Hi,
I have an image, not HDR, made from two bracketed exposures. I use a blurred version of the light shot as the mask for the dark one (which is on top). Nothing unusual there.
I'd like to edit the mask, to remove some haloes. I'm using a curves adjustment to get the effect I want, and I'm almost there. The method I'm having to use is really contorted, however, and I wonder if there's a better way.
What I'd like to do, of course, is to use a curves layer which I could then edit. However, you can't (so far as I'm aware) make an adjustment layer apply to a layer mask. So I'm reduced to this: I option-click the layer mask, and see the mask, a very blurred b&w image. I hit command-M to bring up the curves dialog, and fiddle with the curve so I think that it's more or less what I want. Of course, all I can see is the blurred b&w image, not what the end result will be. I then save the curve as a preset and apply it. Then, I click the dark image itself, to see what the result is.
If (as has usually been the case) it's not what I want, I undo the curve, option-click the layer mask, hit command-M and load the saved curve so I can fiddle some more.
The problem is that while I can see (using the Preview checkbox) what effect my curve is going to have on the layer mask, what I want to see is what effect it's going to have on the image as a whole.
Is there any way of doing this? Am I (as usual) missing something obvious?
Any suggestions gratefully received.
Jeremy
