How to achieve this effect... (sample pic)

[Propi]

Hi!
I've been looking through other people's pictures for a while now, and I'm absolutely fascinated with the effect seen on the pic below:



I mean the "halo" or brightness around that girl... It's totally amazing, and I'd love to make my pictures look similar
I have two questions, one is dumb, the other might be a little smarter
1. What is the technique called? Does it even have a name?
2. How to do this?
I realize you probably need some layer work, dodging/burning etc... if someone could write it down for me, like a total idiot, I'd be very grateful. Even a link to some tutorials would be cool

Thanks in advance, friends!

 

[Seefutlung]

Looks like burning in to moi. Your eye is attracted to lighter/white areas of a pix. Traditionally, one would slightloy burn in corners and other areas to help focus the eye on the more important areas. Typically, a good burn job really isn't noticeable ... in this photo the photog didn't burn in the sidewalk on the right of the girl. There's many ways to do this ... the easiest is simply to use the burn tool ... adjust the size of the brush (start big for the edges / big will make the burn less obivious), I recommend a very low value somewhere around 6% & 40% Flow to start. A low value will require multiple passes of the brush for the burn to become visible, then resize to a smaller brush for the hard to get places (i.e. between the girls arm and her body.) Highlighting the area you wish to burn (in this case everything but the girl), with the magis wand, then burn is another way to burn with percision. Good Luck.

Gary

PS- Her hand and forehead are a bit light ... I'd resize the brush very small and/or magic wand these areas and make them a touch darker. The buildings on both sides of the street have definately been darkened, including the left side of the girls jacket and hair ... but the photog didn't darken around the face (for fear of over darkening the face I guess) ... hence the "halo" effect.
G

PSPS- 99.9% of my shots have some burning and dodging so click on "Stuff" below for examples.
G

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

Dodging and/or burning will do it...but there are other ways (there always are).

Dodging & burning are 'destructive' tools in Photoshop...so this is something that you may want to do on a separate layer. Create a duplicate layer, then use the burn tool to darken around the subject...and/or...use the dodge tool to brighten the area with the subject.

There are other things that make this a good shot. The contrast is good, for example...so keep that in mind.

*edit*

 

[Seefutlung]

Welcome to the forum.

Dodging and/or burning will do it...but there are other ways (there always are).

Dodging & burning are 'destructive' tools in Photoshop...so this is something that you may want to do on a separate layer. Create a duplicate layer, then use the dodge tool to darken around the subject...and/or...use the burn tool to brighten the area with the subject.

There are other things that make this a good shot. The contrast is good, for example...so keep that in mind.

Hey Mike you got those tools backwards ... burn = darken ... dodge = lighten (but I appreciate the aliteration.)

G

 

[Big Mike]

D'oh...I always have to think about which one is which...and I was too lazy to open it up and look. In photoshop, the hand is darken and the circle on a stick is lighten...that's how I remember it.

 

[Seefutlung]

D'oh...I always have to think about which one is which...and I was too lazy to open it up and look. In photoshop, the hand is darken and the circle on a stick is lighten...that's how I remember it.

lol - these are old wet darkroom terms. When you burn ... you add more time (light) to a particular area ... usually you would cup your hands under the enlarger light to create a shadow where you don't need the extra light. Dodging is the opposite, when the enlarger was making the initial print you would create a shadow (usually with your hand or a digit) over an area to reduce the amount of light hitting that one area.

Gary

 

[Big Mike]

I knew that...even though I've only ever peeked my head into an actual dark room...I still mix up the names though. :roll:

 

[Iron Flatline]

This is shot with an extreme wide angle lens - I assume the photographer is actually quite close to the subject.

Although the was probably some dodging and burning done, I also see some basic vignetting.

Fun shot. Definitely worth emulating.