I've tried the digital blending technique (layer mask version) described by Michael on this web site. When I try it, I get a gray cast in the end result. It looks like the photo has been slightly desaturated or a gray film has been placed over it. I notice that the examples shown also have this problem. Its easy to spot compared to the original photos. It looks like the photo was shot through a dirty window or a window with a slight glare reflection.
To the degree that one is trying to reduce contrast with this technique, it isn't surprising that contrast is reduced even in places where you don't want that to happen. Being a newbie at digital and color (last time I shot seriously, I was shooting Zone System on B&W film), I can imagine that this techique would introduce a gray cast. The problem is getting rid of it. The amount of desaturation or gray-ness doesn't seem to be uniform. Adding an adjustment layer to change the saturation levels creates unwanted wild colors in some places. I've also tried curves and contrast adjustments without success.
How do others deal with this problem when using digital blending with a layer mask as Michael describes?
I also notice that the Gaussian Blur added to the layer mask creates some unwanted artifacts. In the photo I am working with, the Gaussian Blur in the mask creates unwanted luminance artifacts in both a snow patch and a cloudy sky located near some dark trees. You can see a similar effect in Michael's first example (the "lake and flower" photo) where the area of the flower near the roots has an unnatural bloom of luminance and saturation (lack of the gray cast I noted above). Eliminating the Gaussian Blur step fixes the problem for me. I realize the amount of blur applied to the mask might need to be adjusted according to the needs of the photograph, but I'm wondering why any blur would ever need to be applied to the mask in this particular technique? (I can understand mask blur with other techniques, but not this one).
Sorry for the long post. Hope its not too technical.
--Bruce Morris