Dodging and Burning

This is a traditional darkroom technique used to selectively lighten and darken areas of a photograph during the enlarging process. A mask in the shape of the area to be lightened is attached to a thin wire and held in position just above the photo paper in the enlarger, so that it shadow prevents exposure. Slight movement softens the edge and prevents the wire from adversely affecting the expsoure. This is known as “dodging”. Burning is the opposite effect, in which the area to be darkened is cut out of a larger paper mask to prevent exposure to other areas.

In digital retouching we use this effect on a daily basis to control local contrast so as to extend the apparent dynamic range of the photo. It’s a relatively simple process of selecting part of the image and applying an adjustment to alter its luminosity value. However for finer control, we can create adjustment layers that we can use to “brush in” the effect.

The many adjustment tools and blend modes in Photoshop can be used in many combinations to achieve advanced effects. For this tutorial however, we are going to concentrate on three techniques using The Overlay, Multiply and Screen modes.

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Creating a Dodge & Burn Layer
For subtle adjustments, nondestructive dodging and burning can be performed in a single layer. For a more pronounced effect and to gain more control over color, we can use a separate layer each for dodging and burning as explained below.

1. From the menu bar, select Layer > New > Layer… or press Command + Shift + N.

2. In New Layer dialog, select Overlay from the mode menu and check the “Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)” box. Rename this layer “Dodge & Burn” if desired. Click OK.

3. Press D to set the background colors to their default black and white.

4. Press B to switch to the Brush tool.

5. In the Brush Options bar, set the opacity and flow to a low value, such as 10%.

6. Select an appropriate brush size and hardness.

7. Begin brushing in the document window to darken areas which are too light using black. To lighten dark areas, press X to exchange foreground and background colors in order to use white.

How it works
When the Overlay mode is applied to a layer, values in that layer that are lighter than 50% gray lighten the pixels of the layers beneath, while values which are darker than 50% gray darken them. This is also true of the Soft Light, Hard Light, Vivid Light, Linear Light and Hard Mix modes, which can also be used to achieve varying effects.

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Creating a Burn Layer
When a stronger effect needs to be applied, and/or more control over color is desired, a separate burn layer can be created using the Multiply Mode.

1. From the menu bar, select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation…

2. In the New Layer dialog, select Multiply from the Mode menu; rename the layer “Burn” if desired.

3. With the layer still selected, fill the layer mask with black by selecting Edit > Fill… from the menu bar and select Black from the Use menu.

4. Press D to set the background colors to their default black and white.

5. Press B to switch to the Brush tool.

6. In the Brush Options bar, set the opacity and flow to a low value, such as 10%.

7. Select an appropriate brush size and hardness.

8. Begin brushing in the document window to darken areas which are too light using white. White is painted into the layer mask, revealing the effect of the Multiply blend mode.

9. To undo the effect, press X to switch to the background color (black) which then hides the effect of the Multiply mode.

10. To vary the overall intensity of the effect, adjust the layer’s Opacity slider

10. To vary the overall hue and saturation of the effect, adjust the respective sliders in the Hue/Saturation panel.

11. To darken the effect starting from the highlights, drag the Lightness slider to the left.

12. To lighten the effect starting from the shadows, drag the Lightness slider to the right.

How it Works
When the Multiply mode is applied to a layer, values in that layer darken those in the layers beneath, with the effect becoming progressively stronger as the tones become darker. This has the effect of darkening the image while adding contrast. Applying this mode to a non-modified adjustment layer is the same as duplicating the pixel layer itself, but takes up far less disk space. By using a Hue/Saturation layer, we have subtle control over the hue, saturation, shadows and highlights of the effect.

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Creating a Dodge Layer
When a stronger effect needs to be applied, and/or more control over color is desired, a separate dodge layer can be created using the Screen Mode.


1. From the menu bar, select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation…

2. In the New Layer dialog, select Screen from the Mode menu; rename the layer “Dodge” if desired.

3. With the layer still selected, fill the layer mask with black by selecting Edit > Fill… from the menu bar and select Black from the Use menu.

