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Open
your photo and duplicate the background layer by
pressing Ctrl-J. Double click this layer
to rename it Foliage (1).
This
image is well composed and exposed, but the
trees look dull and washed out. The foliage has
a slight blue cast too it as well. We'll be
concentrating on the top half of this image. |
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Double-click the layer
to rename it. |
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The Burn Tool
"Burning" an image is nothing
new. It is a common technique from the film area in
which a developer would darken the shadows of a
photo when going from negative to print. In fact, the
toolbar icon for burning is actually a depiction of
the tool commonly used to burn photos in the
darkroom: the hand.
When making
a print in the darkroom light was shown through a
negative onto a sheet of photographic paper. The
longer light was in contact with the paper, the
darker that area became. So all the light areas of
the negative became dark on the photographic paper and all the dark areas on the negative became light.
If the developer wanted to enhance the darkness on a
portion of the photographic print, they would make
an "O" with their thumb and index finger, letting
light shine onto the paper through the "O" exposing
and darkening that area even more, while the rest of
their hand blocked the light from exposing the rest
of the print.
Now with
digital photo editing, method has become a simple
brush that
darkens. You can set it to darken highlights, midtones or shadows. You'll want to keep this tool
set on shadows range most of the time. By
default it set to 50% strength, which is way too
strong. I generally find
that 2 or 3% is optimal for photo editing. |
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Select the
Burn tool by tapping O on the keyboard. Use a
brush size of a bout 70 for this image (2).
Set the Range to Shadows (3) and the
Exposure to 3% (4).
With the Foliage Layer
selected, paint generously over the green trees.
You start to see the shadows darken and the
brighter leaves and branches pop out. Since we
set the Exposure so low, don't be afraid to
apply a second coat, but don't overdo it. The
more you use this tool, the more shadow detail
you lose.
You can turn off/on the Foliage
Layer to see the difference you've just made.
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Your background layer is a
backup so you don't destroy your original photo. |
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Color
Next we are going to want to tweak the color of the
trees. Although the current color is passable,
spring and summer foliage is more yellow than
blue-green. So we will use a Hue/Saturation
Adjustment Layer to shift the green color to a
more warm yellow one. You could even take the
technique to an extreme and change the color of the
foliage completely to yellow, orange or red.
Do so by shifting a combination of the yellow and
green Hue Channels. |
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With the
Foliage Layer selected, add a new
Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer from the layers
palette
(5).
An
adjustment layer will let you shift the colors of
the image in areas that you choose using
masking. It's also a non-destructive way to
alter an image. |
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Make sure
you are editing the Greens
(6),
then use the Hue slider to shift the color of
the greens. Going right will sift green towards blue
and going left towards yellow. I went left -10
which brought a little more warmth to my
foliage
(7).
In order to
increase the strength of the color, you can adjust
the Saturation slider (8).
I increased the saturation of the Greens to +6.
Hit OK to apply these changes. |
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When
making these adjustments you can view the effect on
the selected color in the color band at the bottom
(9).
For
spring and summer foliage, try adjusting
Greens,
Yellows and sometimes the Cyans.
For Fall foliage, try Yellows and Reds. |
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leaves are warmer and brighter, giving the
appearance of a sunny, well-lit day. While the
enhanced shadows makes them look more
three-dimensional.
Check below for a before/after
comparison as well as other examples what what can
be achieved with these techniques.
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What the layers look
like in the end. |
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Play with the
setting to see what works best with what types
of images. Here are some additional tips to keep
in mind:
- Use
Masking on the Hue/Saturation Adjustment
Layer to block the color change from other
parts of the image.
- Do this technique after
adjusting
levels and color and other touch-up
techniques, but before resizing and
sharpening.
- Although not done with
this image, for green foliage, you can also
try adjusting the Yellows too.
- Working on a duplicated
background layer prevents you from saving
over your original with a burned version.
- The Dodge tool (
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is the opposite of the Burn tool. Its
purpose is to lighten highlights.
For more PhotoShop tutorials, visit our
Articles section.
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Recommended Photoshop Books |
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