My favorite method, years ago, was to use the middle slider in the histogram in PS and other apps that allowed it. Generally, I'd push it a little to the right, and that was enough. It also was a good way to reduce haze. I always felt it looked better than the contrast slider.
Since I'm still in the experimental stage with Lightroom and I've only been really trying to learn editing over the last year, I've used all the different ways you mentioned. More and more though I've been using the white and black sliders. They seem to give a different look (softer maybe?) that I like. Now you've given me one more thing to play with. The more I use Lightroom and watch your videos the more I find just how much more versatile and easy to use it is over what I processed with before. Thanks Mark.
I guess I don't really think about contrast a ton. I do all my other edits, and then at the end, I bring down the contrast slider to about -20 to soften the image. I don't think about the blacks and whites in the context of contrast even though they affect it. In theory, just about every adjustment you make affects contrast. I like the curve tone picker idea. Another great update Mark!!
Love this tip Mark, thank you. Just tried it out on a B/W I'm working on and wow, what a difference. This makes it so easy and controllable, 100% now part of my work flow.
Ive been using curves for a while now. I have used the curve within a mask before which is great for targeting smaller areas. I never thought about using it as a full image mask. Fantastic idea!
As someone who came from photoshop back in my high school days to using Lightroom now I can conform that slider is a welcome addition. Thanks as always for sharing your insights and workflow tips!
On lr mobile, under the preset menu there is a preset called “strong S curve” which you can apply and also adjust its intensity like mark did in the video. I have been using this technique by myself for about 6 months now. Glad to see mark talking about it
I have a post it by my workstation indicating contrast/detail based on size (Largest to smallest): Contrast, Dehaze, Clarity, Texture, Detail. Plus the Tone Curve.
Nicely done - I'd also point out that (a) you don't have to select all, you could use that linear curve on some other mask (e.g., subject, or sky). And (b) once you select all, you still have the option to brush away parts of your image that you don't want to change the contrast in. I love this new addition - for the all the points your raise + the ability to be selective in where the contrast goes. Thanks for sharing!
There are very few photography tubers or creators am I enjoying more than you my friend. Your instruction on alternative use case options, has definitely help diversify my abilities editing in LrC. Right now, hasn't helped my work flow, since I am watching, pausing, rewind, replay... your videos in another monitor. Oh well, I am learning more skills, which is inspiring more creativity in my work. Thanks
Great Video. Only issue was something I learned from an Elia Locardi video (FStoppers) in which he explained when using Camera RAW or Lightroom. He stated that using masks in either of these programs does not use true RAW processing and therefore you will have less capability of pushing the data when using a mask vs using the overall exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites and black sliders.
64, 128, 192, 255…..the keys to tone curves!! Once you understand, a whole new world opens up. Using a linear camera profile, I really like to use gradient mask tone curves in Lightroom to adjust gamma, endpoints, mid-tones, and global contrast. My images have never looked so good, and I rarely need to blend exposures
Thanks for the video. Many people praise Capture One over LR for it's layers while majority of that if not all can be now done in LR. Perhaps it's not as straightforward as in C1 but essentially it's exactly the same feature.
That's a nice discovery for editing with contrast in LR, Mark. The masking functions now are so excellent that I now find myself doing more editing in LR or ACR instead of layering everything out in Photoshop. I think the PS equivalent might be using regular Curves (you can use the hand icon to see where all the values are just as you demonstrated with masking) and duplicating the Curves layer after editing and then adjusting the Opacity. But it's an additional step and there isn't an option to reduce the effect in the same manner as in LR. So here's another reason to use LR for quick results.
Mark, another great video on how to use many tools to impact an image and what gives most control. I may have missed it but when in your workflow do you use this “contrast mask?” Thank you.
For the last year or so I have been using Dehaze as my aux contrast tool. Thanks for pointing out this mask/curve method. Now I have a new toy. I will endeavor not to break it on the first day.
Great lesson Mark, thanks for sharing this knowledge. I have been uncomfortable with using the tone curve however these new features, along with your recommendations, make it more useful to me.
FWIW, I've found a much easier way to quickly add global masks… simply add a new luminance range mask and click on the center of the luminance range. Bam. You have 100% mask coverage. I'm now using this technique to add contrast, color grading, film-emulation fades, and other global adjustments that I like to isolate and have more fine-grained control over. Kudos for this tip.
I too have struggled with finding a decent +/- contrast balance so the technique you have demonstrated is, I have to say, incredibly good. The only thing is ... I use ACR and not LR and while the functionality of ACR and LR are more of less the same, the UI in ACR is a little different especially in the Refine Contrast slider?
