The Professional Photoshop Book - Volume 7 2015

20 tips for flawless photo edits

The Professional Photoshop Book 35

10. GET A CLASSIC LOOK WITH TRADITIONAL DODGE AND BURN TECHNIQUES
    For a photographer and retoucher, the Dodge and
    Burn tools are hugely important for creating lights
    and shadows in an image. They help replicate old
    darkroom techniques for a traditional feel.
    Photographer Derek Johnston (www.derek-
    johnston.co.uk) says that they are key to his work:
    “I’d have to say the Dodge and Burn tools [are the
    most important tools in Photoshop for photo-

editing projects]. For me, they’re such an important

part of the final outcome of my work and style. It

helps shape and mould contours and contrast, and

can really add that extra factor. I’ll typically have a

50% grey layer set to Soft Light and use the Burn

tool set to Midtones around 15% Exposure and

work on the dark areas, making sure I have a soft

edge on the brush too. I’ll switch to the Dodge tool

on the fly by holding down Opt/Alt when I need to

work on the highlights. It speeds things up. It’s

amazing what you can do to your images just by

burning and dodging all the dark and light parts.

On a portrait I’ll get right in on the eyes and lips

and get all those details out, dodging and burning

all the dark/light parts of the iris and the cracks

and lines of the lips.”

© Derek Johnston Photography

11. DODGE AND BURN ON AN ADJUSTMENT LAYER
    In order to achieve a stylised effect in his
    retouching, Clinton Lofthouse (www.
    clintonlofthouse photography.com) utilises the
    Dodge and Burn tools in Photoshop: “Many
    photographers dodge and burn in one way, with
    one technique. I dodge and burn my images
    three ways with three different techniques,
    which I think helps me create the stylised
    worlds I imagine. First off I will dodge and burn
    with a brush using a Curves adjustment layer,
    set to a Luminosity blending mode. With this I
    give form to the body, more of a global dodge
    and burn. For example, I darken the outside of
    the arms and lighten the centre.
    “Next I will dodge and burn on two grey
    layers, one set to Soft Light and one set to
    Overlay. With these layers I use the actual
    Dodge and Burn tools, with them set to
    Midtones. I concentrate on the details with this,
    zooming in close and getting the wrinkles, lines
    and small details. Taking my time to go over
    everything, as this part is where the stylised feel
    really comes into play.

© Clinton Lofthouse Photography 2015

“Finally, near the end of an image, I will dodge

and burn for a third time using a black or white

brush on a new layer on a Soft Light blending

mode. Round three is usually to add more

contrast to specific areas I want to stand out more

and a global tone of the whole image. Using these

three dodge and burn methods together creates

the hyper-real look I get in my images.”

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