How do I make photos look like this?

[Starkel]

Okay so this is a pic taken of my hubby at a PB tournament by another guy and I am trying to figure out how he makes his photos look like this, any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

http://www.dustbin-pictures.de/pics/xpsl2010-1Spieltag/index.html It's on the 7th page and the 7th image.

I have a Nikon D70. TY

 

[Boomn4x4]

A layer mask from the center out...black to white radial gradient.

 

[robertwsimpson]

This one looks like it's sharpened quite a lot also.

 

[Robin Usagani]

It looks like the saturation is a little low too.

 

[Starkel]

This is the one that I took and I want to make look like that, I tried adding a layer mask and think i may be confused. I placed it from the center out and it made the outside translucent so I placed a black bg below the layer and that worked pretty well. My problem now is getting the color of the grass and paintballs that brownish color and the sharpness of the player to stand out, when I used the sharpen tool it looked like too much and I just can't quite seem to get the colors right. I'm using PS CS4. Thanks for your help!

 

[robertwsimpson]

If you turn on the "images are ok to edit" thing, I'll make yours look like his... or as close as I can.

 

[Starkel]

I don't mind you editing it but I would like to know how to do it myself! Thank you so much!

 

[robertwsimpson]

let me know if this is what you're going for and I'll tell you what I did.

 

[Starkel]

close but not exactly what I was looking for, ty though

 

[reznap]

Looks like some color balance adjustment, definitely warmer than your picture. There's more contrast and it's not so much a vignette as a bit of burning, now that I look at it.

I played in photoshop a bit and this is what I got, but the edge darkening is all wrong, now that I look closely... oh well.

 

[NateS]

Need to remove the first image and post it as a link...clearly not your image or you wouldn't be asking how to do it....wouldn't hurt to read the forum rules too.

 

[bigtwinky]

Seems like some fairly quick adjustements done in processing. Easily done with some sliders in Lightroom, but can also be done fairly easily (and with more precision) in Photoshop.

But it all starts with taking a good picture. Not just good in terms of exposure (which is a huge part), but also good in terms of composition and interest. The action shot is much more interesting as it gives you a sense of what the person was going through, which is what paintball is about.

I would think that the person taking the image has some decent equipment as the motion is nicely frozen and the subject is sharp. Leads me to believe that the person knows what they are doing when it comes to action photography, and photography in general.

Add 5 mins of processing to get an effect they are looking for, and voila!

 

[Starkel]

The guy that took the pics was on the field and does it often and did have decent equipment. The pictures I took were done though the net as I am not brave enough to get on the field at a tournament yet. The photo I am trying to edit he has the same one just taken from a different angle, from the front, and it looks awesome with the same adjustments. I reposted the pic as a link above, sorry for posting it incorrectly.