Dodge and Burn are techniques for fine tuning exposure in selected areas of digital images. This is a how to for an alternative process to Photoshop's inbuilt tools.
Terms, dodge and burn, come from common practice in traditional film darkrooms where image manipulation is an important part of the photographic process.
- Burning is when printing from a film negative everything is back to front, so increasing the light or burning an area of a print makes it darker.
- Dodge naturally is the opposite, where blocking light from the enlarger preventing from it reaching the photographic paper makes that area of the print lighter.
There are specific dodge and burn tools in digital image editing programs for selectively altering the exposure of a digital image. However, there are other methods offering subtle benefits in producing realistic image enhancement.
Layer Blending and Paintbrush
This method’s main advantage is the enhancement of shadow detail in areas where it is applied. This tutorial uses Adobe Photoshop CS2, but the GIMP has features for similar results.
Firstly, create a new layer, and in the dialog box configure it for soft light mode and check the fill with soft-light-neutral color (50% gray) box. This sets the background for the new layer and determines how this new layer blends with the original layer.
Then using the paintbrush tool paint areas in the new layer with black for a burn effect. When the two layers blend with the soft light option, these areas will appear darker with more saturated colors, similar to the effect of a polarizing filter. This helps bring out details in the clouds. Painting with a white brush produces a dodge effect on the image.
Set the brush tool to a large size, in the order of 500 pixels, and make sweeping passes over the target area. With the opacity of the brush set to a low value, in the order of 15 to 20%, the changes are easily controllable.
The soft light blending of the two layers does not affect areas evenly. Rather it affects darker areas more than lighter areas, enhancing texture and shadows. This technique is not a cure for poor exposure. If the image is too dark or light areas have blown highlights, then this process will not rescue them, its main purpose is to fine tune scenes with difficult exposure. In addition, it is not a substitute for graduated neutral density filters, or polarizing filters, rather t use it in conjunction with these aids.
This process only makes slight changes; it can have greater effect by increasing the opacity of the brush or repeating the process on additional layers. Although this really defeats the purpose of this process, as its main advantages are subtle and gentle enhancements. If it is sparingly applied, the resultant image retains a natural look and does not have that artificial heavily Photoshopped look. Photographers still need to pay attention to preserving highlights when making the initial exposure.
Example Photos
The example photo has a great range of contrast, from the deep shadows of Launceston’s Cataract Gorge, to the bright sky and the golden tree lit by full sun. Burning the darkened the sky brought out the blue, while the patch of white cloud retains its brightness.
The very bright tree leaves were toned down or burnt, while the rocks within the gorge’s shadow were dodged to reveal more of the texture of the rock face. Because of the uneven way this affects the image, the textures of light and shade within treated areas increased.
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