Reading mode: Light Dark

Video on Dodge & Burn

Go to last post
G

gmitchel

Senior Member
Messages
1,787
Reaction score
2
Location
Tallahassee, FL, US
I've posted a sample video from the new video journal that I intend for
July. The topic of this video is Dodge & Burn basics.

The original video on my site from a couple of years ago on dodging and burning was 7 minutes. This version is 43 minutes. There's a lot more information in the new version.

-- Basics of dodge & burn
-- Previsualization
-- Brushing in effects
-- Layer mask basics
-- Neutral layer technique
-- Curves layer technique
-- Empty adjustment layer technique
-- Photoshop automation for dodge & burn prep work
-- Summary

There will be a video segment on Advanced Dodge & Burn (another 30 to 45 minutes) that will discuss topics like Brush Fill, Blend If sliders to protect extreme shadows/highlights, full automation for tasks like dodging or burning midtones, etc.

You'll want a high speed Internet connection to view this video. It's
approximately 145MB. I've also posted an iPod-ready version for iTunes
or QuickTime. And, for those who like some hard copy for review, I've
also posted a .PDF of the Powerpoint slides used in the video.

Please, let me know what you think about the latest video. I'm still
learning and refining my video technique.

These links will not take you to my site. They take you to Screencast.com. I'll try to keep an eye on the bandwidth and boost the account if we get close to the account limit.

Dodge & Burn video
http://www.screencast.com/t/vP5f7sp4

iPod Version
http://www.screencast.com/t/65I0yPMxov3

.PDF of Powerpoint slides
http://www.screencast.com/t/qihP7yN4

Cheers,

Mitch

--
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com
http://www.thelightsright.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLightsRight/
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/SharpeningYourPhotographs.html
 
You'll need to be patient. With a high speed connection is can take 5 minutes or longer to download. Screencast.com does not stream QuckTime .MOV files.

I use this site for samples, since I get 25GB of storage and 25 GB of bandwidth for $6.96 per month.

Over 100 people have downloaded the video or the iPod version since early this morning, so that may also slow the download.

The site does work. Others have been able to watch it. ;)

I think you'll agree your patience was rewarded. I sure hope so. :)

Cheers,

Mitch

--
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com
http://www.thelightsright.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLightsRight/
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/SharpeningYourPhotographs.html
 
Hi Mitch,

I understand D&B much better now. Been using Chip's PWL actions, like them, especially PWL2, is there anything to be gained by using your techniques?

Any chance for a link to actions for your techniques?

Thanks for the PHD tutorial!

Lamar
8 mins; 45 secs for the DL via wifi
gmitchel said:
You're welcome. Enjoy! I hope it helps with your digital photography.
Please, feel free to pass along any suggestions.

Cheers,

Mitch

--
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com
http://www.thelightsright.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLightsRight/
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/SharpeningYourPhotographs.html
Click to expand...
--
--
'If we choose being kind over being right,
we will be right every time.'

'Emphasize the best and minimize the rest'
 
Very nice tutorial. As Lamarz suggested, you might want to include or at least mention a fourth method of using a color dodge and color burn layer (PWL). Hold down Alt and click the new layer icon, choose color burn mode from the dropdown menu, and check the box " fill with color burn neutral color (white)". Repeat the process for Color dodge and check the box to fill with black. You might also point out to folks that the Overlay method is essentially PWL 2.

Ronny
 
Lamarz said:
Hi Mitch,

I understand D&B much better now. Been using Chip's PWL actions, like
them, especially PWL2, is there anything to be gained by using your
techniques?

Any chance for a link to actions for your techniques?

Thanks for the PHD tutorial!

Lamar
8 mins; 45 secs for the DL via wifi
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback!

Sorry about the long download. I'm looking for a better solution to stream videos.

Part of it, I can't help. 1024x768 with a high quality audio codec is going to be a big file to transfer (even if it streamed). But even the iPod version is 55 MB. Lots of Photoshop animation really pudges up the video.

I don't know the reference to Chip's PWL actions. I'm guessing they're some sort of action set.

I have actions in my TLR Tone Enhance action set for dodging and burning midtones, punching whites, punching blacks. But that's not the sort of dodge & burn that simulates what we used to do with film. Any automated dodge & burn effect with a Photoshop action is going to be global. It's going to affect all of the midtones, etc. It will not affect the highlight on one specific feature.

