Procedure To Darken Or Lighten Areas Within An Image

Procedure to Darken or Lighten Areas within an Image

By Bruce Finocchio

(Dodging and Burning Tip For Photoshop)

1. Open Image Within Photoshop
2. Hold Down Alt Key while clicking on New Layer Icon in Layers Palette
3. Within New Layer Dialog Box Select Soft Light or Overlay Mode
4. Check the Fill With Overlay or Soft Light Neutral Color 50% Gray Box, this will create a new layer filled with 50% Gray in the Layers palette
5. Set Foreground Color: Black to Darken, White to Lighten (To switch from black to white or back, click the little rotating arrow on the top left of the black and white color box in the tool palette)
6. Select Brush Tool, and size and type depending on area to dodge and burn (Use keyboard shortcut: open “[” bracket to decrease brush size, and close bracket “]” to increase brush size)
7. Change Brush Opacity to 10 to 20, the sets the strength effect; these are general settings and can use more or less if desired (The lower opacity setting the lesser the effect)
8. Paint areas where change is needed, key is to be very subtle, don’t overdo
9. Click on the Dodge and Burn (Gray Filled) Layer Eye Icon to Observe the Changes

Close up of Original image without any darkening or lightening adjustments.

Using the above procedure I lighten the iris of the eye and darkened the pupil for added contrast. I also lighten some of the face feathers around the eye. The effect is subtle but yet enhances the photo, making the eye dramatically stand out.
“After all, the eye is the light of life”.

(Original image After Post Processing)
What do you think?

• This Procedure I learned from Tim Grey many years ago….

Author: Dream Catcher Images

Nature, Bird, and Wildlife Photographer Mission Statement: Restore your life’s essence, experience a child-like wonderment and reconnect your spirit with our mother earth. My mission, as the owner of Dream Catcher Images, is to create beautiful photographs that hauntingly sing to one’s heart of the earth and its magnificent wildlife. Through this imagery, a sense of awe about the sacredness of life is shared and communicated to the image viewer or a workshop participant. View all posts by Dream Catcher Images