So, effectively, you are showing a way to use opacity in LR. Well done. I guess this is limited to whatever adjustments are available in the mask tool. Wouldn't it be easier just to take the image into PS and have all the power of opacity available to every adjustment layer
Thank you very much for teaching me this new tip. I'm definitely going to give it a try and see how it works on my photos. Quick side question though, what games are you playing on your GameBoy? =-) It's great seeing one!
I love this technique. Thanks for sharing. Question about how to get the color picker for the curve adjustment to display on the image. To get it to show on the image, is that something I need to adjust in LR preferences?
Thank you for the excellent TH-cam videos. Question: In case you have a picture, and you're at home working on it, and you can't decide in which way to work with it. Mystically, romantically or like the motive of a postcard? What are you doing then? Going all the ways to different results? Thank you.
Great idea. I would, however, use the linear gradient rather than the brush which risks having more or less intensity in areas where brush strokes overlap.
This is an interesting trick with the total mask and the slider. I wonder how it compares to having a preset (without a mask) and using the preset amount slider?
You just have to be careful to ensure you’re getting 100% mask opacity across the entire image and no portion of the actual gradient touches your image - been burned by this in the past
That is neat to know, they are adding so much utility to LrC. I find myself using Lr because it has the versions feature so I can edit the same photo a few different ways and save them all, and I love that functionality. I wish LrC had it honestly.
Thank you for another great video, Mark, with so many ways to add and control the level of contrast. Do you ever apply this technique with the radial filter to draw the viewer's eye to the main area of interest?
Thanks. It’s useful to know all the different ways to deal with contrast, including the newer mask selections & opacity sliders & you’re a master at explaining them. But it’s like supermarkets in which there are too many choices that leads to decision paralysis. All the tools will get you to virtually the same result but I suppose you need to find the 1 that you’re most comfortable with. Furthermore, I find that printing vs digital display reveals a much more subtler effect of these fine-tuning tools. But now that I just retired from my day job I’ll have more time to experiment 😊
Thank you, Mark. Even though I do not use any Adobe products in my editing, I discovered I can duplicate your preferred technique in the software I do use. I never thought of applying tone curve adjustments through a mask. And in my software, there is indeed a slider that permits the amount of the adjustment to be tweaked for greater or lesser effect. Perhaps most surprising is, the software I use was introduced thirty years ago in 1993. That's thirteen years before even the original iteration of Lightroom was released in 2006 and just three years after the first version of PhotoShop. I guess the guy who wrote my software was pretty good. And, yes, it was not developed by a team of programmers at a company, but by a single individual working alone to develop a way to edit the digitized scans of his film archives. In those very early days of digital editing, PhotoShop was compatible only with the MacIntosh operating system and this guy wanted editing software that would work on a PC.
IN reality, many of the tools mentioned (sliders, i should say) are really just playing with contrast in general, and we could probably even say things like Texture and Clarity, and the W/B sliders are more localized contrast sliders I guess (some programs actually have Local Contrast for large, small, and medium detail levels too and Texture and Clarity along with Dehaze is just Adobe's adaption of those but they all I feel do a similar thing in each mfr's program you just have to figure out which one impacts what). Sharpening, too, is a form of contrast, but it only works on the edges mostly to make them stand out more and appear well, sharper, by increasing the contrast of edges.
Another excellent video. Always sharing something that's valuable. The Tone curve is definitely powerful. I have been using the Color Grading Tool to create contrast. I increase the luminance on the mid-tones and highlights and lower the shadows. Again, you move each slider to your taste. Have a great week.
Good stuff and great photo. I have to re-watch this because every time you show the photo, all I can see is a t-Rex 🦖 and it’s a little distracting so I kept missing what you were saying. But what I did retain sounds like a good way to add contrast with several points of control. Thanks!
Thanks for the video! I always enjoy the editing videos you make when it comes to these techniques and thinking outside the box with masks. If only lightroom can implement a focus stacking and/or exposure blending feature then I wouldn't really need to use PS anymore
![เจ็บที่ยังฮัก - ม่อน วรวิทย์ [ Official Mv ] จอนนี่มิวสิค](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KALIGSRSjFs/mqdefault.jpg)
![F.HERO Ft. JSPKK x ลำไย ไหทองคำ x M-PEE - ไม่สนิทบิดหมด (Thai Riders Anthem) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kPJZ0UihBfk/mqdefault.jpg)
🔥QUICK QUESTION: What tool do you use to add Contrast?
Generally a mix, depending on what works best for the photo. But I will admit, I don't spend enough time in the masking section.
