Tutorial – Dodge and Burn in Photoshop

Before I begin the tutorial, I’d like to add that the lovely printed lingerie (which is all hand drawn) is a little sneak peek. Zaara will be releasing this set in many different options and colors this weekend.

After

Please note that I have never received any sort of professional photoshop training. I am just sharing tips and tricks I have picked up along the way.

Before

As you can see from the above two shots, dodging and burning can add a lot of depth and personality to your image. Dodge and burn allow you to add light exposure to areas of your snapshot. Dodge is great for making certain areas of your image lighter, whereas burn will darken. Burn is great for making shadows. I often use it to create subtle shadows on different parts of the face and body.

These are the steps I took to achieve my end result that is visible in the first image in this post.

1. Snapped a high-res snapshot of my avatar.
2. Cleaned up the image using photoshop by utilizing the liquify filter and other adjustment tools.
3. Created a new layer above the last layer in the layers palette. If you do not see the layers palette on your screen, press F7 and it should appear. Once I created that new layer, I made sure it was selected.
4. In the Edit menu, I selected fill and then filled that layer with 50% gray.
5. At the top of the layers palette, I set that gray layer to overlay.
6. After selecting the dodge and burn tools in the sidebar, I made sure the range was set to mid-tones and the exposure was set to 20%. Then I increased and decreased the brush sizes, as I saw fit, while painting over my avatar to create shadows and highlights.
7. Using the dodge tool I highlighted the top areas of my avatar’s arms and body along with different areas of the background of this image. With the burn tool, I followed along the edge of my avatar’s body to create a shadow effect.

Here is a great video tutorial showing the procedure that I used: http://vimeo.com/6189101

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me.

» You can view all of my current tutorials on my tutorials page.

Credits for what I’m wearing in the picture:
Skin: –tres blah– {Dark} Jejune Cherry – Dark Winged Brows by Julliette Westerburg
*Hair: Maitreya Nimue – Caramel by Onyx LeShelle
*Necklace: [Whippet & Buck] Memory Collector Necklace (Unisex) by Dakota Buck
*Lingerie: Zaara : Sumana *crimson* by Zaara Kohime (releasing this weekend)
*Pose: oOo Studio by Olaenka Chesnokov

*Promotional Copies