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

[bob.depalmo]

What is up retouchpro.com. I am new to the forum. I have been reading through all the pages on this thread and have to agree that majority of the look is coming from the lighting setup. Here is a 4 point light setup that I did just messing around a while back. If anyone wants to give it a shot processing it go for it!

[longside1]

Hi bob,

If you could provide a link to the original RAW then I'd have a play. If you want to acheive a Dave Hill look then you aren't goingto get anywhere with a jpeg...

Very kind of you to provide the file though :-)

[gamedonechanged]

Second the request for a RAW.

:-)

[bimbo]

Originally Posted by bob.depalmo

What is up retouchpro.com. I am new to the forum. I have been reading through all the pages on this thread and have to agree that majority of the look is coming from the lighting setup. Here is a 4 point light setup that I did just messing around a while back. If anyone wants to give it a shot processing it go for it!

http://www.bobdepalmo.com/test1.jpg

What's wrong with the processing in the way it looks now? It's freakin' awesome in my opinion.

[bob.depalmo]

Originally Posted by bimbo

What's wrong with the processing in the way it looks now? It's freakin' awesome in my opinion.

Wow, thank you for the compliment. I played with the image slightly with some contrast adjustment and adding light rays coming from the lights above the stove and sink. Everything else is pretty much OOC. Here is another one, I shot it with two monolights, one in an octabox and another in a 22" beauty dish, I used a ring flash for fill.

[longside1]

Originally Posted by bob.depalmo

Wow, thank you for the compliment. I played with the image slightly with some contrast adjustment and adding light rays coming from the lights above the stove and sink. Everything else is pretty much OOC. Here is another one, I shot it with two monolights, one in an octabox and another in a 22" beauty dish, I used a ring flash for fill.

http://www.bobdepalmo.com/WTF!bathroom.jpg

Nice shot but I would have preferred to have seen it without any pp, as the current processing is nothing like Dave Hill.

[bimbo]

Originally Posted by longside1

Nice shot but I would have preferred to have seen it without any pp, as the current processing is nothing like Dave Hill.

That's true longside, and of course this thread is all about the Dave Hill style. But on the other hand, I think bob has a nice style in his post production. I think the kitchen table picture looks much better than the bathroom picture though.

Isn't it better to develop a unique style which may resemble the illustrated DH/Greenberg/whoever-look but with a personal touch? At least I'd be happy if I had managed to do that.

I'm kind of learning right now, and have a long way to go, but this is my last try: http://www.markusp.se/dampic03.jpg
I didn't shoot this photo, only did the pp. I think this result lacks that crispy sharp feeling to it, but as said, I'm working on it.

[longside1]

Originally Posted by bimbo

That's true longside, and of course this thread is all about the Dave Hill style. But on the other hand, I think bob has a nice style in his post production. I think the kitchen table picture looks much better than the bathroom picture though.

Isn't it better to develop a unique style which may resemble the illustrated DH/Greenberg/whoever-look but with a personal touch? At least I'd be happy if I had managed to do that.

I'm kind of learning right now, and have a long way to go, but this is my last try: http://www.markusp.se/dampic03.jpg
I didn't shoot this photo, only did the pp. I think this result lacks that crispy sharp feeling to it, but as said, I'm working on it.

I totally agree, everybody should strive for their own personal style.

However, what happens when a clients says: "I've seen the work of this guy called Dave Hill, I want my photos to look like that"

Whilst you could offer them your own personal take, however you're working for the client not yourself.

And, like you said, this thread is about trying to acheive the Dave Hill look, not your own version of it! :-)

[bob.depalmo]

Originally Posted by longside1

I totally agree, everybody should strive for their own personal style.

However, what happens when a clients says: "I've seen the work of this guy called Dave Hill, I want my photos to look like that"

Whilst you could offer them your own personal take, however you're working for the client not yourself.

And, like you said, this thread is about trying to acheive the Dave Hill look, not your own version of it! :-)

*If a client that was worth a half of a shit wanted the work of Dave Hill they would probably contact his booking agency and have him booked for a shoot. Not you!

*If you look at DH's right hand guys ie: Rian Flynn, Caleb Kuhl, Neil Visel. Their shit looks nothing like him and they are directly working with him. Why? because unless they have the ability to hop inside his fucking body and mind, they are themselves. So no one, and I mean no one on this forum's shit looks anywhere near his work.

