Touching Up A Photo Using A Gradient Mask

In this tutorial we are going to fix the color, exposure, and blurring issues in an aerial photograph using a gradient in a layer mask.

First off let me explain what we are trying to accomplish, and how the steps in the tutorial will get us the result we are looking for.

The purpose of a layer mask is to let the contents of a layer, below the layer you are working on to show through. The reason we will be using a layer mask in this excercise, is that it will allow us to edit the top part and the bottom part of this photograph seperately. That is important because the top part of this photo is very washed out and overexposed and the bottom part is not nearly as bad.

Normally you can just use the brush tool in your layer mask to expose the layer below. With this example we need the mask to reveal the bottom layer gradually and naturally. This is where the gradient comes in. When we use the gradient in the mask, it will reveal the bottom layer gradually which will allow us to blend the top and bottom layers with a seamless look.

To follow along with the tutorial you can download the full size image HERE. (right click link and choose save link as to download it)

Once you have the image downloaded, open it up with Photoshop. The first thing to do is create two copies of the original image. To do this, click and drag the background layer to the "Create New Layer" icon next to the trash can in the Layer Palette. Do this two times. You will now have three layers that are exactly the same. Now turn off the original layer by clicking the eye next to it in the Layer Palette. This is just so we do not accidentally edit this layer.

Now we can go ahead and create the layer mask on the top layer. To add the mask click the "Add Layer Mask" icon in the Layer palette - it is the third one from the left. Before we do anything with the mask though, we are going to adjust the levels and the brightness / contrast in the top layer.

First make sure your image is selected in the top layer and not the mask. Go to Image - Adjustments - Levels... When the Levels dialog box appears just take up the dark levels by entering 60 as shown in the image below

Now we'll adjust the brightness and contrast of the top layer. Go to Image - Adjustments - Brightness/Contrast... When the dialog box appears, enter -30 for the brightness and -50 for the contrast.

Now that we have those adjusted, we will run a gradient in the layer mask. Make sure your mask is selected now in the layer palette. When it is selected it will have a small border around it, the same way the image thumbnail did while it was selected. Now select the gradient tool from the tool palette, or press "G" on the keyboard. With the gradient tool selected; click and drag on the actual image, just like you see in the picture below. When you have it in the correct position, then let go of the mouse button (the starting point is in the field and the ending point will be just above the top of the picture). You should have noticed the bottom layer revealed at this point.

After running the gradient in the mask we need to fix the blurring of the image. To do this run a smart sharpen on the top layer first. Click the image thumbnail to select the image again. Once again, the thumbnail will have the border around it when it is selected. Now that you have your image selected, go to: Filter - Sharpen - Smart Sharpen... You will enter 400% as the amount and 0.8 as the radius. Enter the information just like you see in the example below.

Now go to your layers palette and select the middle layer. Run a smart sharpen on this layer the way you just did on the top layer. The amount will be 300% on this layer, everything else will be the same.

Still on the middle layer, go to: Image - adjustments - Brightness/Contrast, just like we did earlier. Enter: +30 for the brightness and +10 for the contrast.

Now go to Image - Adjustments - Exposure... Enter 0.3 as your exposure and press OK

In the words of Dave Atell, There's one last thing we've gotta do. Right click on the middle layer. When the options appear, select Merge Visible. This will combine the top and bottom layers.

Once you have the layers combined you can make edits to the entire image. This is optional, but in my final result, I adjusted the brightness down -10, and the contrast +30 after I merged the layers. I also adjusted the levels - I took the whites down to 233.

That's it. Your finished photo should look like this now