A Practical Guide to Dodging and Burning

Learn what dodging and burning is, how to apply it to your image, and a few tips to make the process easier.

Since this tutorial involves Photoshop, I recommend watching my video to learn ⬆️

What is Dodging and Burning?

Dodging is the act of increasing brightness to a selection, while burning is the act of decreasing brightness to a selection.

Since the eye is naturally drawn to brightness, saturation, and contrast, it makes sense to dodge and burn specific parts of your images that you want to stand out.

Practical Uses of Dodging and Burning

• Make certain colors pop in a scene

• Add more dimension to a photo

• Draw the eye to features you like, and hide features you dislike

How to Dodge and Burn

Watch the video tutorial above for a step-by-step breakdown in Photoshop.