Haze Removal Question

[Walt D]

Hello everyone.  Even though I'm a new user, I'm delighted with all the edits I've been able to learn so far from from this board and from Youtube tutorials.  However, I've got a common problem in my images that I can't find a solution for.  I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and they are called Blue Ridge because of the very common haze that hangs in the valleys.  I'm trying to reduce the white, washed out sections between the mountains.  I can make individual masks for each range, then manually adjust (brightness, blacks, clarity) but its hard to keep it looking natural. 

Any ideas?  Attached is the jpg, the raw file was too large.

Thanks, Walt

[Fixx]

Photographers usually try to get that fade out look, not to remove it... But haze removal filter seems just to make hills bluish. Clarily filter layer brings out details which may be preferable.

 

[carl123]

You can colour shift and enhance some of the details in the foreground mountains but I don't see any real way to remove the haze from the mountains in the background and to recover any details in them.

 

[John Rostron]

One method I have seen recommended is:

1. Convert the image to LAB mode.
2. Add a Curves Layer
3. Select the a component (which seems to be labelled AOpponent!) and move the sliders in the corners inwards symmetrically.
4. Do the same with the b component (BOpponent).

This procedure acts to accuentuate the saturation of the colours.

I did this for your image and it seemed to reduce the haze, but the sky became rather lurid.

John

[Walt D]

OK, thanks guys.  Don't get me wrong,  I do like the effect of haze in the valleys but sometimes I think it gets too strong.