4. Press D to set the background colors to their default black and white.

5. Press B to switch to the Brush tool.

6. In the Brush Options bar, set the opacity and flow to a low value, such as 10%.

7. Select an appropriate brush size and hardness.

8. Begin brushing in the document window to lighten areas which are too dark using white. White is painted into the layer mask, revealing the effect of the Screen blend mode.

9. To undo the effect, press X to switch to the background color (black) which then hides the effect of the Screen mode.

10. To vary the overall intensity of the effect, adjust the layer’s Opacity slider

10. To vary the overall hue and saturation of the effect, adjust the respective sliders in the Hue/Saturation panel.

11. To darken the effect starting from the highlights, drag the Lightness slider to the left.

12. To lighten the effect starting from the shadows, drag the Lightness slider to the right.

How it Works
When the Screen mode is applied to a layer, values in that layer lighten those in the layers beneath, with the effect becoming progressively stronger as the tones become darker. This has the effect of lightening the image while reducing contrast. Applying this mode to a non-modified adjustment layer is the same as duplicating the pixel layer itself, but takes up far less disk space. By using a Hue/Saturation layer, we have subtle control over the hue, saturation, shadows and highlights of the effect.

Intermediate Exposure Adjustments

Exposure, brightness, lightness, and luminosity all describe the same basic concept, how light or dark an image appears. However, in real-world application, they’re not the same.

Exposure takes place in the camera, and once it happens, it can never really be adjusted. That said, most post processing applications have an exposure adjustment to simulate the effects of exposure. Exposure is more or less “linear”; the more light you let into the camera, the whiter the whites will become until they “wash out” and all detail is lost. However, film also has response curve. Therefore, adjusting exposure is tricky in post processing.

Brightness refers not only to luminosity, but to color as well. An image is considered to “bright” when it’s both light and has clean, vibrant colors, in other words good color saturation. The luminosity level may be perfect, but if the colors do not have adequate saturation, the image will appear dull.

Lightness refers only to luminosity, hence the “Lightness” channel in the L*a*b* color space. When the color is right, we want to be able to control only the lightness, and this is not something that can be done by adjusting exposure.

Luminosity generally refers only to lightness, and not to color. The Luminosity blend mode in Photoshop restricts an adjustment to the information that would appear in the Lightness channel of a L*a*b* image. However, used descriptively it can also refer to brightness. A “luminous” image is one that is both light and colorful.

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Curves
The advantage of Curves is that you can use them to adjust the brightness or lightness of values at up to fourteen points in a infinity number of locations along the tone curve, while preserving the white and black points. This makes it both an exposure and a contrast tool, which can be used to adjust both exposure and gamma.

Choose any point along the curve and drag up to brighten/lighten the image or down to subdue/darken the image in that particular tonal range without affect the white or black points. (If you’re in the Pigment/Ink mode the curve is moved in the opposite direction).

Intermediate Contrast Adjustments

Exposure does have an effect on contrast, but generally it’s governed by the lens, film and lighting.

Contrast can also be controlled through the chemistry, materials, techniques and algorithms used in  processing and printing. Digital images are processed either in the camera or the lightroom, so contrast adjustments can be made at the time of exposure or during post-processing. When you adjust the contrast in a digital camera, you’re altering how the raw image from the sensor is processed just before it’s saved to memory.

Contrast is the relationship between the light and dark tones of an image. The further apart these values, the more contrast or separation the image is said to have.

Vibrancy is an attribute of color that is also related to contrast. Images with more contrast are naturally more vibrant. Generally speaking, a lens with higher contrast will also render more vibrant color. However, digitally, we can control contrast without affecting vibrancy.

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Curves
Undoubtedly the most powerful tool for adjusting contrast. As many as fourteen points can be placed on a curve, creating fifteen independent areas of contrast control. This control can be expanded to each of the image’s color channels as well. Knowing how to use curves properly can make or break an image. It’s easy to severely damage the tonal structure of an image by using complex curves, so they’re not for the faint of heart.