I used the term dodge & burn for these operations in my action set, even though I don't like the use of the term in this context. I did it because the TLR Tone Enhancement action set was a free alternative to some of the operations in Pixel Genius PhotoKit and they use dodge & burn in this context.

The video addresses dodge & burn applied to specific features of a photo with the brush tool. That's the most common meaning to the term dodge & burn, I believe. It really does simulate what we used to do in the darkroom with handmade gobos, etc. We applied corrections by hand to the exposure. ;)

I will have actions to help automate the prep work. They're coming. Is that what you're looking for.

Cheers,

Mitch

--
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com
http://www.thelightsright.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLightsRight/
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/SharpeningYourPhotographs.html
 
gmitchel said:
I've posted a sample video from the new video journal that I intend for
July. The topic of this video is Dodge & Burn basics.

The original video on my site from a couple of years ago on dodging
and burning was 7 minutes. This version is 43 minutes. There's a lot
more information in the new version.

-- Basics of dodge & burn
-- Previsualization
-- Brushing in effects
-- Layer mask basics
-- Neutral layer technique
-- Curves layer technique
-- Empty adjustment layer technique
-- Photoshop automation for dodge & burn prep work
-- Summary

There will be a video segment on Advanced Dodge & Burn (another 30 to
45 minutes) that will discuss topics like Brush Fill, Blend If
sliders to protect extreme shadows/highlights, full automation for
tasks like dodging or burning midtones, etc.

You'll want a high speed Internet connection to view this video. It's
approximately 145MB. I've also posted an iPod-ready version for iTunes
or QuickTime. And, for those who like some hard copy for review, I've
also posted a .PDF of the Powerpoint slides used in the video.

Please, let me know what you think about the latest video. I'm still
learning and refining my video technique.

These links will not take you to my site. They take you to
Screencast.com. I'll try to keep an eye on the bandwidth and boost
the account if we get close to the account limit.

Dodge & Burn video
http://www.screencast.com/t/vP5f7sp4

iPod Version
http://www.screencast.com/t/65I0yPMxov3

.PDF of Powerpoint slides
http://www.screencast.com/t/qihP7yN4

Cheers,

Mitch

--
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com
http://www.thelightsright.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLightsRight/
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/SharpeningYourPhotographs.html
Click to expand...
--
Conrad 'Bye Bye' Birdie
'Aspire to inspire before you expire'.
 
Thanks for the info on Chuck's PWL.

I'll consider the technique for the advanced video.

I did not include it because it's harder to control the dodge & burn effect with Color Dodge and Color Burn. IOW, it is easy to get an overdone effect. With the sample photo, for example, at 15% opacity, you can darken my wife's chest. But if you get anywhere near a shadow from her neck, they'll really burn. Same with highlights on her shirt. You need to be very precise with the brush. Otherwise you end up with a very obvious dark halo.

Now, if you want a grungy dodge & burn effect, for something like a Dragan effect, then Color Dodge and Color Burn are good choices.

Since this is a more artistic use of dodge & burn, where you're doing more than correcting exposure/lighting issues, I think it fits better in the advanced tutorial. Sound reasonable?!

Thanks for the helpful suggestion.

Cheers,

Mitch

--
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com
http://www.thelightsright.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLightsRight/
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/SharpeningYourPhotographs.html
 
Hi Glenn,

I downloaded your Dodge and Burn video yesterday and after watching it twice I wanted to give a bit of feedback. I'm reluctant to do so lest it is misconstrued as criticism but since you asked I figure I'd let you know.

The video is extremely informative; however in my opinion its too long for a tutorial. Perhaps I'm the odd man out but yesterday I downloaded it, plugged in my headphones and started watching. At some point I dozed off, and when I woke up I was startled that the video was still playing. :)

Like I said maybe its just me with a short attention span but I can see at least 4 discrete points at which the video could be cut into segments. There ought to be some happy medium between the original 7 minutes and the 43 minutes of this video. Breaking it into segments will possibly save you bandwidth too because it would allow the users to download only the parts in which they are specifically interested. It will also minimize the waiting time some others have reported.

