Dodging and burning is a popular editing technique used by landscape photographers to balance the tones in an image. While commonly accomplished with Photoshop, you’ll learn how to get the job done in Lightroom by watching this tutorial from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel.

This method enables you to selectively adjust the exposure in different portions of an image—thereby lightening darks areas, and darkening areas that are too bright. You can also take the opposite approach in certain situations where you want to further brighten light areas and make shadows even darker.

Instructor Christian Mohrle is an acclaimed German landscape photographer and we suggest you download his demonstration image using the link beneath the video so you can follow along and make the changes yourself as they’re explained. He begins with a few global adjustments to prepare a base image for the dodging and burning that follows.

Mohrle changes the profile from Adobe Color to Adobe Standard, thereby lessening overall contrast and providing more control for subsequent adjustments. The next step is slightly increasing exposure to pull more details out of the shadows. Mohrle likewise drops highlights to increase details in the bright sky and adjusts both the blacks and the whites.

Before turning to the meat of this lesson Mohrle adds a bit of Clarity and Dehaze, and slightly pumps of Vibrance for more base saturation. Now the image has more punch with stronger colors. Effective dodging and burning is all about carefully targeting specific areas, and Mohrle explains how to do that.

With this particular image, for example, you may want to draw attention to plants in the foreground by brightening them up. Conversely, by darkening trees at the far end of the lake you’ll increase contrast between that portion of the scene and the mountains in the background.

Mohrle walks you through the step-by-step masking techniques used to accomplish these goals. After opening the Masking panel he uses a Color Range mask to darken blues in the sky without affecting the clouds or adjacent mountains. A Linear Gradient is then employed to refine the selection so blue tones in the lake are unaffected.

You’ll then see the straightforward way Mohrle applies masks to other portions of the image to further balance the exposure. After that, some thoughtful color grading and subtle sharpening is all it takes to complete the impressive transformation. There’s much more to learn about editing landscape photos on Mohrle’s popular YouTube channel. So be sure to pay a visit and explore.

And don’t miss the tutorial we posted last week explaining why another experienced pro says, “Contrast is the most underrated tool” in landscape photography.

For an upcoming article, I have prepared an interesting look into the past. I got my hands on a Nikon D3 camera and I had an idea that… well, I don’t want to spoil it. Instead, I want to share a curiosity with you. When I downloaded the D3’s photos to my computer, I discovered in the EXIF that the previous owner of this professional body was none other than Tomki Němec. For many years, he was the official photographer of the first Czech president, Václav Havel. It was interesting to work with a camera with such history. But now to the present. What news did we see this week?

Show your best images to the world and earn bragging rights when your photograph is selected to join the Shutterbug Photo of the Day gallery. It doesn’t matter whether you shoot with a smartphone or a Hasselblad—if you have the talent, let it be recognized.

When you post to our Photo of the Day Gallery there’s a chance that your image may be featured on our homepage for all to see. The internet reaches even the most remote corners of our planet (and possibly beyond—who knows for sure?) and endures essentially forever. You may even hear from friends you haven’t seen in years, after they see your photo on Shutterbug. And they’ll be saying, “Wow, you took that?”

Step #1
Open FREE and secure Shutterbug account. There are no strings attached. All we require is your email address and a User Name. We also ask for your location, homepage and hobbies but we do not require those items, and never misuse any of your information. Tip: while you’re visiting shutterbug.com, sign up for our newsletter. It’s also free.

Step #2
Once registered, log in and navigate to the GALLERIES tab. From there select Shutterbug Photo of the Day.

Already Have an Account?
If you are logged into your account and want to go directly to the upload section, click on this LINK. Bookmark it so in the future you’ll be able to connect in seconds. Just remember you must be logged in to your Shutterbug account for the link to work. You can create a persistent login (“Remember me”) event so you don’t have to log in fresh every time you visit our website. If you see the warning “You are not authorized to access this page“ it means you’re not logged in.

Easy Specifications
Each day, one image from our Photo of the Day Gallery is featured on our homepage as a thumbnail that links to the larger version. The aspect ratio of the thumbnail image window is 16 x 9 (H x W). If your image doesn’t match, the system will automatically crop it to make it fit. It’s not something we do; our software crops without our guidance.

If adjusting the aspect ratio is a hassle, skip it. The full, uncropped image is still available in the gallery; only the thumbnail that attracts viewers to click will be altered if you do not make aspect ratio adjustments before you post.

Maximum file size is 5 megabytes. That’s plenty big for web viewing.

Your real name is required, as is a title for the image. If you can’t think of a title, “From the camera of Jane /John Doe” always works.

Viewers want to learn from your photos, so please include explanatory details about how and where the picture was taken. Please list camera, lens, f/stop, shutter speed and ISO setting so that our readers benefit from your experience. Details about the location are always desirable, and if you shot on film and scanned, or used a smart phone—anything unique—please share stuff like that, too.

Step #3
Check the next day to see if your image(s) has been added to the gallery. Sometimes we see posts that have 0MB file size indicated. That usually means the poster tried to upload a file that was too large.

Precautions
Common sense tells you to not reveal the name or any personal identification information about people in the picture. And while we are on that subject, we strongly emphasize that by submitting a photo that contains recognizable people, you confirm that you have unrestricted permission from the subject(s).

All Images are Reviewed
All submitted images are carefully reviewed before they are published. No advertising is allowed. All spam is deleted and reported. And needless to say, we’re not interested in receiving any NSFW images.

Generally, the images you upload are published to the gallery after review the next day, usually before 7am Eastern. But the special Photo of the Day selection might take a little longer. The image you submit might appear as the official Photo of the Day a few days after you submit it if it’s received on the same day as a more compelling picture. So even if you upload a great shot on Monday and it’s not selected as Tuesday’s PoD, it may still be chosen later.

Inspiration & Tips
Take a look at our Photo of the Day Gallery to see some truly inspiring work that covers a wide range of subjects. Bird photography is always a favorite, and we post many outstanding photos of our feathered friends. Night scenes and landscapes are likewise prominent. Especially desirable are images that have a seasonal theme.

Express yourself in color or monochrome—it’s all up to you. Show off your photo editing skills, too, and if you use a certain plug-in, feel free to tell us what you used.

Exercise your creative spirit. There are no “bad” photos aside from those that are technically unenjoyable (i.e., under/over exposed, blank, blown out, unintentionally grainy, blurry or out-of-focus). Share your creativity with others.

Try something new. Shoot monochrome, high contrast black & white, etc., and experiment with any creative or special effects features built into your camera.

Become a Member of the Shutterbug Community
Register for a free account. Sign up for our newsletter. Spend five minutes (or less) uploading your best shots once every week or so. Potentially become a Shutterbug Photo of the Day winner. Enjoy viewing the fantastic work being done by thousands of photographers all over the world—and add your images to the enduring collection.

 

– Shutterbug Staff

It’s been just over a year since I decided to protect my finances from inflation with some “sensible” investments. Stocks? Real estate? No – my limited imagination always came back to the idea of a new camera. In the end, I bought a mirrorless body for the first time, the Nikon Z9.