*In regards to this thread being about "trying to achieve the dave hill look". I read all 70 something pages of this thread and can honestly say that most of you people still don't get what he is doing. Everyone thinks that there is some fucking magic key and there isn't. Lighting (MOST IMPORTANT), Compositing, and tedious post work consisting of local contrast, d&b, selective sharpening, and desaturation. Camera equipment? (5dmkii, wide lenses ie: ef 28mm 1.8, sigma 20mm. Not even going to touch on lighting equipment.

** With that being said, I will not be posting in this thread any further as the bickering and vaginal secretion that I have had the pleasure of reading for the last 70 pages is ridiculous. Best of luck to you folks (your gonna need it!).

[longside1]

Originally Posted by bob.depalmo

*If a client that was worth a half of a shit wanted the work of Dave Hill they would probably contact his booking agency and have him booked for a shoot. Not you!

*If you look at DH's right hand guys ie: Rian Flynn, Caleb Kuhl, Neil Visel. Their shit looks nothing like him and they are directly working with him. Why? because unless they have the ability to hop inside his fucking body and mind, they are themselves. So no one, and I mean no one on this forum's shit looks anywhere near his work.

*In regards to this thread being about "trying to achieve the dave hill look". I read all 70 something pages of this thread and can honestly say that most of you people still don't get what he is doing. Everyone thinks that there is some fucking magic key and there isn't. Lighting (MOST IMPORTANT), Compositing, and tedious post work consisting of local contrast, d&b, selective sharpening, and desaturation. Camera equipment? (5dmkii, wide lenses ie: ef 28mm 1.8, sigma 20mm. Not even going to touch on lighting equipment.

** With that being said, I will not be posting in this thread any further as the bickering and vaginal secretion that I have had the pleasure of reading for the last 70 pages is ridiculous. Best of luck to you folks (your gonna need it!).

If you're not interested in acheiving the look yourself why bother reading through the full 70 pages or did you just do all that reading to come back and slag a load of folk off? Seems a bit sad really!

Anyway, good to see you won't be 'contributing' to this thread anymore!

[bimbo]

Originally Posted by bob.depalmo

*If a client that was worth a half of a shit wanted the work of Dave Hill they would probably contact his booking agency and have him booked for a shoot. Not you!

*If you look at DH's right hand guys ie: Rian Flynn, Caleb Kuhl, Neil Visel. Their shit looks nothing like him and they are directly working with him. Why? because unless they have the ability to hop inside his fucking body and mind, they are themselves. So no one, and I mean no one on this forum's shit looks anywhere near his work.

*In regards to this thread being about "trying to achieve the dave hill look". I read all 70 something pages of this thread and can honestly say that most of you people still don't get what he is doing. Everyone thinks that there is some fucking magic key and there isn't. Lighting (MOST IMPORTANT), Compositing, and tedious post work consisting of local contrast, d&b, selective sharpening, and desaturation. Camera equipment? (5dmkii, wide lenses ie: ef 28mm 1.8, sigma 20mm. Not even going to touch on lighting equipment.

** With that being said, I will not be posting in this thread any further as the bickering and vaginal secretion that I have had the pleasure of reading for the last 70 pages is ridiculous. Best of luck to you folks (your gonna need it!).

Well, most of the stuff above has been said over and over again. A lot of people seem to know that, but NO ONE has written anything that resembles a tutorial of the "correct" workflow in the post production to achieve the DH look, which should be the goal here since this site is called RETOUCH PRO and not LIGHTING PRO...

And yep, with that attitude you're probably better off in another forum. I believe the topic of this thread also contains the words "Let's all help!". I can't see how any of that offensive cursing and disparaging stuff would be helpful to anyone here who tries to develop their skills and shares their result for feedback and tips.

I agree with the "ridiculous" part, and it's posts like the one you wrote that contributes to it. Since you seem to know what it's all about, and no one else does, either share your tips or go look for another forum.

IMHO, a lot of people are very very good at saying stuff like "That's not the Dave Hill look, looks nothing like his work, you're no good, no one knows what they're talking about". That's not one bit constructive and only contributes to a negative atmosphere... I don't know the exact workflow, but at least I've contributed with what i DO know. If it just gives you a good laugh and thinks I'm an idiot for trying, so be it, but that should not be the general attitude in this type of forum. It should be a meeting place for people who are willing to help others!

