Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature

Dodging and Burning Done Right

DODGING AND BURNING ARE TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES THAT CAN STILL BE PUT TO EXCELLENT USE TODAY

Dodging and burning have their roots in the film days, and involve the selective lightening and darkening of parts of a photo. Because of that, there happen to be Dodge and Burn tools in Photoshop, but their effect is very much a permanent and destructive one. That said, I love using the concept of dodging and burning to really lead a person through the photo by lightening the areas I want them to focus on and darkening the parts of the photo that I don’t. That’s where this technique comes in, because it gives you all the flexibility of working with dodge and burn layers without any of the permanent effects.

Step 1: Open ...