Camera Raw now lets you feather and expand AI-generated masks directly in the masking panel — a feature that makes it possible to create a convincing light bloom effect without any manual brush work. This tutorial covers the full editing process for a dark, underexposed landscape shot, with the feathered sky mask technique as its centerpiece.
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Video by Christian Möhrle - The Phlog Photography. Any links or downloads mentioned by the creator are available only on YouTube
Practical Tips
These techniques from the tutorial are directly applicable to landscape and nature editing workflows:
- Use the sky mask's feather and edge sliders to simulate a glow effect — increase feather to spill the mask into surrounding areas, then raise the edge slider to expand it further, avoiding the need for manual brush masking.
- Raise the blacks inside a feathered sky mask to create a light bloom — combining this with a negative dehaze value intensifies the glow without affecting the rest of the image.
- Switch to brush selection mode when using object masks on tree branches — painting loosely along branches is more effective than rectangle selection for irregular, detailed shapes.
- Apply the Fade command immediately after a Gaussian blur to add an autumn glow in Photoshop — use Screen blending mode at around 30% opacity, then use blend-if sliders to restrict the effect to brighter areas only.
- Use a color range mask to target and correct isolated color casts — click directly on the problem area, then subtract a radial gradient to protect areas that don't need adjustment.
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