Lightroom’s HDR Editing Explained – Curves & Luminance Range Masks

This series explains HDR concepts clearly and shows practical examples — no hype, just useful knowledge to help you make the most of the light your camera recorded.

This is the second tutorial in my Lightroom HDR Editing series, and today we dive into how Curves and Luminosity Masks behave when HDR editing is active. If you’re used to Curves working within the standard SDR range, HDR changes the game. You can pull contrast, shape tonal transitions, and target bright areas in ways that simply aren’t possible on a standard display.

As for Luminance Range masks, those work the same way. Luminance Ranges are just that - a range from 0 to 100. Lightroom HDR editing doesn’t change how they operate, though the tonal “slices” you craft may be narrower than you’re accustomed to with SDR editing.

No tricks, no gimmicks — just a practical demonstration of how these tools “think” in HDR and how you can use them to bring out the best in your RAW files.