Need help to achieve Photoshop effects

[Pyotr]

Hello,

I am taking art photography at school this year. We are required to complete a 3-board folio of our photography, and must show consistency in theme as well as develop our ideas using artist models.

Before starting this folio, it's necessary that we choose at least 3 artist models to work with. I have so far only chosen my first; Nikolai Andreev.

For those of you who are familiar with Andreev's work, and with editing digital photos, how might I go about making my own photo lighting closely resemble the powerful lighting techniques used by Andreev? Here is what I have been able to achieve so far:

The camera I'm using is a Nikon D40. Any help will be very much appreciated, as I only started taking amateur photos last October. Also, does anyone know of other art photographers who use unique techniques that I might try to bring into my own work, as per the requirements for 3 artist models?

Thanks.

 

[feRRari4756]

Well i looked at some of Andreev's work just now and it doesnt look much like yours.

Yours are underexposed and not clear at all. Also, there is extreme grain in your photos--something that Andreev doesnt always have (if he does, it not nearly as much as u added).

Maybe you should try shooting people. all of the Andreev's photos I saw had people in them.

IMO, it looks like you shot these with a cell phone. i think you should reshoot these.

 

[zemlin]

I looked at some of Nikolai Andreev images in a google search. I don't see where you're going with the extreme blur. One effect you might try is solarizing. Some of the images I saw looked like aged prints. A light solarize might give that effect - maybe put a solarized copy on a separate layer and fade it in just a bit.

 

[Mike_E]

Hi Pyotr, welcome to the forum.

You did notice that the images on the net and everywhere else I'm guessing were scans of the original prints? This means that not only does the aging of the photo come into play but the texture of the paper as well.

I would suggest you start with the best shot you can take before adding to it in post.

You'll need to google adding textures in post as well as Gaussian blur in a gradient. You might also want to play with a high pass filter blend. This isn't a formula, just a direction. Have fun!

mike

 

[Pyotr]

Thanks everyone.

I think one problem may be that we were looking at different examples of Andreev's work. The photos on this site, Gallery of pictorial photographs by N.P. Andreev , notably the black and white landscapes, have the effects that I'm trying to achieve.

Mike, thank you for the advice to try a high pass filter. It allows easy manipulation of light, and that's exactly what I was looking for.

I agree with you zemlin, I think I probably used a bit too much Gaussian blur. I'm using it to soften the images a little bit, but I'll use less in the future.

There is quite a bit of grain in the photos I was looking at, but it's true that mine aren't clear at all and look like they've been taken with a cellphone. Unfortunately in this photography course, we can't pass by taking good photos alone (which is the only reason I took it, to learn how to take good photos). You have to do a lot of editing to your photos, and end up with an extremely blurry/grainy/abstract "artwork". And that doesn't really appeal to me, as I am of the opinion that a photo should honestly represent what the photographer could see with his own eyes when he took it. Oh well, credits are credits.

Thanks again for the help everyone.

 

[zemlin]

Personally, I think the "effect" in most of those black and white images is due to either a lousy scan or lousy image processing for web display - it looks like bad pixelation, not film grain to me.

 

[feRRari4756]

I dont think that that is examples of his "true" NORMAL work. Maybe they wre some from a long time ago or something. But his normal work is blurry pics with all grain in the and ones that look like junk (sorry lol, but they do).

Most of his work is very clear shots, with light grain, and black and white, with people as subjects.

Maybe you should consider doing a different photographer's work.