Contrast Mask ... Quick, simple and easy!
I like things that are quick and easy! Well....... don't we all? Sometimes this makes more sense than you might think. Sometimes a quick look at a technique that is easy to do can give insight into what is, and at the same time, what is not possible. In a perfect world this would be the only step necessary. As you will see, sometimes it is! And sometimes it's just the first step in a long process.
I learned this process for contrast masking way back in Photoshop 4 and I still use it. After our Grand Canyon expedition this year I enjoyed listening and watching as some of the participants shared technique on how they process their images. We all are cognizant of the fact that there are numerous ways to do many of the same things As with most things Photoshop, translated in most cases from the traditional darkroom, contrast is an age old photographic nemesis that we have all dealt with in some manner since looking at our first roll of film. The situation has remained the same, the approach and method of correction through the years have changed, but none so much since the advent of the digital darkroom.
Although I am fascinated along with most of the advancements made in both Photoshop and the raw converters available in new versions at every turn, and I use some or all of these tools at times, I still remain rooted in the old dark room habits.
I first learned litho film masking well over two decades ago and it's principals seem most useful to me now as they were then. Litho film is used, I think, in the X-Ray process, or at least I use to be able to get it in medical supplies sections. No matter, what it did was to enable us to make a mask by passing light trough the negative or positive in the enlarger to the litho film in the paper holder. It simply gave us a reverse neg which meant that the dark areas were light and the light areas now dark.
You then placed the litho neg on top of a unexposed piece of photographic paper in the holder and made an exposure with the original in the enlarger. This mask allowed the darker areas to be "burned" and the lighter areas to be "dodged" or the opposite, depending if you were working with a positive or negative to begin with. We quickly learned that in the darkroom, making was an art and those that had the skill and patience were admired. Their work stood alone in quality.
Today in the digital darkroom, the above described method of masked printing that took hours, days or sometimes weeks to perfect can be done in a few short keystrokes! I use the following simple method to quickly see if I can bring out contrast details quickly and easily. If you know traditional darkroom masking then each step here will translate for you. If not, and there is no need really, just simply follow these quick steps.
1. Using the info palette, I quickly check that my shadow and highlight area in the original do have information in them. There is no way you are going to bring back information that simply is not there. (notice the difference from the finished image at the top and the original shown here)
2. I then make a duplicate layer for the background once I have brought the original images into Photoshop Right click on the background layer. 
Giving the mask a name will make it easier to identify it later.
3. Using the keyboard short cuts to desaturate (ctrl-shift-U) PC,as to simulate black and white in the traditional darkroom you will see the results on your monitor.
4. Now using the keyboard shortcut for invert (ctrl-I) PC, (these are found in the Image pull down menu under adjustments) .You will now see on your monitor that you have accomplished the desired dark to light and light to dark effect that the litho neg give in the traditional darkroom.
5. Next you will duplicate the effect of placing that litho neg on top of the unexposed paper by going to the blending delta in the layers palette and selecting Overlay from the pull down choices. You will see the effect on your monitor as below. the image will appear blurred with color shifts.
6. To eliminate and correct the effect of the overlay and to revert to the original detail, I now go to filter, select gaussian blur and select the degree of blur that gives the best results. I'm always conscious of the dreaded halo effect and any global changes that I see occurring while making the adjustment. I make sure that preview is checked so I can watch as I increase and decrease the level of blur.
7. You are done! Well, again in that perfect world! I always like to slide the opacity slider on the mask layer to further blend the effect for realism.
As stated before, this is sometimes only a first step to seeing what is possible in the original. After all, the original raw conversion is only the starting point in the digital darkroom and a lot of times my decision is made at this point to use this frame or look for another .......... or just scrap the idea altogether. I've invested all of about 45 seconds at this point to find out! Now starts the workflow of the normal photoshop processing, up to and hopefully including a great print!
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