http://flickr.com/photos/ybcn99/164294871/

found this set of great pictures...and was wondering if anyone knew how to duplicate this extremely dark look. any help would be really appreciated!

http://www.kineda.com/?p=940

Originated from the above-even the link says it's great DI and PProcessing!

One way to image the technique is to look at the image in reverse. First reduce the saturation. This can be done to the entire image or selectively. In particular you will notice that the red content of the skin has been significantly reduced. Use a curve to lowver the entire brightness level of the image while maintaining reasonale contrast in the range which remains. One technique to try after you lower the saturation and compress the range is to add a new layer above the image, fill it with black in Normal blend mode, then reduce the opacity.
Regards, Murray

One way to image the technique is to look at the image in reverse. First reduce the saturation. This can be done to the entire image or selectively. In particular you will notice that the red content of the skin has been significantly reduced. Use a curve to lowver the entire brightness level of the image while maintaining reasonale contrast in the range which remains. One technique to try after you lower the saturation and compress the range is to add a new layer above the image, fill it with black in Normal blend mode, then reduce the opacity.
Regards, Murray


wow, sounds really simple in theory. am going to try it out!thanks so much for the input :grin:

Just a question-by this-what do you exactly mean?Use a curve to lowver the entire brightness level of the image while maintaining reasonale contrast in the range which remains.-how do i best make use of curves to reduce saturation and take out the reds?

I have attached a couple of snapshots to illustrate. I am not sure what your photoshop skills are but Curves, Levels, and Hue / Saturation Adjustments are some of the fundamental tools you need to have a grasp of to effectively perform image editing. The Hue / Saturation can be used to shifthue or color from one part of the spectrum to another. It can also be used to increase or decrease color intensity of the whole image or just selected color ranges. At the same the lightness level of the image can be adjusted. You can transform the normal image to the moody dark one with just the Hue / Saturation adjustment and by adding a layer (not shown here) and filling it with black and reducing its opacity. There are many other ways to adjust the tone or lightness level and the contrast using curves (example shown) or Levels.
Regards, Murray

I have attached a couple of snapshots to illustrate. I am not sure what your photoshop skills are but Curves, Levels, and Hue / Saturation Adjustments are some of the fundamental tools you need to have a grasp of to effectively perform image editing. The Hue / Saturation can be used to shifthue or color from one part of the spectrum to another. It can also be used to increase or decrease color intensity of the whole image or just selected color ranges. At the same the lightness level of the image can be adjusted. You can transform the normal image to the moody dark one with just the Hue / Saturation adjustment and by adding a layer (not shown here) and filling it with black and reducing its opacity. There are many other ways to adjust the tone or lightness level and the contrast using curves (example shown) or Levels.
Regards, Murray


Yup i understand what is what in photoshop, i just didn't quite understand the part on utilizing curves to relatively maintain contrast while lowering saturation...but after your more through explaination- i get it more now- thanks for explaining this! :pleased:

I'm just wondering how he makes it look so contrasty while it's relatively dark-i never could get that form of moody contrasty look