Contrast can be controlled independently of vibrance by using the Luminosity blend mode.

Vibrance can be controlled independently of contrast by using the Color blend mode.

Blend Modes

One of the many advantages of working in Photoshop is the ability to combine pixel layers using different algorithms, known as blend modes.

There are twenty-seven different blend modes to choose from, accessed from the Layers panel, which will vastly alter the way the pixel layer they are applied to blends with the layers beneath it. Each of these modes has a specific purpose, and they can also be used to achieve results not possible through normal means. Perhaps the easiest way to understand this concept is through the use of the Screen blend mode.

If you want to combine two images to simulate a double exposure you place each one on a separate layer in Photoshop, and set the blend mode of the uppermost layer to screen. The lighter values in the top layer will lighten those in the layer(s) beneath, the but darker values will not affect them in any way. This is precisely how double exposure works in the camera. During the second exposure, light entering the camera lightens areas already exposed on the film. However, areas of the second exposure which are black will not affect any area of the previous exposure. If you took two exposures of an object against a black background each in a different location within the frame and combined them in this way, you would have two identical images on the same frame. This is in fact how digital cameras which are capable of double exposure combine two exposures; the first is held in the image buffer, and the second is combined with it using the screen mode.

The modes are divided into groups of related function. From top to bottom, the first is the normal group. The Normal mode uses no special algorithms, but allows you to alter the opacity of the layer it’s applied to. The Dissolve mode creates stippled edges where there are areas of partial transparency, such us through the use of a layer mask.

The second group is the darken group. Modes in this group use pixel values in the applied layer to darken those of the underlying layers.

Next is the lighten group. It is the opposite of the darken group, mode for mode.

The fourth or “light” group affects values which are lighter or darker than 50% gray. Values in the applied layer which are 50% gray do not affect those beneath. However, values lighter than 50% gray lighten them, while values darker than 50% gray darken them.

The fifth group combines layers by first inverting them, then applying algorithms from the other groups, such as Linear Burn (Subtract), Color Dodge (Divide) or by calculating the difference between pixel values (Difference and Exclusion).

The last group combines layer based on luminosity or chromaticity. It allows you to simulate working in other color modes such as L*a*b*.

Advanced use of Blend Modes
While these modes affect how pixel layers are combined, they also affect how adjustment layers are applied. For example, If you want to lighten or darken an image without affecting its color, use the luminosity mode with adjustment layers such as Brightness/Contrast, Levels, Curves or Exposure. This is essential for use with CMYK images, which exist in a non-linear color space. Conversely, if you wish to make a color adjustment without affecting lightness, use the Color mode.

In addition to these basic applications, there are also advanced applications which will be explained in these upcoming tutorials:

• Advanced Exposure Adjustments
• Advanced Contrast Adjustments

Dodging and Burning

This is a traditional darkroom technique used to selectively lighten and darken areas of a photograph during the enlarging process. A mask in the shape of the area to be lightened is attached to a thin wire and held in position just above the photo paper in the enlarger, so that it shadow prevents exposure. Slight movement softens the edge and prevents the wire from adversely affecting the exposure. This is known as “dodging”. Burning is the opposite effect, in which the area to be darkened is cut out of a larger paper mask to prevent exposure to other areas.

In digital retouching we use this effect on a daily basis to control local contrast in order to extend the apparent dynamic range of the photo. It’s a relatively simple process of selecting part of the image and applying an adjustment to alter its luminosity value. However for finer control, we can create adjustment layers that we can use to “brush in” the effect.

The many adjustment tools and blend modes in Photoshop can be used in many combinations to achieve advanced effects. For this tutorial however, we are going to concentrate on three techniques using The Overlay, Multiply and Screen modes.

---

Creating a Dodge & Burn Layer
For subtle adjustments, nondestructive dodging and burning can be performed in a single layer. For a more pronounced effect and to gain more control over color, we can use a separate layer each for dodging and burning as explained below.

