How to process a certain style

Afternoon Nikonites,

Its been a while since I was last on, but still been busy snapping away!

I have started venturing into the world of photoshop and lightroom and whilst I am able to make basic edit I am struggling to learn to take it to the next level.

Picture 1 is a professional pictures that I would like to be able to edit in a similar way:


The second picture is one I have taken and would like to try and edit in a similar way, does anyone have any tips or websites that might be able to teach me.


(Sorry I know its not the best, just one to practice on)

Well the Pro has started off with a great photo, nice and sharp and good use of DOF and leading lines. To process similar you would have to create layers and adjust the background layer to a warmer colour, you could also use some Gaussian blur with a graduated filter to achieve similar bokeh. I hope this helps.

actionward said:

The second picture is one I have taken and would like to try and edit in a similar way, does anyone have any tips or websites that might be able to teach me.

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Well it's do-able, certainly but it would involve a number of techniques (masks, layers, brushes) that I'm not really qualified to teach.

You could "cheat" and look for a Photoshop Action that would give you what you want without having to learn all the ins-and-outs. If you're not familiar, Actions are sort of like automated recipes you apply to a photo using PS. Some places that might help get you up to speed with what Photoshop Actions are, what they can do and how to use/buy them would KCC Actions or Paint the Moon or Greater Than Gatsby. All of those places *sell* PS Actions, but there are tons of PS Actions you can download for free. Google will assist you in finding them, just search on something like "Free Photoshop Actions" and go from there.

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Like Scott stated it all started with a great photo. Also not all photos can be made to look that way and look good. The simple way to get that kind of look is photoshop actions and look for a matted action. You can find them all over the net.

Horoscope Fish said:

You could "cheat" and look for a Photoshop Action that would give you what you want without having to learn all the ins-and-outs. If you're not familiar, Actions are sort of like automated recipes you apply to a photo using PS. Some places that might help get you up to speed with what Photoshop Actions are, what they can do and how to use/buy them would KCC Actions or Paint the Moon or Greater Than Gatsby. All of those places *sell* PS Actions, but there are tons of PS Actions you can download for free. Google will assist you in finding them, just search on something like "Free Photoshop Actions" and go from there.

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While posting I had to answer a call Didn't see your post Paul.
BTW my name is Paul also. So the Pauls are right on looking up Photoshop actions LOL

You will definitely need to start out with a well exposed photo to get that look. That photo is from Jinky Art. She offers tutorials for $99 a year. I think you get 20 videos to watch a year, just in case you want to learn her exact technique.

actionward said:

Afternoon Nikonites,

Its been a while since I was last on, but still been busy snapping away!

I have started venturing into the world of photoshop and lightroom and whilst I am able to make basic edit I am struggling to learn to take it to the next level.

Picture 1 is a professional pictures that I would like to be able to edit in a similar way:
View attachment 151016

The second picture is one I have taken and would like to try and edit in a similar way, does anyone have any tips or websites that might be able to teach me.

View attachment 151018
(Sorry I know its not the best, just one to practice on)

Click to expand...

I'm seeing some professional vignetting going on in the pro picture. I'm sure that will help some. Nik Tools should be able to save you some time as well.Oz

You can get some way towards what you want in Lightroom by using the Radial Filter tool but you really need to go to PhotoShop to get the exact effect.

This site at Adobe has a lot of really good tutorials. If you are a beginner then its a good place to start.

The Complete Picture with Julieanne Kost | Adobe TV


If you want to try an alternative approach then Alien Skin Exposure 7 can do this type of effect in a few easy steps.

TBH, a lot of that is done with a little negative contrast along with a little negative (or the white side) vignette feathered out to the extreme. You can definitely mask out the focused part of the photo and put a blur filter on the background, then perhaps use a radial filter to highlight the subjects, then drop a standard vignette with a little less feathering to darken the corners/edges again.

There's also a way, in LR, to help created the appearance of a very directional light source, but it's slipping my mind at work right now. I'd have to have it open to tell ya for sure...

Perhaps even just a little negative contrast, some smoothing, then the radial filter to get a simple version of that look all in LR without diving too deep, but there's a bit more to it than just that.

Here's a great page I used to learn the use of the Radial filter, if it helps:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/lightroom-radial-filter.html

Pretzel said:

Perhaps even just a little negative contrast, some smoothing, then the radial filter to get a simple version of that look all in LR without diving too deep, but there's a bit more to it than just that.

Here's a great page I used to learn the use of the Radial filter, if it helps:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/lightroom-radial-filter.html

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I gotta run, but the link definitely looks interesting. Will check it out myself later! Thanks, Pretzel!

The most important thing is a well lit and properly exposed photo to start with. Something like that can certainly be done in LR alone, but not necessarily with that image. I used Photoshop to fix white balance and add some blur, Nik Color Efex to add reflector lighting from the front and do some contrast adjustments and then Lightroom to do some radial filter and color balance/saturation adjustments.

This is as it came out of Photoshop/Nik:



And this is after Lightroom:



I wouldn't say I "like" the treatment, but it gives you an idea of what can be done on a shot. Whether or not it should be done is another question. Again, a properly lit RAW file would have been a better starting point.

As for learning how to do that? There are tutorials out the wazoo out there, some free and others not. There are Photoshop Actions and LR Filters to help you along, but again these cost money and you really don't learn anything.

Pardon me, but screw a site that gives you 12 videos for $99. Go to Lynda.com and take a look at their photography videos. Amazingly comprehensive, from how to's on LR and PS to processing portraiture like this. Unlimited videos for $25/month ($35 if you want exercise files). Best collection of resources out there, and not just for photography. I join every 6 months for a month and catch up.

