Adding depth to your images in Photoshop through the use of dodge and burn

 

 

There are many ways to change the lightness and darkness values in an image during photo editing. You can adjust global sliders like exposure, brightness, contrast, whites, blacks, shadows, highlights and more. These are straightforward and simple to use, but when applied to an entire image, they don't offer a lot of flexibility. If you want to add carefully-selected brightening and darkening to your image, you can use dodging and burning techniques in Photoshop. By selectively lightening and darkening specific areas of your image, you can add a lot of visible depth to your work as well. Selective contrast is a great way to make your photos pop.

Dodging and burning may sound time-consuming or tricky, but it doesn't have to be. In the video below, Colin Smith of photoshopCAFE shows off how to add depth to your photos using dodging and burning. Before watching the video, you can download additional information and Photoshop actions by clicking here and here.

(Via photoshopCAFE)