masking with darktable

Would someone teach me how to use the masking feature in darktable?
I’ve been using darktable about 5 years and masking is something that eludes me (both in darktable and in gimp).
In the file i’ve provided I would like ti lighten the subject and darken the background.

This file is licensed Creative Commons, By-Attribution, Share-Alike.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dXZlNcMUnZHDEEitoRS2fGcz1qaCmkdt/view?usp=sharing

Fortunately for you, Nicholas is darwing towards the end of an excelllent series on masking:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxHYygok15XQ6bqu9FK-oCw

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thank you so much for letting me know !

thank goodness. More advanced tutorials.

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Quick edit. With a little more care you could mask it better.


PIC04486.ARW.xmp (34.2 KB)

One of the most up to date module by module series is made by Hal…

Darktable A-Z…sounds like you might benefit…5 years without masking is too long…if you have a specific question we might also be able to help …its pretty easy really for basic masking…combining elements is a bit trickier but I really have not needed to do it often…also you can upload your raw direct…no need for a Google link

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8CZCvZL3ic2hg074Quh2oA/videos

Same here…just used default settings, went to tone eq instead of exposure…auto mask on hue using the picker with a range on the flowers…couple of quick tweaks to the parametric mask and a quick draw around the flower cluster…how light you want it could be further adjusted easily or same mask to tweak hue/sat/vibrancy etc…

I like his videos very much, too. He’s explaining the theoretical background but is giving practical hints, too. Very, very helpful but unfortunately not much known yet.

Perhaps this example from the manual:

https://docs.darktable.org/usermanual/3.6/darkroom/masking-and-blending/masks/refinement-controls/#example-feathering-a-drawn-mask

shows the use of mask refinement techniques (feathering, but also blur, opacity and contrast) for this kind of subject (focused area) isolation.

Also this thread darktable create blur addresses similar problem.