Photoshop has a huge range of blending modes — almost 30, in fact — but the majority of photographers go their entire careers using only about six of them most of the time. One of the rarer blending modes is color dodge, and though you will not use it every day, this helpful video tutorial will show you a specific and nifty application for it that can give your images a bit more pop.
Coming to you from Unmesh Dinda with PiXimperfect, this great video tutorial will show you how to use the color dodge mode to give jewelry more punch in a photo, which is a great way to complement your subject. The color dodge blending mode is very rarely used and uses a more unusual formula than more routine blending modes: B/(1-A), where "B" is the background layer and "A" is the active layer, meaning a pixel's value is determined by the background layer value divided by one minus the active layer's value. In other words, Photoshop brightens the background color to more closely reflect the active color by reducing the contrast between the two. This normally results in very contrasty results with punchy colors, and as such, it is not something you will use often, but it seems tailor-made for making jewelry pop. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Dinda.
