How to get these two styles..

[chrisblau]

Hey all -

My question, basic as it is, is how to get these two visual styles/effects of photo.

The first style is that yellow-ish/kind of polaroid/crisp-but-worn kind of image like the second one in this thread (by Kate21): http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...oto-gallery/187303-your-best-2009-so-far.html

I know its somewhere in Photoshop (must be an post production kind of thing due to the unnatural light color).. but where in Photoshop can I get this effect?

The second effect is the point-and-shoot look.. I know I could just use my little canon pocket camera, but images like this one (slightly NSFW.. only example I could think of): Olivia Munn Pictures - 1 of 8 - Maxim Girls Photo Gallery | Maxim.com

The effect here is that harsh flash but a harsh flash that doesn't destroy the rest of the image - how do I do that?

Thanks for all the help!

Chris

 

[Linkin]

Hi Chris,
Hope I can help a little bit here.
The first one is basically a bunch of filters used in photoshop.
The easiest way to do this would be to google "photoshop actions" and look for one similar to this effect. Once you have it, place it in your actions folder and voila... it's ready to be used. Otherwise download virtual photographer. It's a nice plugin for photoshop which gives you these neat filter effects.

The second one, I'm not sure of all they did, but I do know that placing a model with the sun behind her and using a bright flash helps. You just have to experiment with the flash intensity till you get it right.

Dunno what else they did in the shots. Hope it helped

 

[KmH]

.......The effect here is that harsh flash but a harsh flash that doesn't destroy the rest of the image - how do I do that?......

Use a flash light meter.

 

[chrisblau]

.......The effect here is that harsh flash but a harsh flash that doesn't destroy the rest of the image - how do I do that?......

Use a flash light meter.

How would I use a light meter to get that effect?

Sorry for the dumb and probably super simple questions - still learning.

 

[KmH]

You use the flash meter to determine the power output needed from the flash. You hold the flash meter right in front of the model and fire the flash. The meter then gives you exposure information.

Sekonic | L-358 Flash Master Meter - Silver | 401-358 | B&H