Feature: The Dodge and Burn Brushes in PhotoShop
Idea:How to add highlights(Dodge) and emphasis(Burn) to your images
Fall is the time of the year that brings out the value of being able to apply with a brush highlights and emphasis to your images. Especially on hazy or cloudy overcast days when the contrast is reduced in images or there is pall cast over all or portions of a shot. There are a few simple rules to follow in Photoshop and many can be extended and applied to other photo editors like PaintShop Pro, Photo Impact, and others. So this tutorial will demo how dodging and burning can restore an image to its original observed luster.
Original Image
The following shot was taken on an overcast and hazy day. But what surprised this photographer already using a radar filter, was that the haze in the distance still persisted as well a bleach out of the sky which had mottled and threatening gray-blue clouds. Time to Dodge and Burn.
Mask First
The first thing to do with most landscape shots that have a skyscape in them is to mask the sky because you will want to apply a different set of corrections to the sky versus the foreground.
The new Quick Selection tool combined with the Refine Edges option for refinement of the mask quickly sets up an effective mask. As you can see we applied a sizable feather where the sky meets the ground. Now the Dodge and Burn tools are ready to be used.
Since the Burn tool will be emphasizing hidden tones already in the sky, it is best to do three things when applying a Burn:
2)Set the Burn tool's Range property to Midtones for starters. This will emphasize the midrange tones first. You can go back and add Shadows as required;
3)Be sure to lower the Burn tool's Exposure property below 30%. You will have to do some trial and error CTL-Z/Redos to get the setting right for your image. You want to slowly build up the underlying tone.
In the above screen shot the Exposure is being turned up to 49% and the Range is set to shadows to bring out some of the darker cloud tones that were seen when the shot was taken. The problem is that these tones tend to then cover over some of the wisps of gray and light that were seen in the image.
So here is where "gardening" using the Dodge Tool. Gardening in photofinishing occurs when you no longer rely on the inherent pixels in the image but rather add strokes and finishing from a remembered scene. In this case, it is the light wisps of clouds . The Dodge tool is preferred over using a brush simply because users can get to the tonal range required very quickly by dodging.
The settings for the Dodge brush are somewhat different. First the brush size is reduced from 400 to 50 pixels. The Dodge tool's Range property is set to Highlights while trial and error had the Exposure property to 40%. Finally I changed to a Wet Media brush selection - Rough Ink. The Dodge tool worked well giving the look of hazy fluff clouds streaking over the dark ominous background nimbus.
Enhancing the Fall Leaves
By simply choosing Select | Inverse from the menus the mask was reversed and all the corrections would apply to the foreground leaves. Now clearly the image needed sharpening, but by changing the contrast I hoped to minimize the noise-bringing side-effects of most sharpening steps.
So the Image | Adjustments | Exposure tools was used since I find it allows more leeway than the Curves or Channel tools. In the Exposure dialog I changed the Exposure property to +0.60 and the Offset property to -0.17. I tried changing the Gamma Property but found it added a sheen that was just not remembered. So eventually I returned Gamma back to 0 - no change.
The next problem was the haze in the distance robbed the trees of Saturation. So one swab of the Sponge tool set to Saturate at 30% did the trick. Next I applied the Burn tool selectively to some of the trees in the foreground; but not the Dodge tool. The reason to hold back is because sharpening often lightens an image because the edges of objects are lightened in contrast to bring out the underlying curves and lines in the shot.
So First I applied Filter | Sharpen | Smart Sharpen to the foreground. I set the Amount to 38%, the Radius to 3.8px to , and the Remove setting to Lens Blur. The preview in the dialog allowed me to get the sharpening close to right on quickly. Finally, after applying the Smart Sharpen I could make the final highlighting strokes with the Dodge tool. Again the Range setting was Highlight but the Exposure setting was a low 20% so I could slowly bring up some of the dist nat Yellow Birches. Here is the Final result:
Summary
Photoshop CS4 has further enhanced the Burn, Dodge, Sponge and other tools used for brush oriented color corrections. As soon as CS4 become finalized and available I shall do a follow up review of the these tools. But already, Photoshop's Dodge and Burn tools are very helpful for applying color corrections locally. Users have to get used to changing the size and shape of the brushes quite dramatically. Trial and Error (Edit | Undo and Edit | Step Backwards) are invaluable aids in getting the exact correction settings right. Also don't shy away from turning the Exposure setting way down and slowly building up the Dodge or Burn effect.
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