BackdoorHippie said:

. Go to Lynda.com and take a look at their photography videos. Amazingly comprehensive, from how to's on LR and PS to processing portraiture like this. Unlimited videos for $25/month ($35 if you want exercise files). Best collection of resources out there, and not just for photography. I join every 6 months for a month and catch up.

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Very interesting Jake. I never thought you could just get it for a month once in a while. I was looking at the yearly cost of a subscription. I like your suggestion very much. Thanks.

Is Lynda.com really that much better than the free tutorials on Adobe.tv ?

I am not a pro but the Adobe free stuff is pretty good IMHO.

For those who are just starting to learn PP then YouTube is their best friend.

wornish said:

Is Lynda.com really that much better than the free tutorials on Adobe.tv ?

I am not a pro but the Adobe free stuff is pretty good IMHO.

For those who are just starting to learn PP then YouTube is their best friend.

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Youtube videos are a great start, no doubt... The courses on Lynda.com though are just that: Courses. It's a series of videos, often several hours in length, that have a common core and build on one another. The courses are cohesive which is what I really like about them. Youtube videos got me comfortable with PS, but the videos on Lynda are what brought it all together for me and really taught me how to USE Photoshop and ACR, both. There are also courses on things like composition, understanding color, shooting in black and white and so forth.

You probably have to pay $25 up front, but Lynda.com offers a 10-day free trial. That's plenty of time to figure out it if it's worth to you or not. I, like Jake, get the basic, $25 a month membership just every so often. I'll then download/stockpile a bunch of videos to tide me over, not renew my subscription and then check back in a few months to see what's new and exciting.
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wornish said:

Is Lynda.com really that much better than the free tutorials on Adobe.tv ?

I am not a pro but the Adobe free stuff is pretty good IMHO.

For those who are just starting to learn PP then YouTube is their best friend.

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Here's the thing, Adobe.tv is very good. But they don't go really deep and you have to search around to get everything. Lynda.com uses many of the same people as Adobe.tv (Juliana Kost among them), and if Adobe's videos are a decent high school education (and they are), Lynda.com is college and post-grad work. Courses run 3-8 hours instead of 40-50 minutes. They really go into understanding things.

I've said it before, use Firefox and something called Downloadhelper. You can actually save the videos and watch them at your convenience (hence my 2X a year philosophy). I will say this, KelbyOne at the same yearly price is a joke comparatively, even if they throw in the exercise files and a magazine 10X a year. The Best training resource out there, and photography is only one of a myriad of things they have classes on. I'm hitting them up again over the weekend for some Wordpress stuff to get my website back on its feet.

BackdoorHippie said:

Here's the thing, Adobe.tv is very good. But they don't go really deep and you have to search around to get everything. Lynda.com uses many of the same people as Adobe.tv (Juliana Kost among them), and if Adobe's videos are a decent high school education (and they are), Lynda.com is college and post-grad work. Courses run 3-8 hours instead of 40-50 minutes. They really go into understanding things.

I've said it before, use Firefox and something called Downloadhelper. You can actually save the videos and watch them at your convenience (hence my 2X a year philosophy). I will say this, KelbyOne at the same yearly price is a joke comparatively, even if they throw in the exercise files and a magazine 10X a year. The Best training resource out there, and photography is only one of a myriad of things they have classes on. I'm hitting them up again over the weekend for some Wordpress stuff to get my website back on its feet.

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I use Lynda the same way you do, Jake, since you're the one who introduced it to me. I figured out how to use Firefox to download the clips, and I have about 15 full lessons on my computer. I just finished watching one this morning. I am logged off of Lynda for now until I catch up. I have learned tons more about Lightroom than I would have by just watching Adobe TV. I just want to say thanks again for directing me to a great learning aide. You're awesome dude! You know just how to help me spend my money! Oz

It looks as if they used a reverse radial (dark colored) gradient set to soft light with a vibrance/saturation adjustment to mute the colors. They used a radial mask so that most of the subjects weren't affected. Then they used (what looks to me) a white/muted yellow radial gradient set to soft light with a low opacity. An inverted copy of the mask was used for this layer. If I have time I will edit the photo and create a link to the PSD file to show the process.

*edit*

Here's the link... https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=608B3EE84D78E8AE!515
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BackdoorHippie said:

I've said it before, use Firefox and something called Downloadhelper. You can actually save the videos and watch them at your convenience (hence my 2X a year philosophy).

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I've used Lynda.com, on and off, for years but didn't know about this trick. As I have a current month membership due to expire in a few days I though I'd try it this morning. Unfortunately, it didn't work as according to the on screen message, FireFox is no longer a supported browser. Maybe Lynda.com got wise to the trick? I used the latest version of Firefox & Downloadhelper on a Win 8 machine.

EDIT: Chrome + VideoDownload Helper seems to work.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...helper/mnkioblodjcgkdailhejgcocjkkoochj?hl=en

Glevum Owl said:

I've used Lynda.com, on and off, for years but didn't know about this trick. As I have a current month membership due to expire in a few days I though I'd try it this morning. Unfortunately, it didn't work as according to the on screen message, FireFox is no longer a supported browser. Maybe Lynda.com got wise to the trick? I used the latest version of Firefox & Downloadhelper on a Win 8 machine.

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Working this morning for me on my Mac.

BackdoorHippie said:

Working this morning for me on my Mac.

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Edited my post with a solution for us 'poor' Windows users. ;-)