Editing Dodging and burning (section)

==Applications==
A key application of dodging and burning is to improve contrast (tonal reproduction) in film print-making; today this is better known as [[tone mapping]] in digital photography – see [[high-dynamic-range imaging]]. The technical issue is that natural scenes have higher [[dynamic range]] (ratio of light to dark) than can be captured by film, which in turn is greater than can be reproduced in prints. Compressing this high dynamic range into a print either requires uniformly decreasing contrast (making tones closer together) or carefully printing different parts of an image differently so that each retains the maximum contrast – in this latter dodging and burning is a key tool.

An excellent example is the photograph ''Schweitzer with lamp at his desk'' by [[W. Eugene Smith]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Schweitzer with lamp at his desk by W EugeneSmith|url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/w-eugene-smith/schweitzer-with-lamp-at-his-desk-gH0CRvqJPzfaRFPqYgLM4Q2|website=www.artnet.com|publisher=Artnet Worldwide Corporation}}</ref> from his 1954 [[photo essay]] ''A Man of Mercy'' on Dr. [[Albert Schweitzer]] and his humanitarian work in French Equatorial Africa. The image took 5 days to produce, in order to reproduce the tonal range of the scene, which ranges from a bright lamp (relative to the scene) to dark shadow.<ref name="durand">[http://people.csail.mit.edu/fredo/ArtAndScienceOfDepiction/ 4.209: The Art and Science of Depiction], Frédo Durand and [[Julie Dorsey]], [http://people.csail.mit.edu/fredo/ArtAndScienceOfDepiction/12_Contrast/contrast.html Limitations of the Medium: Compensation and accentuation – The Contrast is Limited], lecture of Monday, April 9. 2001, [http://people.csail.mit.edu/fredo/ArtAndScienceOfDepiction/12_Contrast/contrast6.pdf slide 57–59]; image on slide 57, depiction of dodging and burning on slide 58</ref>

[[Ansel Adams]] elevated dodging and burning to an art form. Many of his famous prints were manipulated in the darkroom with these two techniques. Adams wrote a comprehensive book on producing prints called ''The Print'', which features dodging and burning prominently, in the context of his [[Zone System]].<ref>{{Harv|Adams|1995}}</ref>

They can also be used in less subtle ways, as in the stenciled lettering shown at the top of this article.