion. 

There is also the "Classroom in a Book" series from Adobe, but these are aimed at giving a good basic overview of all aspects of Photoshop for everyone including designers, and are less photo-centric.

Personally, I'm not much for videos, as I find it easier to look something up in a book quickly, have it in hand while I'm working and just find and use what I want to know. But, I do enjoy some of the Creative Live videos and they have a lot on Photoshop. I just seldom find I have the time to watch a video straight through. Most of the Creative Live videos have segments that can be sampled on their webpage and they often broadcast programs free, so you can sample the instructors and see which ones you like. Similarly, Adobe TV on You Tube has a lot of videos you can sample, including some from Lynda.Com, which is probably one of the best known instructional video makers.


----------



## quod (Jun 10, 2015)

Glyn Dewis has a good video series on YouTube and he wrote a book that's available at Amazon (The Photoshop Workbook). Phlearn also has an excellent series of videos. In both cases, start at the beginning of their series and just work through them because they build on prior skills learned/developed. For luminosity masks, Dylan Toh (a terrific Aussie landscape photographer) put together an easy to follow walkthrough available on Vimeo and YouTube.


----------



## PhotographyFirst (Jun 10, 2015)

I am actually in the process of writing a huge instructional book for landscape photography that covers all types of blending. Here are some general tips.

Learn how to exposure blend layers using the brush tool and layer masks first. Start zoomed out and then work your way down to 500% zoomed into the image to get every detail. All other methods of exposure blending may or may not go faster, but using the brush tool will blend any image without fail when the other methods don't work. Then start using the quick selection tool and then finally work your way into doing luminosity masks. In many cases, you will still need to use the brush tool at 500% to get a perfect blend even when using other methods. 

The one guaranteed thing you will find is that there is a near infinite number of ways to achieve the same results. Even if you learn blending from one source, it is wise to keep learning from other sources as they may have different methods that solve certain issues or make things go faster. For example, I never use the color channels for luminosity masking. It is far more work than they need to be. I have my own method I created that goes much faster and with equal or better results. 


Good luck!


----------



## Neil1000 (Jun 10, 2015)

http://www.outdoorexposurephoto.com/video-tutorials/video-tutorials

check out Sean Bagshaw's excellent video tutorial series on extending dynamic range, blending and Luminosity Mask actions for photoshop. Each of the video series includes the files used in the tutorials.


----------



## Hector1970 (Jun 10, 2015)

Super information everyone.
I really appreciate it. 
I'd better put some of it into practice :-[
If I actually figure it out I'd be tempted to write a book myself.
Once I understand something I'm generally very good at writing instructions on how to do it. 
Any further contributions would be most welcome. 
It's been very interesting so far.


----------



## ple (Jun 11, 2015)

As pointed out above, Sean Bagshaw's tutorials are great.

Another set worth looking at are Jim McIntyre's:

http://www.shutterevolve.com/luminosity-masks-tutorials-digital-blending-course/


----------

