Post Processing

Can any one give me some pointers in regards to achieving this type of post processing colours/tone/look?
Have a look here

Thanks

Aside from the poor cut/paste job in Photoshop of that guy on the porch....

Most of these look like they've just had colors desaturated.

Warped pixels on the periphery!!!

I was gonna say good eye AH but it so obvious now that you pointed that out I think I must be blind when it comes to the cursory glance mode...hahaha

Maybe a good idea and a good look but you gotta do better than that if you are getting into PP...

That is the main reason I shy away from such work...I'm lazy and it requires to much time and effort...LOL

Just take a bunch of photos until you get the darn thing right!!!

I agree with Anthony . . . de-saturate until you get the tone you want and up the exposure (in pp) until the highlights are blown out.

I recognize the "clothes line" photo. It looks like the guy who wouldn't sell his photo to a publishing company because they wanted to photoshop something in or out. So the company bought a similar stock photo and fixed it the way they wanted it, and this guy sued the company for copyright infringement and lost.

From what I see in these photos there is no post processing there I would consider worth while. The changes that were made, what ever they were, didn't improve anything. Using post processing to "improve" your shots is more of an art to be learned by each individual and not really something you can magically learn with a few pointers. The best pointers I can give you to learn post processing is to get a good program like Lightroom 3 or Aperture 3 and practice, practice, and practice some more.

Thanks for all the help and direction everyone. I am trying my hand at achieving that look but so far no luck getting it. This is as close as I have come:

Alaina by PhotoLegend7, on Flickr

That looks pretty dang good to me sir...

The light looks too harsh, like it was taken under a blistering hot sun and all the colors are washed out.
Perhaps that was the conditions it was taken but with processing you can reverse that and that is what I try to attempt when I process a picture --- soften the light and make the colors bolder.
I added a little contrast, warmed up the colors with a little tone mapping. Cropped the picture a little and here it is.

I think that I may have misunderstood your question. Is it the vintage look that you are after?

Here is the picture with aged newspaper affect added to give you an idea.

Some nice edits Ken. Not my style in particular but an interesting take on my photo for sure. I have a long way to go developing my abilities to post process my photos. It is a vintage look I am trying for, with a little bit stronger colours than typically seen in the style.

ThePhotoLegend said:

Thanks for all the help and direction everyone. I am trying my hand at achieving that look but so far no luck getting it. This is as close as I have come:

Alaina by PhotoLegend7, on Flickr

Click to expand...

The only thing I don't like with your previous version is the fact the the blacks seem too pale or washed out.
Here's my take on it, but it might not be what you're after…

I see where you are going now and have wondered about this myself. Is it post processing or is it done with the camera set up to begin with.

Did the photographer bracket some monochrome shots with blown out back grounds and merge them with a shot vivid colors??

Tried something like that the other day where one of the bracketed shots that I took I processed in the camera with the red touch up filter in the camera. Ended up with darker shadows instead of a red tinge glow that I was trying for.

ThePhotoLegend said:

Thanks for all the help and direction everyone. I am trying my hand at achieving that look but so far no luck getting it. This is as close as I have come:

Alaina by PhotoLegend7, on Flickr

Click to expand...

I like this, she looks like she's glowing.

Here are some better examples of the type of look I am trying to achieve. This is one of my favorite photographers here & here. Love the colours. The photos are both rich and subdued at the same time. Vintage and modern at the same time. I know its not a style for everyone but I really find it appealing and would love to learn how to achieve it. I appreciate all the thoughts folks!

Honestly, your best bet is to start browsing through the many Photoshop actions/Lightroom presets websites out there and find some that you like.

If you really want to learn how to achieve it, then start experimenting.

Anthony Hereld said:

Honestly, your best bet is to start browsing through the many Photoshop actions/Lightroom presets websites out there and find some that you like.

If you really want to learn how to achieve it, then start experimenting.

Click to expand...

I have been experimenting and trying my hand at achieving it. I thought for sure there may be some one here with the experience to understand how to achieve the look. For example when some one wants to sharpen an image because of the experience I have (albeit very little) I can direct them to a high pass overlay ect...
This is something I have been trying to achieve with both presets and actions and I find them too narrow in the scope of photos that can be used with them. It takes just as much fine tuning and adjusting once the action and preset have been used as when starting from scratch. Every photo seams to need its own fine tuning. I have been doing lots and lots and lots of experimentation in both LR3 and PS CS5. So far the look has been out of my reach.
I really appreciate all the advice and help. If some one themselves has been able and knows how to get this stunning look I would really love some pointers.My latest shot at it turned out like this:

Alaina July 17 2011 by PhotoLegend7, on Flickr

Not very close at all I am affraid.

ThePhotoLegend said:

This is something I have been trying to achieve with both presets and actions and I find them too narrow in the scope of photos that can be used with them. It takes just as much fine tuning and adjusting once the action and preset have been used as when starting from scratch. Every photo seams to need its own fine tuning. I have been doing lots and lots and lots of experimentation in both LR3 and PS CS5. So far the look has been out of my reach.

Click to expand...

You are closer than you think.

The look you are describing is very trendy right now, and there are many different "push button" effects available out there to help achieve it. But you're absolutely right in that those presets are just guidelines and each photo (or at least each similar set of photos) must be tweaked to your liking. You have some very powerful tools at your disposal (LR3 and CS5), so all that remains is some tweaking.

What's missing from your photos is the greenish tint that is found in all the examples you've posted. Try toying w/ the WB temperature and add some softening.

Anthony Hereld said:

What's missing from your photos is the greenish tint that is found in all the examples you've posted. Try toying w/ the WB temperature and add some softening.

Click to expand...

Thank you for that suggestion! I am going to try that.

TPL...does this picture exhibit the sort of look you are after? The original size version is way sharper than this scaled one...

Eye-level said:

TPL...does this picture exhibit the sort of look you are after? The original size version is way sharper than this scaled one...

Click to expand...

It is very close but the colours I am trying to achieve are punchier with a rich smooth skin tone. The look is almost contradictory.Muted and punchy at the same time. Here is an example here and here and here.