My favorite method, years ago, was to use the middle slider in the histogram in PS and other apps that allowed it. Generally, I'd push it a little to the right, and that was enough. It also was a good way to reduce haze. I always felt it looked better than the contrast slider.
Since I'm still in the experimental stage with Lightroom and I've only been really trying to learn editing over the last year, I've used all the different ways you mentioned. More and more though I've been using the white and black sliders. They seem to give a different look (softer maybe?) that I like. Now you've given me one more thing to play with. The more I use Lightroom and watch your videos the more I find just how much more versatile and easy to use it is over what I processed with before. Thanks Mark.
Usually the tone curve, but sometimes the black and white sliders.
I guess I don't really think about contrast a ton. I do all my other edits, and then at the end, I bring down the contrast slider to about -20 to soften the image. I don't think about the blacks and whites in the context of contrast even though they affect it. In theory, just about every adjustment you make affects contrast. I like the curve tone picker idea. Another great update Mark!!
On Point! Your tutorials are my learning GO-TO, Mark. The most valuable subscription I have. Many thanks - with love from Atlanta.
Great Video. Thank you for providing some of the most current and advanced content for utilizing tools within Lightroom.
Love this tip Mark, thank you. Just tried it out on a B/W I'm working on and wow, what a difference. This makes it so easy and controllable, 100% now part of my work flow.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for the topic. You're a very good teacher.
Thanks so much!
You're a genius!! Thanks for this new technique in LR. I use the black and white point sliders and then use the Levels adjustment in Photoshop.
Ive been using curves for a while now. I have used the curve within a mask before which is great for targeting smaller areas. I never thought about using it as a full image mask. Fantastic idea!
Best part is you can change the opacity of that mask as well!
Great video Mark - thanks for sharing. I've always avoided using the tone curve but I'll be using it in future.
Mark, this is one great lesson! Thanks a heap for making this. You've kind of been on a roll lately, so more power to ya'!
Glad you liked it!
Very very informative about using a full mask S-curve to add contrast. Thank you, Mark.
Your videos are always excellent, but this one is one of the best. Thank you.
Wow, thank you!
As someone who came from photoshop back in my high school days to using Lightroom now I can conform that slider is a welcome addition. Thanks as always for sharing your insights and workflow tips!
Such great tips! Love your channel Mark. Been binge watching all day why I edit photos.
Glad you like them!
On lr mobile, under the preset menu there is a preset called “strong S curve” which you can apply and also adjust its intensity like mark did in the video. I have been using this technique by myself for about 6 months now. Glad to see mark talking about it
What an amazing revelation of the hidden tone curve secrets. Thank you Mark. ❤
I have a post it by my workstation indicating contrast/detail based on size (Largest to smallest): Contrast, Dehaze, Clarity, Texture, Detail. Plus the Tone Curve.
Super useful video - as always Mark! Thank you so much for posting
Thanks so much - really appreciate it!
Well, once again, blown away! Thank you very much!
Love hearing this - thank you!
Hoi Mark, thanks for this new technique of using curves mask.
Nicely done - I'd also point out that (a) you don't have to select all, you could use that linear curve on some other mask (e.g., subject, or sky). And (b) once you select all, you still have the option to brush away parts of your image that you don't want to change the contrast in.
I love this new addition - for the all the points your raise + the ability to be selective in where the contrast goes. Thanks for sharing!
Environment in photo is so beautiful that no matter what settings you use the photo still look good
Another excellent video! I have to admit, I am intimidated by the tone curve but this makes it seem much easier to navigate. Thank you!
Great to hear this!
There are very few photography tubers or creators am I enjoying more than you my friend. Your instruction on alternative use case options, has definitely help diversify my abilities editing in LrC. Right now, hasn't helped my work flow, since I am watching, pausing, rewind, replay... your videos in another monitor. Oh well, I am learning more skills, which is inspiring more creativity in my work. Thanks
Super happy to hear this - thank you!
Great Video. Only issue was something I learned from an Elia Locardi video (FStoppers) in which he explained when using Camera RAW or Lightroom. He stated that using masks in either of these programs does not use true RAW processing and therefore you will have less capability of pushing the data when using a mask vs using the overall exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites and black sliders.
Another excellent video Mark. This workflow for adding contrast at the raw editing stage is very helpful. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks! A wonderful tutorial that I'll use.
excellent as all ways, thanks a lot for your free help
64, 128, 192, 255…..the keys to tone curves!! Once you understand, a whole new world opens up.
Using a linear camera profile, I really like to use gradient mask tone curves in Lightroom to adjust gamma, endpoints, mid-tones, and global contrast. My images have never looked so good, and I rarely need to blend exposures
Another excellent technique, Mark. Thank you! With all your tips, I’m beginning to feel like a “pro.”
