Dodge & Burn - Highlighting the image

When we enlarge a portraiture in chemical darkroom, the last step we did was to burn the surrounding area behind the head and face of the subject. When people looked at the finished picture, the relatively brighter head and face directed their focus to the face.

The burned/darken surrounding also presented a very pleasing pattern for the portraiture. It is a very common technique for professional photographers.

I am going to demonstrate this simple technique using Photoshop.

The above picture shows the effect before the manipulation.

From Photoshop, I selected the Ecliptical Marquee Tool. I change the Feather to 30 px. You may choose a feather setting roughly about 10% of what the picture's resolution. You may adjust this setting to fit the effect you desire.

Put the marquee over the area you want to highlight.

[Repetition] From Photoshop menu, select Selection->Inverse. A running-ant block will surround the exterior edges of the picture, idicating the the area being selected is between the center circle and the exteriors. Any adjustment will apply to the selected area. The head and face will not be affected.,

Activate Curve Adjustment by selecting Image->Adjustment-Curve. Drag the center of the curve towards the lower right hand corner gradually. As you drag the curve, you'll notice that the selected area darkens. Make sure the change of color is subtle and gradual, then click OK.

The running ants are still in the pictures, indicating the selection is still in effect. Inverse the selection so that it reverse to the inner circle only by selection Select->Inverse..

Enlarge the selection by selection Selection->Transform Selection. A rectangle box will show as above. Enlarge the selection by dragging the anchor points outward. Enlarge the inner circle not by a lot, then press Enter.

Repeat the process from the green Repetition mark above. If need to, repeat the process the third time to give it a gradual subtle burning effect.

This is the finished product.