Dodge and burn questions...

[E. von Hoegh]

Do I use dodge and burn techniques to enhance images? Of course. I also use contrast masking, pre-flashing, bleaching and intensifying and a wide variety of other techniques.
I do none of this on the computer, but in the darkroom which it where it all started and is still produces more beautiful results.

+1

[Ari]

If you work fast and confident you can also use the History Brush. Make your move, save a "snapshot", undo, then use the History Brush to paint from the snapshot in the history menu.

My preferred method of dodging and burning in PS; the dodge and burn tools are indeed quite crude, and lag far behind the other PS tools in their effectiveness and quality.

[Preston]

"There is another technique that is considered the "burn and dodge" technique in PhotoShop. You create a new layer, fill it with 50% gray and change the blending mode to Overlay (or soft light or hard light). Then you use the brush tool to paint at a very low opacity, somewhere between 1 and 15. If you paint black at this level you burn, if you paint white you dodge."

I use this technique extensively, mostly with the blending mode set to 'soft light'. I usually create two layers, as above; one for burn, and the other for dodge. These layers increase file size because of the 50% fill, so a single layer will work if file size is an issue for you. One can also build an action that will create the layer and set the blending mode for you, or you can download it free from Tony Kuyper's site: Here

--P

[Lenny Eiger]

Do I use dodge and burn techniques to enhance images? Of course. I also use contrast masking, pre-flashing, bleaching and intensifying and a wide variety of other techniques.
I do none of this on the computer, but in the darkroom which it where it all started and is still produces more beautiful results.

This constant "darkroom prints are better than inkjets" is childish and annoying.

The truth is that I have a platinum print that I made many years ago and I have a new inkjet print I made on Kozo with good inks, and I would challenge anyone to tell me which is which. They are indistinguishable.

I see nothing wrong with working in a darkroom. You have only a fraction of the control but why should that matter? Everyone is free to enjoy what they want. But there isn't a value judgement you can make here. Not unless you can tell the difference between my prints, which you can't. It's juvenile. Enough.

Lenny

[Brian Ellis]

Do I use dodge and burn techniques to enhance images? Of course. I also use contrast masking, pre-flashing, bleaching and intensifying and a wide variety of other techniques.
I do none of this on the computer, but in the darkroom which it where it all started and is still produces more beautiful results.

He didn't ask how you do it in a darkroom. And no, it doesn't produce "more beautiful" results. The beauty of any method of printing depends on the person making the prints, not on the tools they use.

[Mike Anderson]

...
There is another technique that is considered the "burn and dodge" technique in PhotoShop. You create a new layer, fill it with 50% gray and change the blending mode to Overlay (or soft light or hard light). Then you use the brush tool to paint at a very low opacity, somewhere between 1 and 15. If you paint black at this level you burn, if you paint white you dodge.
...

I've been playing around with this for a couple of days. Pretty slick. I usually use 2 layers, painting on curves' layer masks, one to dodge and one to burn, but the simplicity of keeping it all in one layer has its advantages.

(I didn't know overlaying shades of gray worked like that - learn something new every now and then.)

[Lenny Eiger]

I've been playing around with this for a couple of days. Pretty slick. I usually use 2 layers, painting on curves' layer masks, one to dodge and one to burn, but the simplicity of keeping it all in one layer has its advantages.

(I didn't know overlaying shades of gray worked like that - learn something new every now and then.)

Glad to help. It is always cool to learn something new. Happens to me all the time on this forum.

I will hasten to add (maybe for some that are not as experienced as Mike) that this burn and dodge technique, while useful, does not replace the curve adjustment layers and their masks. The curve is the main tool, with the masking part a close second, dodge and burn is just for a little touch-up.

Lenny