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New Stuff
Note: Lightroom 4 Beta
Photoshop Elements: Split Toning, Tips: Passage of Time & Organize Your Photographs (Revised)
. . . if you need to burn and dodge a large expanse, such as a sky.
As often happens in photography, it's hard to get much contrast on the same photograph.
In the photograph below, to the left, the exposure made the clouds look good.
However, the foreground is too dark.
The entire photograph was brightened.
However, now, the clouds have lost some drama.
Original
Brightened
You can use a mask to brighten only the foreground, and leave the clouds darker like the original photograph.
Be sure to check off as you go along.
1) Preserve your original file.
If you haven't already done so, go to Preserve Your Original File.
2) Create a Background copy layer.
If you haven't already done so, go to Create a Background Copy Layer.
3) Create a Levels adjustment layer.
4) Change the contrast by sliding the gray triangle, in the middle, back-and-forth.
The change here was from 1 to 1.5.
Because the areas to be selected were clearly demarcated, a brush with little feathering was used, at an opacity setting of 100%.
In other situations, use brushes with feathering to blend the effect.
If you haven't already done so, go to Feathered Brush.
Make sure the Levels adjustment layer is active (highlighted).
Make sure the foreground color is set to black.
If you haven't already, go to Foreground & Background Colors.
Where you paint with black, the foreground color, the effect of the Levels adjustment layer is concealed.
You can see the mask thumbnail in the Levels adjustment layer.
If you hold Alt and click on the mask thumbnail, the mask will replace your photograph.
You can check if you missed or went too far.
Repeat the operation to return to your photograph.
If you hold Alt + Shift, and click the mask thumbnail, the mask will appear as a translucent red layer on your photograph.
Repeat the operation to make the mask disappear.
If you painted an area that you didn't intend to, change the foreground color to white by pressing x.
Then, brush the unwanted area.
Be sure to switch the foreground color back to black, by pressing x again.
If you paint with shades of gray, rather than black, it's like using a brush with a lower opacity.
Here's the masked version.
Original
Brightened Everywhere
Sky Is the Same
Bottom Is Brightened
Instead of using a mask, you can use the eraser tool:
Go to Combine 2 Exposures - Levels & the Eraser Tool.
You can also change the opacity of a selection.
Go to Multiple Opacities.
If your photograph has overexposed areas, such as an area in the cloud above, they need to be painted.
You can't darken them by burning.
Go to Painting Overexposed Areas.
If you haven't already done so, go to Saving Files.