Guest Video Tutorial: Masking for Skin Corrections

We have a guest post today! Jodi, owner of MCP Actions – one of the best sites out there!  – has put  together a fantastic video tutorial especially for ClickinMoms (with permission to post here) that covers basic masking, a technique that is critical in almost any PS workflow and is very often an important part of skin color correction.

Q: When might you need to use layer masks in the process of skin tone correction?

A: Probably 75% of the time or more. A few very common examples:

1) When white balance is perfect but the subject’s skin color/tone needs some work: Use masking to ensure that your adjustments are applied only to the skin but do not alter the background, clothing, hair, etc.

2) When the subject has inconsistent skin color/tone: Use masking to apply two (or more) curves on different layers. For example, create one curve to adjust the color on the face without affecting the body, and then use a second curve to adjust the color on the body without affecting the face.You may also wish to mask off the background on one or more layers.

3) When multiple subjects have varying skin color/tones: Sometimes, the same correction works for both subjects (perhaps the subjects both need more yellow), but very often, you have to tweak the colors separately. Use a curve for each subject, and create a mask to ensure that the curve applies only to the corresponding person.

4) When major color correction is necessary: When you have to make dramatic changes to skin color, you invariably need to make additional adjustments to other parts of the image. In particular, when you are working with underexposed skin, you are taking skin from rather grayish values and converting them to fleshtones; when doing this, I find that the eyes (among other aspects of the image) tend to take on an unnatural color (since they, too, are pulled towards a flesh-like color), and masking is invariably necessary.

We’ll cover some more specialty masking and other advanced techniques down the road, but – as you can see – there’s no limit to the circumstances in which understanding and applying the technique can be invaluable.  Without further adieu, let’s take a look at Jodi’s tutorial:

Sample photo by photographer (and fellow ClickinMom!) Jessica Gwozdz

Jodi Friedman is the owner of MCP Actions, which provides resources for photographers worldwide who seek to improve their product and deliver more value for their customers.

MCP Actions offers original Photoshop Actions to customers internationally, which enable photographers, at the click of a button, to enhance and enrich their photos in a fast and efficient way. Additionally, Friedman offers Photoshop training, via the Web, at various levels, to professional and hobbyist photographers across the globe. She is also the creator of a popular and growing blog that brings photographers together to improve their skills and expand their thinking about photography and photo editing. It is available at www.mcpactions.com/blog.

An experienced photographer, her product and people shots appear across the Internet.

Raised in Georgia and a graduate of Syracuse University in Upstate New York, Friedman resides with her family in Michigan.

Questions about masking? Want to see more examples in a particular context? Let me know in the comments!