1. From the menu bar, select Layer > New > Layer… or press Command + Shift + N.

2. In New Layer dialog, select Overlay from the mode menu and check the “Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)” box. Rename this layer “Dodge & Burn” if desired. Click OK.

3. Press D to set the background colors to their default black and white.

4. Press B to switch to the Brush tool.

5. In the Brush Options bar, set the opacity and flow to a low value, such as 10%.

6. Select an appropriate brush size and hardness.

7. Begin brushing in the document window to darken areas which are too light using black. To lighten dark areas, press X to exchange foreground and background colors in order to use white.

How it works
When the Overlay mode is applied to a layer, values in that layer that are lighter than 50% gray lighten the pixels of the layers beneath, while values which are darker than 50% gray darken them. This is also true of the Soft Light, Hard Light, Vivid Light, Linear Light and Hard Mix modes, which can also be used to achieve varying effects.

---

Creating a Burn Layer
When a stronger effect needs to be applied, and/or more control over color is desired, a separate burn layer can be created using the Multiply Mode.

1. From the menu bar, select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation…

2. In the New Layer dialog, select Multiply from the Mode menu; rename the layer “Burn” if desired.

3. With the layer still selected, fill the layer mask with black by selecting Edit > Fill… from the menu bar and select Black from the Use menu.

4. Press D to set the background colors to their default black and white.

5. Press B to switch to the Brush tool.

6. In the Brush Options bar, set the opacity and flow to a low value, such as 10%.

7. Select an appropriate brush size and hardness.

8. Begin brushing in the document window to darken areas which are too light using white. White is painted into the layer mask, revealing the effect of the Multiply blend mode.

9. To undo the effect, press X to switch to the background color (black) which then hides the effect of the Multiply mode.

10. To vary the overall intensity of the effect, adjust the layer’s Opacity slider

10. To vary the overall hue and saturation of the effect, adjust the respective sliders in the Hue/Saturation panel.

11. To darken the effect starting from the highlights, drag the Lightness slider to the left.

12. To lighten the effect starting from the shadows, drag the Lightness slider to the right.

How it Works
When the Multiply mode is applied to a layer, values in that layer darken those in the layers beneath, with the effect becoming progressively stronger as the tones become darker. This has the effect of darkening the image while adding contrast. Applying this mode to a non-modified adjustment layer is the same as duplicating the pixel layer itself, but takes up far less disk space. By using a Hue/Saturation layer, we have subtle control over the hue, saturation, shadows and highlights of the effect.

---

Creating a Dodge Layer
When a stronger effect needs to be applied, and/or more control over color is desired, a separate dodge layer can be created using the Screen Mode.


1. From the menu bar, select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation…

2. In the New Layer dialog, select Screen from the Mode menu; rename the layer “Dodge” if desired.

3. With the layer still selected, fill the layer mask with black by selecting Edit > Fill… from the menu bar and select Black from the Use menu.

4. Press D to set the background colors to their default black and white.

5. Press B to switch to the Brush tool.

6. In the Brush Options bar, set the opacity and flow to a low value, such as 10%.

7. Select an appropriate brush size and hardness.

8. Begin brushing in the document window to lighten areas which are too dark using white. White is painted into the layer mask, revealing the effect of the Screen blend mode.

9. To undo the effect, press X to switch to the background color (black) which then hides the effect of the Screen mode.

10. To vary the overall intensity of the effect, adjust the layer’s Opacity slider

10. To vary the overall hue and saturation of the effect, adjust the respective sliders in the Hue/Saturation panel.

11. To darken the effect starting from the highlights, drag the Lightness slider to the left.

12. To lighten the effect starting from the shadows, drag the Lightness slider to the right.

How it Works
When the Screen mode is applied to a layer, values in that layer lighten those in the layers beneath, with the effect becoming progressively stronger as the tones become darker. This has the effect of lightening the image while reducing contrast. Applying this mode to a non-modified adjustment layer is the same as duplicating the pixel layer itself, but takes up far less disk space. By using a Hue/Saturation layer, we have subtle control over the hue, saturation, shadows and highlights of the effect.