The demystification of dave hill! let's all help!

[OperaFan1981]

I am in. I would like to find out how Mr. Hill does his processing.

--Ron
www.ronaldntan.com

[des151]

Gerry,
Does this help? www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157594577686705/
Ray

[superkoax]

no, did not help me...have seen that months ago...why use higpass filter to get dave hill effect? I want to know how he really does his HDR picture and get them so clean...

Gerry

[superkoax]

I'm trying to acvhieve hdr, but I have come to the conclusion that you need balanced light in the picture...the difference between dark and light is really destroyd when shados are being lightened...


Gerry

[Calvinhollywood]

Words from Dave Hill personaly:

Hi guys,
Wow, I'm flattered by all this talk! I'm glad some of you like my work. I really can't share much about specifics, and I'm not a photoshop guru, but I am definitely down to discuss. I haven't used HDR or that tone-mapping stuff. I just recently heard about it, and it seems you need to bracket your images to do it well. That would be almost impossible when shooting humans! :-) In terms of cameras, depending on the budget, I use canon digitals and H1's; all prime lenses. Canons are SOOO fun and easy to shoot with, but the H1 files are crisp, edge to edge, and print bigger. Kinda a trade off. I'm a big fan of using lights, and I'd say the primary factor of how my images look is the lighting setup. Photoshop is of course crucial as well, but you gotta have a clean raw file to begin with. Too much processing can give you nasty digital grain, halos, all that stuff, which may look good on Flickr, but when printed on paper for a portfolio that an art director sees, looks like junk. I would totally suggest that new photogs spend less time on PS and more time shooting and playing with lights, and learning how to direct their subjects. As to the comment about $50k shoots... haha... that made me laugh. For sure my budgets have been getting bigger, but a lot of the stuff on my site paid peanuts. You really have to work your butt off; lots of sweat, set-building, hauling lights all over the place, day after day, for at least a few years etc. But that's part of the adventure, right!? Let me know if u guys have any more questions. Thanks!

lg Calvin

[cspringer]

As he mentions, Dave definitely depends on lighting for his fantastic images but for those that don't have that option you can easily get lighting effects in PS. I used my Illustrated Look on this flat image.

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/cri...t-attempt.html

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...rapplegate.gif

Tonemapping? That is basically making lights darker and darks lighter so even though you might not be familiar with the term we have all used it.
Do you need a 3rd party plugin such as Photomatix or Lucisart? No... but they can produce the exact same effect as PS filters so just because someone doesn't use them doesn't mean they should be ruled out when asked, "How do they do that?". The better question is, "How can I get this look?" because there are many ways to get the exact same results in photoshop.

You might want to make a Contrast Mask action which is a tonemapping technique. This example is not a finished edit but only meant to show an instant edit that is a good beginning to the process. Notice how the original top triangle is Dark and the bottom triangle is Light. My contrast mask action reverses the luminosity.
Note how the (overexposed) shirt and right cheek now have more detail and the (underexposed) hair is brought out.
As with many tonemapping techniques, you need to correct for halos. I set my action up with the Gaussian Blur filter at the bottom to control the effect.

You can google instructions but this is how I made my action...
1. MERGE to NEW Layer (This allows you to run the action at anytime in the editing process vs. Copy background layer which many tutorials recommend).
2.Desaturate
3. Invert
4. Set to OVERLAY
5. Gaussian Blur

[ikagami]

Originally Posted by OperaFan1981

I am in. I would like to find out how Mr. Hill does his processing.

--Ron
www.ronaldntan.com

why...why...One Dave Hill is enough...
please try to work out your own style and dont's copy

but...if you like Dave Hill, take a look at this dutch photographer
www.erwinolaf.com

[OperaFan1981]

I am aware of Mr. Olaf. I like his dark photos. =)

Regards,

RNT

[superkoax]

aaah...good old erwin! Love his lighting! his work is all ny the lights!
Well I can say, find my style don't copy, but why not learn something on the way by trying different styles??? I have learned so much by trying other styles...When I'm good enough I think my style will come


gerry


CALVIN: where did he post that?

[superkoax]

I'm still trying

[pellepiano]

That looks great. Nice edit. Like it alot.

[skydog]

So a question for Dave Hill...what specific lights are you using for your shoots? What is in your "light bag".

I agree with Superkoax. To learn the methodology of all styles just expands one's understanding of the possiblities..whether it is hill, olaf, fiscus or others. I know we've talked about many photographers/artists in the past and I have yet seen a post that's nailed the methodology to anyone of them. Thanks for the challenging questions and discussions Superkoax.

[pellepiano]

There are many examples of the lighting in the Behind The Scenes section of Hills site. He always seem to use a ring flash, either on the lens or even off the lens ( someone else just holding it ).

[superkoax]

Pelle: Tack så mycke/thank you so much
SKYdog: thank you for replying, yes to achieve greatness is to learn from the greats! Why not dare yourself in a journey trough others...I think it's one of the best ways to learn, because you get to visualize your target and that is important to me...How can learn I from my self? I don't know what style I want?! Therefor the journey is important...

Gerry

[superkoax]

I think this works a bit better...A bit more "framed in"...maybe towards the "dave hill feel"?


gerry