STEP BY STEP ENHANCE ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOS

How to use the Adjustment Brush in Camera Raw to isolate and boost areas of your images

01 PAINT OVER THE SKY

Navigate to the start image in Adobe Bridge, rightclick and ‘Open in Camera Raw’. Make initial changes to boost the tones in the Basic panel, then grab the Adjustment Brush from the toolbar on the right. Hit Y to toggle on the mask overlay, then paint over the sky.

02 SAMPLE THE BLUES

Go to the brush settings and pick Range: Color. Use the eyedropper tool in the range mask settings to click on the sky, hold Shift and click to sample colours until the sky is isolated. Hold Alt and drag the Color Range slider for a black and white view that shows what is included.

03 MASK THE BUILDING

Hit Y to toggle off the mask overlay, then lower Exposure and Temperature, and increase Saturation to boost the sky. Next, click the plus icon in the brush settings to make a new local adjustment. Hit Y to toggle on the mask and paint over the darker building.

04 INCREASE THE EXPOSURE

Use the Luminance Range Mask to target the building. Set Range: Luminance then drag the white point in to exclude lighter pixels from the change. Hold Alt as you drag for a B&W view, then fine-tune the Smoothness. Increase Exposure and Clarity to boost the building.

05 USE AUTO-MASK

Hit N for a new adjustment, then check Auto-mask in the brush settings. Paint over the building on the right. Auto-mask makes the brush snap to the edges of the shape. Lower Exposure and Temperature, and boost Clarity to balance the building with the scene.

06 CHANGE THE COLOURS

Make a new adjustment and paint over the spots, then set Range Mask: Color and sample the yellows and reds. Increase Exposure and use the Hue slider to change colours. Click on the adjustment pins to go back and tweak any of the local adjustments or masks.