I need help with dodging & burning... I can't escape the white halo!

[kamvachon]

I have a very contrasty sunset photo where the subject is backlit. I expose him for 10 seconds, then I use my tool to cover him (I place it a few inches higher and I shake my hand) and continue exposing the photo for an extra 10 seconds to get the other part of the photo darker. Here's a photo of my print and the tool I'm using:
Is there a trick to minimize the white halo?

 

[koraks]

Okay, there are five things you can do here. None of them will be what you're looking for, so I'm afraid you'll have to settle for 'second best'.

1: Cut out a mask that much more closely fits the shape of the figure you're trying to dodge. Then place that on the paper, or hold it just above the print, to dodge that area. You'll still have some dark (inside the figure) or light (around it) halos, unless you make an extremely precise mask and sandwich it with the actual negative. Which brings me to...

2: Supplemental masking in order to reduce overall contrast of the negative. This in principle will affect the entire image, making it more muted. Also count on practicing a couple of weeks or months and spending a couple of hundred $$$ on materials to figure out how masking works.

3: Dodge like you're doing now, but do a lot less of it, and instead, create tone in the background by flashing the paper. This will create a more muted, light background while still retaining detail in the subject. Contrast in the background/sky will be reduced.

4: Accept the print as it is, either with your heavy dodging, or the straight print with the dark subject.

5: Re-shoot the scene, this time balancing the exposure of the subject using e.g. fill-flash, choosing a different time of day, using a reflector etc.

Heavy-handed dodging and burning tends to be (painfully) visible. There's little you can do to prevent that. In this case, I'd try to dodge just the face (with a very small mask/implement) and maybe the white sections on the horse to give them a little more sparkle.

 

[Pieter12]

Use a smaller tool and move inside the subject area.

 

[MattKing]

Use a smaller print of the same image, cut out to the area that you wish to dodge. Then hold that above the print and move it mostly up and down to perform the dodging.
Also consider mixing that with printing the entire print slightly lighter, and burning the areas around the horse and rider.
Don't reject a photo like this because the subject is a bit dark - backlit subjects are ones we expect to be a bit darker.
Nice photo, by the way.

 

[GregY]

Use a smaller tool and move inside the subject area.

Yes!

 

[kamvachon]

Use a smaller print of the same image, cut out to the area that you wish to dodge. Then hold that above the print and move it mostly up and down to perform the dodging.
Also consider mixing that with printing the entire print slightly lighter, and burning the areas around the horse and rider.
Don't reject a photo like this because the subject is a bit dark - backlit subjects are ones we expect to be a bit darker.
Nice photo, by the way.

Thanks Matt! I'll try this cut out a piece that is smaller and looks like my subject as much as I can. I am already printing the print lighter to expose the rider just right and then covering it to keep exposing the rest of the image for an extra 10 seconds (burning)!

 

[kamvachon]

Okay, there are five things you can do here. None of them will be what you're looking for, so I'm afraid you'll have to settle for 'second best'.

1: Cut out a mask that much more closely fits the shape of the figure you're trying to dodge. Then place that on the paper, or hold it just above the print, to dodge that area. You'll still have some dark (inside the figure) or light (around it) halos, unless you make an extremely precise mask and sandwich it with the actual negative. Which brings me to...

2: Supplemental masking in order to reduce overall contrast of the negative. This in principle will affect the entire image, making it more muted. Also count on practicing a couple of weeks or months and spending a couple of hundred $$$ on materials to figure out how masking works.

3: Dodge like you're doing now, but do a lot less of it, and instead, create tone in the background by flashing the paper. This will create a more muted, light background while still retaining detail in the subject. Contrast in the background/sky will be reduced.

4: Accept the print as it is, either with your heavy dodging, or the straight print with the dark subject.

5: Re-shoot the scene, this time balancing the exposure of the subject using e.g. fill-flash, choosing a different time of day, using a reflector etc.

Heavy-handed dodging and burning tends to be (painfully) visible. There's little you can do to prevent that. In this case, I'd try to dodge just the face (with a very small mask/implement) and maybe the white sections on the horse to give them a little more sparkle.

I like the idea of trying to flash the paper! I'll have to find my neutral grey soon!

 

[VinceInMT]

You migot like this thread, specifically my comment, #21, where I describe a device for precise dodging. The smaller size cut out that others have mentioned would work well with this:

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/db-masking-advice.193594/#post-2581144

 

[mshchem]

This may seem like cheating. Scan the negative, correct with PS send the file to the lab for a color print. Or if your like me make a better mask, I suck at Photoshop.

It is amazing what can be done manually.

 

[pbromaghin]

1: Cut out a mask that much more closely fits the shape of the figure you're trying to dodge. Then place that on the paper, or hold it just above the print, to dodge that area. You'll still have some dark (inside the figure) or light (around it) halos, unless you make an extremely precise mask and sandwich it with the actual negative. Which brings me to...

As a beginner in the darkroom, this worked wonders for me. I simply took a scissor to my awful print, placed it on top of the paper and wiggled it (only a tiny bit) around randomly during exposure. I was going to try pre-flash, but the instructor said it would be a bad idea with my negative. But with your burning-in area being so large, you would be well off to try it.

 

[Fatih Ayoglu]

I have had a similar issue, shot a photo of my daughter in a high rise hotel room, looking to me and her background was full glass outside, obviously very bright. I have correctly exposed for her face so it was good but then the background was always too bright which required significant burning. What I’ve done was, like it was mentioned, I’ve printed the image, glued it to a card box, cut out my daughter, trimmed it even further so I could move the dodge tool as high as possible to avoid the halo and became reasonably successful which has much less halo, almost looking natural as when you put your hand even with naked eye you can see a glow due to reflection of light etc.

 

[Fatih Ayoglu]

Also the other option is, creating a inkjet dodge mask, and using that. It requires some significant amount of trial probably but then you can avoid the halo to a level of non existence.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Flashing should help. It might even eliminate the need to dodge. If not, you could always make a mask using soft pencil and frosted mylar, and lay it directly on top of the negative. You'll have to experiment with pencil weight first.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

...and if you just stick with dodging only, use a much smaller dodging tool. The one you show above is way too big.

 

[Bill Burk]

Thanks Matt! I'll try this cut out a piece that is smaller and looks like my subject as much as I can. I am already printing the print lighter to expose the rider just right and then covering it to keep exposing the rest of the image for an extra 10 seconds (burning)!

I thought I would be clever and made what I called a “mosquito” that would lighten a small part of the photo I wanted to dodge.

The name is a good one because it was pesky.

And it did not make the picture look good at all.

An easy way to avoid halo when doing dodge and burn is to limit it to 1/3 or 2/3 stop

 

[GregY]

...and if you just stick with dodging only, use a much smaller dodging tool. The one you show above is way too big.

Yes! The halo you're getting is due to the dodging tool being bigger than the area you're attempting to dodge.

 

[Don_ih]

You can also burn just immediately around the area you dodged. You make a hole with your hands.

And making a spiky dodge tool might be a good idea. That evens out the periphery a bit. Like this:

 

[MattKing]

I used to have dodging tools that were cut out portions of old prints that were cut to the shape of a couple of people's heads or faces.
The first 10000 dodges are the toughest .