Fixing Halo in Lightroom 4 or GIMP?

[p.o.t.u.s]

When I burn or dodge an area of a photo, I sometimes get a halo or double line bordering a subject. I know why this happens, and I know I could fix it if I had photoshop--but I don't have photoshop.

 

Any solution in Lightroom or GIMP?

[Withers]

In Lightroom, when you dodge and burn you can adjust the "feather" on the brush that will let you get in pretty close to the subject and avoid halos. They also have the "auto mask" tool that will attempt to solve the problem but it sucks.

 

I had no idea you were into photography

[p.o.t.u.s]

Just started to get into it. The problem that I've been having is that the subject i.e., a tree, has tons of fine detail that i need to dodge around. The automask sucks and if I was going to do it with the brush manually, it would take HOURS.

[Withers]

That's the only way I know of doing it

 

It takes forever but you get better at it with time. Does the adjustment need to be super heavy? The less harsh the adjustment is the less precise you need to be with the brush.

[Lalani]

Yeah, I have yet to find an easy answer to this one. :/

[Withers]

Maybe try manually layering brushes on top of each other. Start with a very gentle adjustment on the first layer and overlap onto the subject a bit, then gradually work your way out as you stack brushes on top of each other. It's essentially the same thing as feathering the brush but more precise to what you want to do.

 

Kim are you using LR5 yet? They may have new features for the brush in the new version. I'm still on 4.

[Lalani]

Kim are you using LR5 yet? They may have new features for the brush in the new version. I'm still on 4.

Nah, haven't tried 5 yet.. might have to check it out.