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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> My try at burning & dodging
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 02/12/2005 10:20:24 PM · #1
OK, I've never done this before so please be gentle with me...
I want to try and bring out the best in my pics and am trying my hand at burning and dodging.

How am I doing?

Before:


After:


Message edited by author 2005-02-12 22:23:31.
 02/12/2005 10:22:20 PM · #2
Ack! I didn't realize the before pic was so big. Just a sec while I resize...

edit***
done!

Message edited by author 2005-02-12 22:23:48.
 02/12/2005 10:32:03 PM · #3
I don't know anything about doing this type of thing, but I think the second picture looks great. The sky almost looks like a painting.
 02/12/2005 10:39:34 PM · #4
So is there any where on this site that explains how to do this effect in either Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro?
 02/12/2005 10:50:54 PM · #5
Originally posted by MakAttack:
So is there any where on this site that explains how to do this effect in either Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro?


Dodging and Burning in Photoshop by Pedro
 02/12/2005 10:51:13 PM · #6
Jozi,
Looks pretty good. Suggestion: try adding a little of that pink from the sky to the water, like a reflection.

edit:
Actually, I just looked at your pics again, and the first one already has the reflection. What happened to it?

Message edited by author 2005-02-12 22:52:04.
 02/12/2005 11:15:11 PM · #7
Originally posted by sher9204:
Originally posted by MakAttack:
So is there any where on this site that explains how to do this effect in either Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro?


Dodging and Burning in Photoshop by Pedro


Thanks for that Sher9204!!
 02/12/2005 11:41:53 PM · #8
I think in this image there is as much to dodge as there is to burn. My quick and drity take, for what it's worth
 02/13/2005 12:37:29 AM · #9
This is fun to do, and Jozi produced an interesting image with this first crack at it, but the sky there and in Brennan's version is a caricature, a cartoon of a sky. That's kewl, if that's what is wanted, but it's not a "believable" sky. A little later I may take a crack at it for a third perspective. Playing a tourney right now.

Robt.
 02/13/2005 01:54:55 AM · #10
One thing to watch for Jozi--in the edited version, the water has lost the beautiful reflection of the sunset in the sky.
 02/13/2005 06:08:49 AM · #11
Thanks for the comments. It's so much fun to see an image transform before your very eyes. The tips have been very helpful.

Brennan, I love the version you came out with. You really pulled out the detail in the dark areas too. That dramatic look is great!

nshapiro- thanks for the comment about the reflection. I will watch for that. I had adjusted curves and I guess that's where the reflection got lost.

sher- thanks for the link to the tutorial. It is VERY helpful.

I'm off to the flea market now. :)
 02/13/2005 12:36:08 PM · #12
Here's a somewhat more subtle play on the theme. It's counter-intuitive in mye mind to try to pull much detail out of the dark areas, they are supposed to be dark because they are silhouettes. Likewise, too-extreme dodging of the highlights in the shadows (as in Brennan's very dramatic rough take) is very unnatural.

In this one I used "cntrl-alt-tilde" (tilde is the wavy dash: ~) to select bright areas and "cntrl j" to make a new layer of this selection, which was set to 100% multiply. Then I went back to the BG image, used "cntrl-alt-tilde" again, inverted the selection, used "cntrl-j" to make another layer mask, and set that to 100% screen.

I then selected the entire sky area with a 6-pixel feather and saved the selection. I loaded the selection onto the BG and used a hue/saturation layer to bump the saturation maybe 20%.

I went back to the BG and loaded the inverse of the sky selection, made a new hue/saturation adjustment layer, and bumped the saturation in magenta, yellow and red a bit, while desaturating cyan and blue a tad.

Then I used the dodge tool to dodge up the snow and the boats, very carefully so as not to affect the water. I used the burn tool upper right to close the sky a bit, and the saturation sponge to saturate the upper right a bit more and desaturate the snow areas, which had a slight color cast once dodged.



Robt.

And oh, yeah: first thing I did was rotate to level the horizon, and crop.

Message edited by author 2005-02-13 12:37:38.
 02/13/2005 03:14:28 PM · #13
bump...

