What is Dodge and Burn?

It was during an animated discussion with photographer Swapan Parekh that one heard the phrase 8216;dodge and burn8217;.

It was during an animated discussion with photographer Swapan Parekh that one heard the phrase 8216;dodge and burn8217;. While one had a general idea what that meant in photographic parlance, it is perhaps a discussed talked of technique. After our understanding it better, one can appreciate frames created by photographers better, with a dash of technical gyan.

The technique of 8216;dodge and burn8217; is a dark room technique that has also been adapted to Photoshop. 8216;Dodging8217; literally means avoiding exposure to light by masking the negative.

While washing in the dark room, the area to be dodged is masked and thus is darker than the surrounding parts. As a result of being exposed to less of the 8216;whitening8217; chemicals it gets a deeper hue and texture.

8216;Burning8217; is just the opposite of that process, where a part of the negative is left longer in the chemical and hence gets whitened or 8216;burned8217;. Dodging and burning helps heighten the contrast of the image and lends it a sharper contrast, making it look more dramatic.

With the birth of digital photography, Photoshop is the new dark room for photographers.

Dodging and burning is now done by adjusting the contrast curves that help lighten and darken part of. If your digital images have an unwanted shadow in the corner or there8217;s light shining off some one8217;s forehead, then image-editing packages offer brush-based corrective tools namely, the Dodge, Burn, and Sponge tools for adding and removing these elements. In fact, many online sites provide amateur photographers with step-by-step instructions to pull off a successful burn or dodge with Photoshop or Corel Draw tools .

It may be interesting to note that there is a new parlance for the term: A blog called dodge and burn dodge038;burn showcases works of African, Latino, Native American and Pacific Islander heritage women photographers whose works have been dodged and burned in the indigenous art communities of the world. Going beyond technicality and coining a completely new usage for this term once again proves that nomenclature can often be used in a subversive manner.

Demystify art, e-mail georgina.maddoxexpressindia.com