Burn & Dodge - What settings do you use ?

[DJW]

Just reading an article from this months Digital Photo Mag on the above, where they advised the following :-

- Start with Burn Tool with exposure at 2-4% for Shadows
- Use a large soft Brush
- Next use the Dodge Tool with exposure 3-6% for Highlights
- Look to see if you need to burn or dodge the midtiones with exposure 3-5%

Suddenly realised default values for exposure are 50% !!! .

Followed the advice & must admit although it takes longer , the results are a lot more proffesional.

What settings & order do others follow ?

 

[Bachs]

Just reading an article from this months Digital Photo Mag on the above, where they advised the following :-

- Start with Burn Tool with exposure at 2-4% for Shadows
- Use a large soft Brush
- Next use the Dodge Tool with exposure 3-6% for Highlights
- Look to see if you need to burn or dodge the midtiones with exposure 3-5%

Suddenly realised default values for exposure are 50% !!! .

Followed the advice & must admit although it takes longer , the results are a lot more proffesional.

What settings & order do others follow ?

Exactly as above. I didn't even realise there were seperate settings for shadows midtones and highlights until recently.

Here is a shot I took this week (another one of Drum Castle) on which I used d&b extensively.
You would have to see the RAW to appreciate what a difference it made.
It can make your images look a little overprocessed though if your'e not very careful...

 

[DJW]

Good manipulation there Bachs.

Must admit I usually play with Levels, Shadows & Highlights, Curves etc before moving to selective dodge & burn.....as required for all mentioned.

 

[Bachs]

Thanks DJW

I use the channel mixer first, using the rule: 'Red likes Blue, Blue likes all, Green doesn't like very much at all'

I also use Image>Adjustments>'Selective Colour' using the black and the white 'Colours'.

I use D&B as a last resort for the finer details and often create a selection around the area I'm D&B'ing to protect the surrounding detail.

I use the techniques above on my B&W conversions but D&B has its uses on colour shots too.

My advice would be...save it for the fine details.

 

[Boon]

hi guys
wow, great shot there bachs, looks almost surreal. Would you recommend that i find out more about the channel mixer, and does it work for colour as well as mono?
cheers
stevannie

 

[Bachs]

stevannie...
The channel mixer is generally regarded as the best way to do your initial conversion to bw.

I actually made an error in my recent post, it should have read:
'Red likes blue, green likes all, blue doesnt like very much at all'

The green channel contains the least noise and yes Dodge & Burn works equally well on colour images.

As mentioned I do the dodge and burn at the last stage and sometimes hhave to retweak the levels when I'm done.

A good alternative to d&b if you aren't zooming right in on fine detail is to creat a new blank layer above your image layer and fill it with 50% grey (neutral)

paint with white to lighten, paint with black to darken...it's an incredible technique for bringing out hidden detail in the shadows.
Use a low opacity brush and paint with 50% grey to undo.

I also use 'Selective Colour' set to black or white to boost or cut the overall blacks and whites.

 

[DJW]

In addition to above re burn/dodge, from recent tutorials I have seen on latest "Digital Photo" Mag CD, the use of selective masked "levels" adjustment. Advantages of this are no loss in detail if used sensibly.

 

[Boon]

hi
never used the channel mixer at all, but have a mag cd with some instructions on, i have written down this information, as i hope to put it to the test shortly. Many thanks for the information, and keep the photos comming.
@DJW
been through your gallery too, great pictures there, and are doing a tutorial on the girl on the bed.
stevannie(steve)

EDIT:
as an aside, i have just tried using this method, i am not quite sure if anything is actually happening, if it is, its very slow, i bumped up the percentage, and seems to work better, slow though if you have lots of deep shadow.

 

[DJW]

EDIT:
as an aside, i have just tried using this method, i am not quite sure if anything is actually happening, if it is, its very slow, i bumped up the percentage, and seems to work better, slow though if you have lots of deep shadow.

For the Hi Key stuff you can use higher %'s for burning / dodging to start with, but then drop down % for round eyes, lips etc. For normal processing of shots you stick to lower % for greater control......yes it will take longer, but ultimately look better.

Note for larger changes on shots there are curves, shadows & highlights to play with before dropping to selective dodge & burn.

All down to the original shot really & what effect you are trying to achieve. Look forward to seeing your results

 

[Boon]

Bachs, is there any chance of seeing the original picture before you fiddled with it, that way i could get some idea of what i should be doing, and what can be done.
stevannie

 

[Bachs]

Bachs, is there any chance of seeing the original picture before you fiddled with it, that way i could get some idea of what i should be doing, and what can be done.
stevannie

I'm afraid the RAW file is buried away in my DVD archives but here is the colour version.

Problem is, this was extensively 'fiddled with'

 

[DJW]

Bachs, is there any chance of seeing the original picture before you fiddled with it, that way i could get some idea of what i should be doing, and what can be done.
stevannie

When the CD library starts up, lookout for Digital Photo Dec 05, which has following B&W tutorials :-

- Convert from COlour to Mono
- Convert from RAW to B&W the right way
- Simple toning with Colorise
- Advanced toning methods with Duotones
- Create B&W IR style effects
- Create digital sabattier effect
- Add a diffusion effect
- Ass a film grain effect
- Creat classic vignette
- Learn to use the dodge & Burn tools the correct way
- Create a lith print effect