Question about layer mask and painting in backgrounds

[cyde]

Hello,
I’m working with Photoshop 7. I have a landscape photo of an ocean bay with a close up of a palm tree on the left side. I plan to color correct the photo, and I plan to darken the clouds in this photo using a Curves Layer. I will add a layer mask to this layer and invert it. I will then “paint” in the darkened sky. My question is, is there a way to “protect” or lock the palm tree so I can paint in the darkened sky in the background, without painting over the palm tree, which would make it darker too.

 

[apepp]

...you will need to make a selection of the palm tree in question, how you go about this is dependant on the image you have, it may be possible to create a selection by manipulating a copy of a colour channel, or use quick mask to paint a selection of the tree...

...use a curves adjustment layer whilst the masked area is actively selected and the curves layer mask will honour that selection, then adjust your mask as required, either by using levels, blurs or manually painting on it...

andrew