Thanks so much!
Nice to see a video like this popping up while I'm editing my photos. Timing couldn't have been better!
Glad I could help!
This is a fantastic tip ! Thank you Mark
Thanks for this! I've been using tonal curves but never as an additional layer! This is a helpful tool for sure
This was a great help to me. Thank you so very much for putting this up and sharing your experience in such a clear way.
Glad it was helpful!
Brilliant way to use, thanks so much.
Yet another excellent tip Mark. Your work is appreciated.
Many thanks!
Thanks for the video. Many people praise Capture One over LR for it's layers while majority of that if not all can be now done in LR. Perhaps it's not as straightforward as in C1 but essentially it's exactly the same feature.
Clarity is a contrast tool that deals with midtones. Texture is a sharpening tool in high frequency areas.
Great info Mark, thanks for sharing. Really enjoy watching your editing style 👏👏
Thank ya friend - I appreciate that!
Hey, this is great, I have to try it. I have to admit, I don't use tone curve much but I think it's powerfull...
Brilliant Mark. Thanks mate.
Great video. Thanks Mark.
Glad to do it David!
Very helpful video. Thank you!
Cool tip for using the tone curve in masks!
Thanks Warren!
That's a nice discovery for editing with contrast in LR, Mark. The masking functions now are so excellent that I now find myself doing more editing in LR or ACR instead of layering everything out in Photoshop. I think the PS equivalent might be using regular Curves (you can use the hand icon to see where all the values are just as you demonstrated with masking) and duplicating the Curves layer after editing and then adjusting the Opacity. But it's an additional step and there isn't an option to reduce the effect in the same manner as in LR. So here's another reason to use LR for quick results.
Mark, another great video on how to use many tools to impact an image and what gives most control. I may have missed it but when in your workflow do you use this “contrast mask?” Thank you.
What a great tip, thanks Mark
For the last year or so I have been using Dehaze as my aux contrast tool. Thanks for pointing out this mask/curve method. Now I have a new toy. I will endeavor not to break it on the first day.
thank you for your explanation, ABO 👍
Very good video. Using the tone curve is much easier now and makes much more sense. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Great lesson Mark, thanks for sharing this knowledge. I have been uncomfortable with using the tone curve however these new features, along with your recommendations, make it more useful to me.
I've learned a lot from you. Thank you.
For someone who struggles with LR editing this is pure gold.
Awesome to hear!
Thank You ! Love your work.
Using a full-image mask in LR is like creating an adjustment layer in PS.
Great video! If I can ever afford a computer that can run LRC, I will come back to it for reference. Until then I will plug along with Lightroom.
Wow, excellent tip. I definitely need to work on this.
Glad it was helpful!
FWIW, I've found a much easier way to quickly add global masks… simply add a new luminance range mask and click on the center of the luminance range. Bam. You have 100% mask coverage. I'm now using this technique to add contrast, color grading, film-emulation fades, and other global adjustments that I like to isolate and have more fine-grained control over. Kudos for this tip.
I too have struggled with finding a decent +/- contrast balance so the technique you have demonstrated is, I have to say, incredibly good. The only thing is ... I use ACR and not LR and while the functionality of ACR and LR are more of less the same, the UI in ACR is a little different especially in the Refine Contrast slider?
Brilliant! Thanks! 💙
I often use the colour sliders, that way it does not alter the blacks and whites.
Awesome. I appreciate yet another informative video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
So, effectively, you are showing a way to use opacity in LR. Well done. I guess this is limited to whatever adjustments are available in the mask tool.
Wouldn't it be easier just to take the image into PS and have all the power of opacity available to every adjustment layer
Thank you very much for teaching me this new tip. I'm definitely going to give it a try and see how it works on my photos. Quick side question though, what games are you playing on your GameBoy? =-) It's great seeing one!
I love this technique. Thanks for sharing. Question about how to get the color picker for the curve adjustment to display on the image. To get it to show on the image, is that something I need to adjust in LR preferences?
Thank you for the excellent TH-cam videos. Question: In case you have a picture, and you're at home working on it, and you can't decide in which way to work with it. Mystically, romantically or like the motive of a postcard? What are you doing then? Going all the ways to different results? Thank you.
Yes this is very smart! I use a linear gradient and drag it outside the image, then it also covers the entire image and I think that is faster
Very cool thanks.
Glad you think so!
Great idea. I would, however, use the linear gradient rather than the brush which risks having more or less intensity in areas where brush strokes overlap.
