May
picturelineNews
|
 Photoshop
Burning and Dodging
part two
Dodging and burning are procedures used on every exhibition grade black and white
print made, darkroom or digital. Burning and dodging on color darkroom materials
is simply inadvisable, since it alters color as well as tone. These two actions
are what add the finishing touches to a basic print. They add roundness, depth,
and adjust localized contrast. Skillful application of these measures in the
darkroom often requires the agility of a gymnast, but not so digitally. Digital
use is more dependent upon understanding all of the methods available in photoshop.
The burn and dodge tools are only one method to accomplishing the task. Here
is a tip that allows much greater burning and dodging control for color and monochrome.
If you have made a photograph on an overcast, rainy or just a plain old dreary
day and the results seem flat or life less, there is a good chance you can help
revive it in photoshop. The time and effort to revive an image is always greater
than making the best image in the camera. Given the opportunity, do it right
the first time in the camera. That said, here is another way to revive an image,
add additional sparkle and burn and dodge without altering a single pixel in
your original file.
Shown in file 1 is
a photograph made in a park on a rainy day. A selection was made, using the lasso
tool at a 3 pixel radius, of the middle tree and the two branches on its left
side. The selection was saved as MidTree, for later use. A new layer was now
created by using Layer> New or the new layer icon at the bottom of the layer
pallet just left of the garbage can icon. On the layer pallet the mode was changed
from “normal” to “soft light”. The layer name was changed,
by double clicking on layer1 to “BurnLayer1”, to keep track of what
was happening. While on BurnLayer1, the MidTree selection was loaded by going
to Select> Load Selection> Channel (click on up down arrows) and click
on MidTree for selection. Then click on Select> Inverse, now everything except
the (selection protected) mid tree is active to be worked upon. Do not brush
over the white tree or it will be burned to a darker tone (an alternative is
to add it to the original selection to protect it). Select a 50 pixel soft brush
from the tools pallet, lower the opacity to 20%, make sure black is the foreground
color and then brush over everything that is to be burned down (such as the sky
and the line of upper level grass from the mid tree to the edge at the left).
Lastly, brush around the outer perimeter of the image to darken it down in order
to prevent the eye from leaving the image. Deselect the MidTree selection (apple
command key plus D). SAVE AS, to the desktop, filename_a as a backup in the event
you need to revert back to this stage. The results of burning in are seen in file
2.
You may see what the image would look like with double the amount of burning
in, by dragging the burn layer down to the new layer icon at the bottom of the
layers pallet. Click the eye icon of the BurnLayer1 copy on and off to view results.
If the results are too strong, one option is to drag the copy layer to the garbage
can at the bottom of the Layers pallet. A second option is to adjust the opacity
slider at the top of the Layers pallet until satisfied. However, if the results
are intermittently a little bit dark you can amend the copy layer by selecting
your brush tool (as used previously), change the opacity to 3%, change the foreground
color to white (click on the two-headed arrow above the black and white boxes)
and adjust area by area by painting out the areas that are too dark. SAVE AS,
to the desktop, filename_b as a backup in the event you need to revert back to
this stage
With the burning complete, add a new layer and title it “DodgeLayer1”.
Set the mode for this layer from normal to soft light, as done previously. Select
the soft edge brush tool, brush opacity at 3%, and be certain that the foreground
color is set at white for the next step. You may now brush over any part of the
picture you wish to lighten up (such as the very edges of the yellow-green bush
behind the white tree and the lower level park grass). When you are satisfied
SAVE AS, to the desktop, filename_c as a backup in the event you need to revert
back to this stage. The results of the combined burning and dodging may be seen
in file 3.
The focus of the park image was on the white tree and the depth of field was
intentionally left shallow to preserve the soft intent of the picture. However,
the mid tree was a bit softer than desired. To help the tree to look sharper
the contrast was increased in the following manner. Go to Layer> New Adjustment
Layer> Curves or click the new adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the
Layers pallet (a half black half white ball) and go up to curves. This will bring
up the curves adjustment screen; click ok without any manipulation at this point.
Go to Layer> Load Selection> Channel (click on up down arrows) and click
on MidTree for selection. Now click on the icon of the half black half white
ball on curves layer 1. This will bring back the curves adjustment screen; adjust
the curve to make the tree look sharper. When you are satisfied SAVE AS, to the
desktop, filename_d as a backup in the event you need to revert back to this
stage.
The mid tree was reflecting a lot of green light, which became more apparent
with the previous contrast adjustment. To adjust the color Go to Layer> New
Adjustment Layer> Hue and Saturation or click the new adjustment layer icon
at the bottom of the Layers pallet (a half black half white ball) and go up to
hue and saturation. This will bring up the Hue and Saturation dialog box; click
ok without any manipulation at this point. Go to Layer> Load Selection> Channel
(click on up down arrows) and click on MidTree for selection. Now click on the
icon of the half black half white ball on hue and saturation layer 1. This will
bring back the Hue and saturation dialog box; adjust the sliders to make the
tree look less green. When you are satisfied SAVE AS, to the desktop, filename_e
as a backup in the event you need to revert back to this stage. The final photograph
may be seen in file 4.
The adjustments that have been made to the camera image have created a file now
worth printing as a fine print. The wonderful thing about this method is that
the eye icons may be clicked off and you are back to your original file without
a single pixel being disturbed. Had the burn and dodge tools, and other actions,
been applied directly to the camera image the result would be less reversible,
less controllable, and unreviseable. All work files may be added to a folder
or only the final image saved and committed to a CD for image filing and archiving.
Submitted by AskRodger
Submitted by AskRodger™ |
