Luminar Neo masking tutorial: sky, water and color

This Luminar Neo tutorial uses a Colorado landscape photo to explain selective adjustments with masks. The presenter follows an editing order of light, detail and color, with the basic lighting adjustments already complete.

On this image, Mask AI struggles around trees and grasses in the water. The presenter finds Object Select more accurate for the pond, then lowers Structure to smooth its surface. For the sky, he uses a luminosity mask to select bright areas between the tree branches. That selection also catches the sky's reflection, so he demonstrates a technique he calls "stack and subtract": add an Object Select water mask, then subtract the water from the combined selection.

The color examples use different tonal ranges. A broad midtone mask limits Color Harmony adjustments, while highlight masks target Golden Hour, Dehaze and Accent AI. The presenter uses the latter to retain changes in the sky and reflection while reducing unwanted shadow brightening. He also explains how feathering softens mask boundaries to avoid abrupt color changes.

For Mystical, he reverses the approach and concentrates the mask on shadows to limit its effect on highlights. The tutorial ends with Toning, which separates highlights and shadows for color adjustments without manually creating a mask.