Dodge and burn

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Tutorial goal:
In this tutorial I will show you a non-destructive way to dodge and burn your images. Using dodge and burn tools in Photoshop is not the best way to go, since it can very easily be overdone. It is a beginner's tutorial, and I am sure that most of us here know this technique. This one is for those of you that dont. =)

author:

Dgonik

Credits earned for writing this tutorial:
300 ($3)

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step 1

First you will need to download this image to follow up with the tutorial:
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/850337

step 2

Make a copy of your background layer. After you've made a copy, create a new blank layer. Then, go to Edit > Fill . In the "Use" pull down menu choose "50% Gray", for mode choose "Soft Light" and leave the opacity at 100% and press OK. (Tip: You can access the "Fill" dialog box with another shortcut besides "Shift+F5". The second shortcut is "Shift+Backspace". )

step 3

Now change that layer's blend mode to "Soft Light".

step 4

Now select your brush tool. Make sure you background/foreground colors are set to default. Therefore, if you want to burn a part of your image you need to select black. If you want to dodge you need to select white as your foreground color. Drop your opacity to about 20-40% in the options bar and start painting. I will try to make the sky more darker, and the church a bit lighter.

step 5

Here is the before/after. Keep in mind that you can always drop the opacity of the 50% gray layer if you feel like you have done too much dodging/burning.

Current Score:
6 / 10

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comments on this tutorial:

I don't really think that the sky is realistic.
(319 days ago)

I agree with nexus, you should of used a different source pic with a better sky.
(314 days ago)

Isn't this about the technique and not the sky? I think it's a very nice technique. I've been
looking for something like this for a long time, so I really like it. Thanks a lot, Dgonik. I'll
give you 5 points to pull up your average for this nice technique. Thanks for sharing...
(314 days ago)

good topic, terrible end result.
(279 days ago)