Sometimes it's more intuitive to dodge and burn instead of using curves, here I dodged some detail into the smoke and burned the shadows a bit more for drama.
Did it ever bug you that dodging/burning in Photoshop is destructive and can not be changed after you used the tools? I have good news for you - with a little trick it's possible to do your dodging and burning in a separate layer.
First, create a new layer via Layers>New Layer. If you use the "New Layer" icon in the layers palette, press the alt or option key simultaneously.
Name the layer as you wish (I chose dodge/burn for the obvious reasons) and set the Blending Mode to Overlay, this will reveal another option at the bottom "Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)". Select that option.
Now you can dodge (lighten) and burn (darken) to your hearts content. You'll find adjustments for brush size, range (highlights/midtones/shadows) and Exposure right under your menu bar.
Here's the best part - you won't need to worry anymore if you screw up, simply go into the dodge/burn layer and paint in your mistakes with the 50% gray color (use the eyedropper to pick it up from an untouched area)
this is how the dodge/burn layer looks by itself. Instead of using the dodge/burn tools, you could paint white or black with different opacities in the d/b layer.
Comments (7)
Beautiful tutorial ! Congratulation ! I use this all the time, thanks ;)
Posted by Ju. | May 7, 2008 11:04 AM
Posted on May 7, 2008 11:04
I really love your work!
Posted by mayra Covarrubias | July 5, 2008 2:29 PM
Posted on July 5, 2008 14:29
Cool. Thanks for that. I always used a dublicated layer of the bg.
Posted by protten | October 18, 2008 2:03 PM
Posted on October 18, 2008 14:03
An excellent tutorial indeed. Straight and to the point. Very helpful! I was just looking for that.
Posted by Daniel | October 31, 2008 9:39 PM
Posted on October 31, 2008 21:39
I was looking for a simple and effective explanation of the famous 50% gray layer D&B, for people who already know it's so easy than don't explain anything. But with this wonderful tutorial now I understand the idea and I'm ready to start using it. Big thanks.
Posted by cristiano007 | May 19, 2009 2:55 PM
Posted on May 19, 2009 14:55
One problem with the 50% gray layer D&B is that you lose the "range" ability that the regular dodge and burn tool allows. You no longer can burn just midtones or dodge shadows etc.
That's why for many situations working on a duplicate layer is necessary. Other times the overlay layer is just fine though.
Posted by Myles | June 15, 2009 2:04 PM
Posted on June 15, 2009 14:04
ummmm... you can adjust the opacity of your tool to achieve subtle effects.
Posted by Markus Hartel | July 6, 2009 5:47 PM
Posted on July 6, 2009 17:47