Dodge & Burn – A New Craft & Vision eBook

“Dodging & burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.” – Ansel Adams

That’s right, dodging & burning is not a phenomenon of the digital age of photography. It’s a craft that was performed in a traditional darkroom with a piece of cardboard placed between the enlarger and the photo paper. Today, in the digital age of photography, we can dodge & burn with steely precision given the software at our disposal.

Today, Craft & Vision released its latest ebook by Piet Van Den Eynde, Dodge & Burn – Leading the Eye with Lightroom & Photoshop. I’ve reviewed ebooks by Piet Van Den Eynde on the this site in the past. You may remember Making Light and Making Light 2 and, as in these 2 books, Piet’s aptitude as a teacher comes right through the page. The proper use of the dodging & burning techniques will add life and depth to your images and Piet takes the reader through  the different techniques he employs to make his images more balanced and visually pleasing.

There’s a lot of information packed into this 90 spread ebook. not only does Piet take you through the techniques using Adobe Camera Raw, Lightroom and Photoshop but also using plug-ins such as Nik Software. What’s new for Craft & Vision this time around is they’re offering not only an ebook but an entire package. There are 2 versions to choose from…

Lite Version – This “LITE” bundle features Piet’s custom EasyDodge Photoshop Panel (a set of custom dodge and burn tools for Photoshop) and a matching user guide, all in a convenient .zip file.  The Lite bundle is $5. To purchase the Lite Version click here.

Full Version – The FULL package includes Piet’s custom EasyDodge Photoshop Panel (normally a USD $10 purchase on it’s own) and a matching user guide. On top of that, C&V has included 10 exercise files to go along with the tutorials in the eBook so you can practice on your own or go through the included history steps to see the post-processing unfold right in front of your eyes.  The full bundle is $10, or $8 for the next six days using the discount code DODGE8. Click here to purchase.

Software: The EasyDodge Panel only works with English versions of CS5/CS6, but even if you’re on a different version, the eBook explains the steps to take so you could make your own action set in your own language-specific version).