Editing Advice

[smoke665]

I've been working on developing a new editing style, and frankly it's getting frustrating finding my way. Looking for something like an old master look, a little dark & moody, lots of detail. Tried several different things from various tone mapping methods, including borrowing tones, dodge & burn, custom curves, textures, blending modes, etc. I get close, but something always seems off.

Anyone care to share ideas? Methods?

 

[Space Face]

I can't help but it will be interesting to see the suggestions here. It's good to see how others approach PP.

 

[weepete]

I've been working on developing a new editing style, and frankly it's getting frustrating finding my way. Looking for something like an old master look, a little dark & moody, lots of detail. Tried several different things from various tone mapping methods, including borrowing tones, dodge & burn, custom curves, textures, blending modes, etc. I get close, but something always seems off.

Anyone care got share ideas? Methods?

Try some of Nigel Danson's tutorials on youtube:

There were a few I find useful

 

[smoke665]

@weepete interesting to see confirmation of many of the steps I take in LR or ACR before an image goes to PS. I'm a big fan of gradient and radial filters because of thier ability to create custom masks.

One I've followed of late is Joey L. It takes a lot of little things and attention to details from start to finish that makes an image stand out. Here's a look behind the scenes. Joey L. - NYC-based Photographer and Director


Another I find interesting in her technique is This Photographer Shoots Portraits in the Style of Old Master Painters her mixture of Chiaroscuro and Sfumato is something I'd love to master.

 

[CherylL]

I watched this retouching tut for fine art

 

[smoke665]

@CherylL I have this one saved in my library. I've used a few of his techniques in the past. Every image is different but when it comes to skin I mostly stay with a two layer frequency separation approach that puts the color on one layer and the details on the 2nd. That way I can edited them independently.

One of the more recent things I'm experimenting with is the use of the color range selection to put the highlights, midtones and shadows on separate layers and adjust the micro contrast independently.

 

[weepete]

Yes mate, there are a lot of photographers that use that technique. I'm a big fan of the range masking in lightroom too.

Check Mark Littlejohn out, he has a great look and edits very simply, but gets great results

 

[smoke665]

@weepete I struggle with SOOC landscapes more because of my laziness and impatience than anything. Beautiful landscapes start and end with beautiful light, to get that requires you actually get up early and wait for the precise moment when it all comes together. I'll admit to being envious of those who do it justice, as it has a feel not easily obtained post. That's probably a big reason why I favor studio for myself because I can control the light, on my own time.

I've been using range masking in LR for a long time. The ability to select based on color or luminosity is quite good, and being able to sync that mask across multiple images in the blink of an eye is what keeps me going back to it. Unfortunately the slowdown that comes when using adjustment brushes over multiple images is a real PITA. Anything past gradients and radial filters generally forces me into ACR or PS.

 

[weepete]

Very true smoke. I'm guilty of not being as patient as I should be, though I'm trying to get better at it. Often being in the right place at the right time is a numbers game and the more you do it the more likley you are to get lucky and get good light.

Most of the photographers I admire actually don't do much in post, maybe a contrast adjustment, shadows/higlights adjustment an inverted radial filter or two and possibly a grad filter in post. A few will split tone a bit (particularly Mark Littlejohn who uses the HSL panel to dodge and burn which is an interesting technique).

One of the things my old art teacher told me was most people don't use shading enough, when creating shadows they'll go too light. I think there's a parallel with editing; where we can raise shadows too much and force even lighting through the whole frame.

One of the keys to chiaroscuro is to really commit to it. This is a Carrivaggio (with a public licence so I hope that meets the forum rules) and I struggle to think of a photographer nowadays who would light this in a similar way, but it works very well.

Maybe push it a bit and try to see just how little you can light with in the studio? Could be a good excercise!

 

[smoke665]

One of the things my old art teacher told me was most people don't use shading enough, when creating shadows they'll go too light.

One of the things I've found in the transition from film to digital is judging how dark the shadows will actually be when viewing a back lit image on a monitor vs a print.