The series of photos I captured in Bryce Canyon in Utah share a common theme. The show in shadowed areas has a heavy, blue color cast. Using the masking tools in Lightroom have made it easy to make complex selections and correct just the areas of my photo I want to.

Here is one example from Paria View on a clear sky day. The right side of the photo is in shadow and that bright blue sky is throwing down a heavy blue color cast. After a general warming on the right side of the image, I used a series of masks to target adjustments to the snow:

• Add a gradient mask to cover roughly the right half of the photo

• Intersect the gradient with a luminance range mask, using the eyedropper to sample the snow in the shadows. This eliminated the bright tones of the main subject and the sky from the selection.

• Intersect again with a color range mask, also sampling the snow in the shadows. This removed the orange tones of the rocks from the selection.

• Subtract a gradient mask from the upper part of the photo to temper the effect in the background.

Two simple gradients and two (more or less) point-and-click range masks and the snow in shadow was targeted. A simple increase in Exposure and decrease in Saturation brightened the snow and moved it toward the whiter tone I wanted.

Watch the video to see the technique in action.