How do you dodge and burn? Seems like there's a few different

That nose looks awful to me in the end

The first big tip that helped me was using gaussian blur on the masks after painting on them to soften things up a bit and blend better.

The first "easy mode" D/B was creating two layers with cooies kf the image and setting one to Screen blending mode and the other to multiply.

The latter is not ideal for a number of reasons but will help you resist being too aggressive with curves.

More advanced stuff comes using luminosity masks and channels to create D/B layers. I never mastered it but wow.

>>2979569
I really love using either two masked curve adjustment layers or using the 50% grey layer method.

>>2979627
I love you, Bart, but those methods just fuck with texture way too much.

>>2979639
I meant to blur your masks, not the image itself. Really has no imlact kther than to feather the effect and give a more natrual look.

On using screen/multiply I agree with you... But for someone who never did it before, I find that it makes the learning curve easier before moving to more complex but better methods.

>>2979569
Usually just use 50 gray paintbrush and then set blend mode either to one of the burn/dodges and adjust opacity as needed for the adjustment. Can also add a hue/saturation clipping mask in colorize mode for the gray layer if you want to imbue some form of color cast.

I'm sure there's more hi-fi ways to do things, but it serves my needs well enough for local contrast adjustments in general pictures. Admittedly portraits aren't really my thing,

>>2979639
>those methods just fuck with texture way too much.
Apply them to a low frequency layer then.

>>2980807
Or use a method which doesn't fuck shit up.

>>2980810
>>2980807
Missing the points maybe a lottle bit
1. Consider blurring or softening your masks in any method you use
2. Total novices can start with an easy, not perfect and hard to fuck up method vs having their heads explode with luminosity masks, blending modes, frequency seperation, etc.

>>2980845
I thought OP was talking about dodging and burning. It seems to me that you're talking more about texture correction and correcting blemishes. Yes, I know that a lot of those correction methods are actually using lightening and darkening techniques through layers and what not, but to me that's a separate issue than what OP's asking, especially taking into consideration OP's pic.

Wouldn't the easiest method for surefire D&B be using the grey overlay layer? It takes no knowledge of layers or blend.
Step 1: Create pure grey layer.
Step 2: Set blending mode to "Overlay"
Step 3: Draw black or white onto that layer too dodge or burn.

I mean, it's pretty foolproof. All you need to know is how to create a layer, how to change the blending mode, and how to use the brush tool.

>>2980938
>arguing with the jew of bad advice straight out of 2004 photograndpa webforums

>>2980938
Actually, a lot of dodge and burn methods change contrast (so, I guess the perception of detail).

Anons were right to say that using screen and multiply (and overlay, which kind of combines the two) will result in some contrast changes. Sometimes unwanted.


The method you describe works well.

In terms of teaching dodge and burn, my experience is that people are more apt to understand seeing a "bright version" of the photo and a "dark version" to help visualize what will happen when they paint on those masks.

Then you transition to using curves adjustment layers as a next step. Then using luminosity masks and curves to do it, etx.

>>2979569
Watch tutorials on makeup contouring.
My partner could d&b better than me after 1 day, once she saw how to adjust brightness, contrast and hue accurately, independently of texture, she could come up with incredibly good results quickly, because she knew what to look for and what to change through experience with makeup.