Adding Mood and Depth Using Burn & Dodge | by Amy Selleck
Burning and dodging are traditional darkroom techniques in photography used to manipulate exposure on specific areas of a photo. In essence, burning and dodging are like painting with light. They let photographers control how the viewer experiences the image.
Originally, burning was used to darken a brighter area in an image and dodging lightened a darker area. However, with Photoshop, I use it in the opposite way. Making a few adjustments in the settings, I use the burn and dodge tools to enhance the textures and details of the focal point. It’s a fun way to make the highlights on your subject's hair glow, spider webs shimmer, and flower petals sparkle. And the great thing is it only takes a minute to do.
Step by Step Instructions
After you’ve made your global edits to your image in Lightroom or ACR, take your image to Photoshop. It’s good practice to first duplicate you main image layer. This will allow you to make edits and not damage your original image. It’s a great way to play around and not worry about messing up all the work you’ve done.
To do this, right click on “background layer” and select “Duplicate Layer…”
Step 1: Dodging
With your main image layer selected (or your duplicate layer), select the Dodge Tool. It looks like a blacked out magnifying glass. I’m a huge fan of keyboard shortcuts and you can use the letter “o” for a quick select.
In the upper left section of the menu options, you’ll see controls for the dodge tool. Select the drop down menu labeled “Range” and select highlights. Set the exposure to 3%. This is just enough to gently pull the highlights up to add a bit of contrast on the high end.
Now the fun part! Brush over the highlights on your image that you want to pop! In my image, I dodged the dandelion seed on the upper left and a bit around the edge of the dandelion as a whole where the light is making the poof glow.
Step 2: Burning
With the same working layer selected (or your original art layer), select the Burn Tool. It looks like a hand making a letter “o”. You can again use the “o” keyboard shortcut if you want to. Pressing shift + o will cycle you through the burn, dodge, and saturation tools.
In the upper left section of the menu options, you’ll see controls for the Burn tool. Select the drop down menu labeled “Range” and select “Shadows”. Set the exposure to 3%. This is just enough to gently push the shadows up to add some contrast on the low end.
Brush over the shadows on your image that you want to darken, usually (but not always) the same places you dodged to create contrast. In my image, I burned the center of the dandelion seeds because I didn’t want as much attention put on them.
You might feel like this doesn’t do much at first. If you toggle your burn and dodge layer on and off, you’ll see the difference and if it needs more burning or dodging. It’s a delicate process that I feel like adds a bit of finesse and final touch to an image.
Burning and dodging might seem like small steps, but they can make a big impact. These subtle adjustments help guide the viewer’s eye, enhance texture, and add a sense of depth and mood that brings your image to life. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature… a quick final pass that elevates your edit without overpowering it.
As always, the key is restraint. A little goes a long way. Play, experiment, and trust your eye. Over time, you’ll start to notice how these simple tools can transform a good image into a great one.
Happy editing!