This is an interesting trick with the total mask and the slider. I wonder how it compares to having a preset (without a mask) and using the preset amount slider?
Quick tip: Instead of using a brush to create a solid mask, just use the linear gradient and drag outside of the photo in the gray area.
Yes, you can shrink the image and use a radial gradient as well.
You just have to be careful to ensure you’re getting 100% mask opacity across the entire image and no portion of the actual gradient touches your image - been burned by this in the past
Even better, I use luminance masks with the full range selected.
Curves masks can be pretty powerful. I did it with a milky way shot recently and I was blown away at the end result.
Great tip. Question. Did you start your photo using the Balancing Out the Exposure method you talked about in the July tutorial?
Thanks again Mark!
My pleasure!
BTW it's 'each to their own' haha. Great tutorials as usual Mark! You are the boss!
That is a great technique!
thanks and well done on this great video about editing
Glad you enjoyed it
That is neat to know, they are adding so much utility to LrC. I find myself using Lr because it has the versions feature so I can edit the same photo a few different ways and save them all, and I love that functionality. I wish LrC had it honestly.
Totally agree!
Thank you for another great video, Mark, with so many ways to add and control the level of contrast. Do you ever apply this technique with the radial filter to draw the viewer's eye to the main area of interest?
Thanks. It’s useful to know all the different ways to deal with contrast, including the newer mask selections & opacity sliders & you’re a master at explaining them. But it’s like supermarkets in which there are too many choices that leads to decision paralysis. All the tools will get you to virtually the same result but I suppose you need to find the 1 that you’re most comfortable with. Furthermore, I find that printing vs digital display reveals a much more subtler effect of these fine-tuning tools. But now that I just retired from my day job I’ll have more time to experiment 😊
Thanks so much Ben - great to hear you enjoyed the video! And yes, tons of options to choose from.
Excelent as usual - thanks
Super helpful!
Thanks - very interesting
Thank you, Mark. Even though I do not use any Adobe products in my editing, I discovered I can duplicate your preferred technique in the software I do use. I never thought of applying tone curve adjustments through a mask. And in my software, there is indeed a slider that permits the amount of the adjustment to be tweaked for greater or lesser effect.
Perhaps most surprising is, the software I use was introduced thirty years ago in 1993. That's thirteen years before even the original iteration of Lightroom was released in 2006 and just three years after the first version of PhotoShop. I guess the guy who wrote my software was pretty good. And, yes, it was not developed by a team of programmers at a company, but by a single individual working alone to develop a way to edit the digitized scans of his film archives. In those very early days of digital editing, PhotoShop was compatible only with the MacIntosh operating system and this guy wanted editing software that would work on a PC.
Great information!
Hi Mark! Nice t-shirt!!! :)
Clarity works for me
Thanks!
Thanks!!!
IN reality, many of the tools mentioned (sliders, i should say) are really just playing with contrast in general, and we could probably even say things like Texture and Clarity, and the W/B sliders are more localized contrast sliders I guess (some programs actually have Local Contrast for large, small, and medium detail levels too and Texture and Clarity along with Dehaze is just Adobe's adaption of those but they all I feel do a similar thing in each mfr's program you just have to figure out which one impacts what). Sharpening, too, is a form of contrast, but it only works on the edges mostly to make them stand out more and appear well, sharper, by increasing the contrast of edges.
Another excellent video. Always sharing something that's valuable. The Tone curve is definitely powerful. I have been using the Color Grading Tool to create contrast. I increase the luminance on the mid-tones and highlights and lower the shadows. Again, you move each slider to your taste. Have a great week.
Thanks so much!
Good stuff and great photo. I have to re-watch this because every time you show the photo, all I can see is a t-Rex 🦖 and it’s a little distracting so I kept missing what you were saying. But what I did retain sounds like a good way to add contrast with several points of control. Thanks!
You and me both!
Thank you!
You're welcome!
Thanks for the video! I always enjoy the editing videos you make when it comes to these techniques and thinking outside the box with masks. If only lightroom can implement a focus stacking and/or exposure blending feature then I wouldn't really need to use PS anymore
Glad you like them!
Amazing thanks
Most welcome 😊
Awesome video Mark, thanks. Do you have any idea why photos from Lightroom don’t open in the latest version of photoshop? Regards.
Hmmm I haven’t had any issue with that
Trial and error till I like it, great video
Thanks James!
That opening photo with the beach looks like a roaring mountain lion!
Great instructional video. Can't wait to try it out. Is it just me or did anyone else see the land mass as a T-Rex?
Thank you
Welcome!
Is it not good practice to set the black and white points on every image?