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To dodge or not to dodge

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
If the question is whether to dodge and burn, to me "dodging" and "burning" are nothing more than tools to overcome dynamic range limitations of the equipment we use, no different now than in the conventional darkroom. I do my dodging and burning in Lightroom using local adjustments on many of my images.

If the question is when and what to dodge and burn, that is certainly a decision of the artist.
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
I sure do.
Often it is the only way to make the print resemble what I "saw" when I was shooting.
-bob
 

lkkang

New member
I will do the burn and dodge, no doubt about it.

To me, photography is an art. Where by the artist tries to re-produce the moment in time , to bring to the viewer what he visualize or is trying to convey.

The key point here is to bring out what you see as a beauty. In order to deliver this message clearly, post processing is necessary because this world in-front of you is not perfect, and the equipment you are using is not perfect also.

nice shot bro,
Billy.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Peter, yes, by all means one should use all the tools available to realize one's vision ... and IMO, that includes Photoshop.

PS is no different than working with a print in the darkroom, except it is a lot easier than all the manual masking that was required to dodge and burn precisely ... and more importantly, easily provides consistency for multiple copies which was always difficult in the darkroom because there were so many variables to keep under control.

I read your blog, and IMO you went a little to far in the bottom right hand corner. Perhaps split the difference?

Photoshop is a very sophisticated tool that provides multiple paths to the same end results. I usually use layers and blending techniques ... however at one of the Photo-Plus Expos in NYC I once watched a demo by a master print maker preparing a full tonal print for a Pezo B&W print, and he used a completely different technique that produced superior results. It was so different from the way I use PS, that for the life of me I could not remember how he did it. It involved using the History tools and he never worked in layers which they claimed was more destructive. I've always wanted to follow up on that but never did. It was amazing to watch.

-Marc
 
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