Axxo's Current Project

[axxo]

Hello guys, i just wanted to show you how far the "burn" and "dodge" tools can take you- and how much detail can me revealed by them



dodge+burn=contrast




let me know which one is better

 

[IamSam]

Thanks Axxo, Dodge & Burn techniques are brought up quite often here. What technique do you prefer?

 

[axxo]

Thanks Axxo, Dodge & Burn techniques are brought up quite often here. What technique do you prefer?

you know even from the early days with pencil and paper i always start with burn- its always set on no more then 9% (of-course i duplicate layers before hand but as soon as i feel like the image is "dark enough" then i use dodge for highlight and for more illusions of detail, but i learnt my lessons so watch the color while dodgeing - because of the shadow/med/highlight thing

most of the time i just copy a certain part i want to dodge and then after i crop it to fit...

 

[IamSam]

Great! Thanks.

I never use the native Dodge & Burn Tools. In order to maintain accurate colors, I prefer using two Curves adjustment layers, one on the dark side and one on the light side and both with hide all layer masks. Then I use the Brush Tool in conjunction with the CAL masks to create the Dodge & Burn. This method creates much better results!

 

[axxo]

Great! Thanks.

I never use the native Dodge & Burn Tools. In order to maintain accurate colors, I prefer using two Curves adjustment layers, one on the dark side and one on the light side and both with hide all layer masks. Then I use the Brush Tool in conjunction with the CAL masks to create the Dodge & Burn. This method creates much better results!

how did you learn PS? im self thought- still dont know a ton of things ... one thing actually i never got was masks...

 

[IamSam]

I'm completely self taught. Two things I always tell folks is that if you ever plan on being efficient with Photoshop, you need to learn the Pen Tool and layer/vector masks! Blending modes and alpha masking (for selections) would be a close second.

Masks are a bit confusing at first, but after you have that "ah hah" moment, you will use them every chance you can and wonder how you could have ever not understood them!

 

[axxo]

I'm completely self taught. Two things I always tell folks is that if you ever plan on being efficient with Photoshop, you need to learn the Pen Tool and layer/vector masks! Blending modes and alpha masking (for selections) would be a close second.

Masks are a bit confusing at first, but after you have that "ah hah" moment, you will use them every chance you can and wonder how you could have ever not understood them!

can you link an alpha masking guide ?

 

[IamSam]

Sure, hold on a second.

 

[IamSam]

Take a look at these....

Channel Selection:

http://planetphotoshop.com/masking-with-channels-2.html

http://planetphotoshop.com/using-channels-to-make-better-selections-in-adobe-photoshop.html

http://phlearn.com/separate-parts-of-your-image-with-photoshop-channels

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvBAvZyqPmU

edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsXbDLglasA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-aizjdm5Us

Calculations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqg4m2q2eek

 

[axxo]

Take a look at these....

Channel Selection:

http://planetphotoshop.com/masking-with-channels-2.html

http://planetphotoshop.com/using-channels-to-make-better-selections-in-adobe-photoshop.html

http://phlearn.com/separate-parts-of-your-image-with-photoshop-channels

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvBAvZyqPmU

edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsXbDLglasA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-aizjdm5Us

Calculations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqg4m2q2eek

aaaaa lol i got it ... this could have saved me lots of time thanks!

 

[Tom Mann]

Like Sam, I almost never use the dodge or burn tools "straight". If I need to make those sorts of modifications to an image, 60% of the time, I'll put a 127 gray layer above the layer to be modified, put it into either overlay or soft light mode, and then paint on it using either a lighter gray (for lightening / dodging efx) or a darker gray (for darkening / burning efx).

The advantage to this approach is that it is non-destructive: It never changes the original pixel data, so if you (say) go to far with burning and want to go back, you just change to painting on the overlay or soft-light layer with a light gray. You can do this as many times as you like, whereas if you go back and forth between conventional dodging and burning, you risk posterization and other ugly efx in that area.

If I need to be really careful with an area (maybe, 20% of the time), I'll use Sam's approach or some closely related variant.

If an area is relatively unimportan and I need a quick and dirty lightening or darkening effect, (say, the remaining 20% of the ttime), I'll actually use the native dodge and burn tools, but put them into luminosity blend mode to minimize the unwanted saturation changes that was discussed in previous posts.

HTH,

Tom M