How to Dodge and Burn in Photoshop

Their are more ways to do things in Photoshop. In this post we describe one way do dodge and burn in Photoshop using curves.

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Dodge and burn in Lightroom

I usually shoot in RAW. That gives me lots of freedom in post processing. I want my image to tell a story, I want the viewer to be led into the picture. 

When editing in Lightroom you can use the brush, radial filter and the graduated filter to dodge and burn and make your images even more interesting.

I downloaded this image from Pixabay. 

First step is converting it to black and white

Then i followed my usual workflow:

- boost the contrast

- bring down the highlights

- increase the shadows

- black and whites

- and in this case I added some overall clarity

Then I added some radial filters (100% feathered) to give some parts of the image more attention.

With the brush I lightened the road a little to make it a stronger leading line.  

Then I closed the picture with a graduated filter at the top and the bottom

To see what you have done you can press Y to see the before and after

The dodging and burning gives the picture more depth and leads the viewer through the picture

So have a go. Don't be afraid to experiment. 

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Dodge and Burn in Lightroom

Portraits just love dodge and burn. And the best way to do this is in Photoshop. But when you don't have Photoshop (or Photoshop scares you), you can also do it in Lightroom. 

Summarizing one can say that dodge and burn is darkening the darks and lightening the lights. In Lightroom, dodging and burning can be done using the shadows and the highlights. 

Here's how to get started: 
Open your image and grab a  brush. Reset it and lower the shadows to 0 and drop the black (to let's say -20). Paint over the dark parts of the image and resize your 100% feathered brush a lot of times to build up the effect. Be sure the flow of your brush is around 15.

Paint over the light parts using a brush that has +100 highligths and +20 whites. Resize your brush when you paint to build up the effect. That's all there is to it. 

You do get some nice results in Lightroom, but I still highly prefer Photoshop for a really decent dodge and burn portrait. 

Here is my start image (from pixabay)

After painting with a brush in Lightroom we've got this.

I also added some clarity in his face using a brush.

Here is the effect with a quick edit in Photoshop.

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