I'd be interested in comments on my version of this below; is it working for people? Or is there disagreement with my conclusion that really dramatic spot burning-and-dodging is not appropriate for this image?

Robt.
 02/13/2005 03:18:46 PM · #14
The sky looks nice (BobsterLobster-esque, almost), but I'm not into the whole pink river/snow/boats/trees/etc.
 02/13/2005 03:31:07 PM · #15
Finally back from the flea market. :) I like your version too Robt. Very nice! The boats and snow have a pretty, soft glow to them. The water looks kind of purple and pink. Very nice! This is actually not a river but an inlet to the saltwater Bay of Fundy on the Atlantic coast of Canada. At low tide, the boats are litterally sitting on the ground. I have not captured a good low tide image (yet).

I am enjoying ALL the renditions you guys have worked out and am having a blast playing with the tools myself.
 02/13/2005 07:09:17 PM · #16
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
I think in this image there is as much to dodge as there is to burn. My quick and drity take, for what it's worth


Brennan, I think that's a fantastic job you did. Can you explain the technique that you used? (settings on the brushes, etc) Did you use anything else other than dodge or burn?

I'm also teaching myself to use these tools and have been trying to duplicate what I've seen here. No luck yet.
 02/13/2005 07:20:39 PM · #17
So here's another one I worked on today. Am I getting better?

02/13/2005 09:25:54 PM · #18
Yes, this has lots of potential but you are haloing. You are burning in the sky as well as the clouds, making a dark halo around them; just as in Brennan's example there is light haloing from the dodging. You should select the sky in this one, then invert the selection; this way when you burn the clouds the tool won't overlap into the non-selected sky. And since you have the sky selection, use that to make the sky darker, especially at the top, to contain the image and funnel our eyes into the clouds.

Robt.

Message edited by author 2005-02-13 21:26:14.
 02/13/2005 10:29:13 PM · #19
What do you think of this? I have been practicing too. Just a newbie here.
02/13/2005 10:34:08 PM · #20
jaysus that's foreboding... It's kind of over-the-top, but it was fun wasn't it? T^ry letting the sky be a gradated blue, not so flat.

Robt.
 02/13/2005 10:34:57 PM · #21
Looks to me like the storm to end all storms is coming over the hill.
 02/13/2005 10:39:46 PM · #22
Robt, I see what you're saying about the haloing..... When I started doing it, I actually liked that effect. I like it more when the halo is burned than when it is dodged. Thanks for your feedback. :)

Man! That blue one is weird and eerie! I can't believe that's my little neighbourhood! heh heh heh
 02/13/2005 10:40:08 PM · #23
yeah it was fun...no pressure ...Half of what i did i couldnt do again...just stumbled on it...i am trying to read all the tutorials.
thanks
 02/13/2005 10:53:40 PM · #24
Originally posted by alixmiles:
yeah it was fun...no pressure ...Half of what i did i couldnt do again...just stumbled on it...i am trying to read all the tutorials.
thanks


It sure is fun when you happen to stumble on something you like.. the hard part is remembering what you did!

That's a great picture to play with, Jozi. I like your version of it too, I think the halo adds a sci-fi effect.
 02/14/2005 01:56:28 AM · #25
Originally posted by bear_music:
bump...

I'd be interested in comments on my version of this below; is it working for people? Or is there disagreement with my conclusion that really dramatic spot burning-and-dodging is not appropriate for this image?

Robt.


I would agree that my version is a caricature, in the sense of a sketch that you make before you get serious about a painting. I wanted to bring out some detail in the black, but in a finished work it would have been far less than I did in the quick and dirty. I belive that in a dark area like the left bank, if you were there you would see some, slight detail. That detail would not pass a nine or perhaps an eight in a zone system (real dark or pretty dark but short of absolute black).

I did my version using the shadow tool in photoshop cs and then used a big brush to dodge and burn with 12% opacity. If I was doing a more serious version I would work in layers and be a tad more delicate, but the attempt to get some detail in every large area, in the same way as if you were standing there seeing this scene, your eye would not see areas of pitch black in this scene. And of course keeping in mind that a well edited print version is too subtle for a computer screen which wants a more agressive look.

Message edited by author 2005-02-14 01:59:28.
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