The Art of Dodge and Burn in Photoshop

blank space

Photograph by Steve Paxton

In the right hands, the Dodge and Burn tools of Photoshop can help create masterful photographs that could belong to the fine art department.

Professional photographer Steve Paxton shows us how – in detailed steps – to employ the technique of dodge and burn to turn out photos that are stunning.

Steve says he applies the technique mostly in landscape and nature photographs, not very often in portraiture. But before applying dodge and burn, he first preps the photo for the usual image processing adjustments like levels, curves, saturation, crop, etc. Then he unleashes Dodge & Burn. The secret is in doing it carefully, he says.

How careful? See how he does it via the link below.

[Via: PaxtonPrints.com]
Photo: Steve Paxton

Published by Chris Malinao

Chris teaches Lightroom as workflow software to photography students at the FPPF, Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation. He also teaches smartphone photography.