I finally figured out that layer masking trick I kept seeing on YouTube

After 3 weeks of trying different brush sizes and opacity settings, turns out all I needed was to switch my blend mode from Normal to Multiply for the shadows to actually look like they belonged in my forest scene, has anyone else had a similar 'aha' moment with a simple setting change?

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jordan4642mo ago

The blend mode tip is what finally made dodge and burn click for me after months of frustration. I always thought it was about brush settings until I realized Multiply just lets the shadows sit differently on the layer stack. Did you notice a difference in how the shadows blend with the background colors after that switch?

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parkernelson2mo ago

Someone put up a video breakdown comparing layer stacks and it showed the same idea. The shadows really do sit differently when Multiply is involved, almost like they melt into the colors underneath instead of sitting on top. That switch alone changed how I handle contrast in portraits, way more than any brush tweak ever did.

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