By comparison I downloaded the PDF slideshow a few minutes ago and was able to

read it in its entirety in a brief time. The file I downloaded did not have the .pdf filename extension so I had to rename it so that Windows would recognize the file association and open the correct application (Acrobat/Acrobat Reader).
gmitchel said:
I've posted a sample video from the new video journal that I intend for
July. The topic of this video is Dodge & Burn basics.
Click to expand...
gmitchel said:
Please, let me know what you think about the latest video. I'm still
learning and refining my video technique.

These links will not take you to my site. They take you to
Screencast.com. I'll try to keep an eye on the bandwidth and boost
the account if we get close to the account limit.

Dodge & Burn video
http://www.screencast.com/t/vP5f7sp4

iPod Version
http://www.screencast.com/t/65I0yPMxov3

.PDF of Powerpoint slides
http://www.screencast.com/t/qihP7yN4

Cheers,

Mitch

--
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com
http://www.thelightsright.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLightsRight/
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/SharpeningYourPhotographs.html
Click to expand...
 
Even though the Photoshop Dodge & Burn tools are destructive, I find the ability to selectively target a range of tones using the pulldown menu (Highlights, Midtones, Shadows) to be very beneficial. I get an entirely different affect than using a non-destructive method like yours, especially when you are trying to get a "painterly" or illustrative look. When there is a texture that has specular highlights throughout the surface, there is no way to just affect the highlights unless you tediously do it one highlight at a time. With Photoshop's D & B, you change the target tome to highlight and brush the entire area.

Is there a way to implement this in a non-destructive method?
 
Don't feel reluctant, Saddie. You're offering constructive criticism, and I won't be so churlish as to get upset. ;)

What I wanted to do was include a TOC and markers. Flash supports that, but I've never been comfortable with the compression of video and audio with Flash. It tends to have more artifacts than I get with the Sorenson Pro codec for QuickTime. Microsoft .WMV will also work with TOC and it compresses nicely, but that could antagonize some Mac and Linux users.

I'll consider breaking the video into separate segments. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

Mitch

--
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com
http://www.thelightsright.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLightsRight/
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/SharpeningYourPhotographs.html
 
Andre Affleck said:
Even though the Photoshop Dodge & Burn tools are destructive, I find
the ability to selectively target a range of tones using the pulldown
menu (Highlights, Midtones, Shadows) to be very beneficial. I get an
entirely different affect than using a non-destructive method like
yours, especially when you are trying to get a "painterly" or
illustrative look. When there is a texture that has specular
highlights throughout the surface, there is no way to just affect the
highlights unless you tediously do it one highlight at a time. With
Photoshop's D & B, you change the target tome to highlight and brush
the entire area.

Is there a way to implement this in a non-destructive method?
Click to expand...
I'm a little confused about what you're asking.

If you want to know about using the Photoshop Dodge tool and Brun tool nondestrutively . . .

Then the reply you already received is a good one. Make a duplicate layer (Mege All Visible) and work on that.

If you wanto to know how to get a similar effect using the techniques that I mentioned . . .

In the advanced tutorial, I will be explaining how to use the Blend If sliders or a tone mask to keep the dodge & burn effects limited to a tonal range, like the shadows or the highlights. I agree with you, that it helps to be able to grab the tool to darken highlights, for example, and not worry about darker edges along the highlight. ;)

There is nothing about the Dodge tool or the Burn tool that you cannot do with the other methods.

The downside to the Dodge tool and the Burn tool is their lack of flexibility for later editing. Even if you use a duplicate layer, all you can do is either delete the layer and start over again or somehow adjust the layer opacity, apply a layer mask to retrospectively brush out a change, etc.

With the techniques that I show you, you can completely change the effect later with the Brush tool or by adjusting the Curves setting. You have lots of choices to modify the effect.

If you see a painterly effect or illustrator effect in someone's dodging & burning AND that was not an artistic enhancement (as opposed to an attempt at retouching), then the dodge & burn effect was too strong. I distinguish retouching from artistic embellishment by this important distinction: retouching should not be noticeable (not unless you see the before and after versions). Retouching should look realistic, not artificial. Anytime someone tries to retouch and your eye is drawn to the retouching, it's overdone. (Sometimes, for artistic effect, we want to overdo retouching -- the so-called Dragan effect, for example. But that moves us from retouching to artistic change, IMO.)

--
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com
http://www.thelightsright.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLightsRight/
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/SharpeningYourPhotographs.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top