[wojciech]

I agree with you bimbo 100%

[vertion]

I came across this thread and had a quick try at it. I have no idea how I got this picture, anyhow.. it was fun. Took about 5 minutes in PS, no plugins, no brushwork. Left is before, right is after.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/...c4b4cd48_o.png

[Aether]

Not to pile it on, but I also agree with bimbo. Posting a couple cheesy pics, and then berating everyone just trying to learn some new techniques isn't contributing.

By the way, Calvin has a good guest blog on Scott Kelby's blog that has some very useful tools towards getting this look.

[vertion]

This is fun, thought I'd have another go at it. Some random pic I used, before (left) and after (right).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/...d20dd09d_o.png

[michaelbs]

wow Vertion...how did you do that?

[bimbo]

Originally Posted by vertion

This is fun, thought I'd have another go at it. Some random pic I used, before (left) and after (right).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/...d20dd09d_o.png

Looks like a step in the right direction. Might be a technique to implement in the workflow. Only five minutes? Can't be that much to write down and post right here then...

[creativeretouch]

vertion, I hope you do not mind I have used your picture ... if yes, I will delete this post.

http://creativeretoucher.com/test.zip

I tried to get a similar look to Dave Hill's school picture (I guess ...) which is on his index page and is the first picture from second bottom line

He is using same or very similar lighting all the time and your picture has slightly different lighting but it is a nice and well exposed shot so I have found it to be fine for my test.

I did not use D&B technique - I have used luminosity masks instead. Critique is welcome

[vertion]

Originally Posted by michaelbs

wow Vertion...how did you do that?

I will refine my current technique and put up a TUTORIAL (with psd) when I can, which is different than anything I've seen online as far as I can tell : no lum masks, no direct DnB, no high pass.. lol, no surface sharpening AKA reverse surface blur/clarity/calvin's-freaky-detail which is a variation on other LCE techniques like lucis/topaz (had to clear that up). I'll be posting here my progress as I close in with precision. I was also thinking of trying to demystify wenspic's OPT (typical LCE) as well and posting my results on that (that is, if I have to figure it out on my own I will post it). I used efg's Pixel Profiler to analyze such photos.

From my analysis so far, in my opinion, DH is not a single technique, which obviously does use the light setup for a great deal of the contrasty 'look', but this in itself doesn't create anything too out of the ordinary (others do that as well).. his 'contrasting' post work is also not a single technique and what he employs varies from picture to picture as appropriate (just like any good post work). So I will expose the multiple techniques I have found to recreate the 'look', and pardon my monitor which needs calibration. Here is the efg's Pixel Profiler if you want to compare his photo patterns with normal photo patterns in more detail.

http://www.efg2.com/Lab/ImageProcess...xelProfile.htm

[longside1]

Hi guys,

Just finished this shot. subject was lit with four flash, and backlit with sun. Lots of post work. I''d be intrested to hear your thoughts, good and bad.

Incidentally, the psd looks miles better than the shit jpeg conversion!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/...8b527e59_b.jpg

[bimbo]

This can't be described other than fantastic, great work! From lighting to PP, very good work! =) If you did it all, you're great! keep it up and i hope you'll post a few tips!

[longside1]

Hi bimbo, thanks for the kind comments. Yes, it was all my own work

[vertion]

OPT:
In my opinion, OPT from my 'observation' is simply use of some of MediaChance's software, it should replicate the results exactly. Sometimes it also involves a little touchup for highlights and over-contrasted areas, but that's all to it that I can see.

DHill:
The primary technique that seems to go the distance for me is simply to build up the light from black (or vice versa) using copies of the original and masks. I'll be posting some example results of this technique. If there are any photos you want me to try it on (and the lighting isn't too shabby), I am willing to demonstrate on a couple.

[vertion]

Attached is a quick example I implemented of the technique I was writing about. Took about 10 minutes, available light only, NO plugins, no DnB, and easy.

[bimbo]

Originally Posted by vertion

Attached is a quick example I implemented of the technique I was writing about. Took about 10 minutes, available light only, NO plugins, no DnB, and easy.

Cool result with so little effort! Can you give us a step by step?

[vertion]

Thank you! Right now I'm perfecting my technique and trying different things. If i release a step by step, I'll do it in a tutorial. I'll keep you posted.

[warrenj]

Nice work vertion, would love to see a tutorial from you.


Love your work too Lonside, very professional.

[longside1]

Originally Posted by warrenj

Nice work vertion, would love to see a tutorial from you.


Love your work too Lonside, very professional.

Thanks Warren.

@ Vertion, it is an interesting look that you have achievd there, and kudos for managing it in very little time. As I'm sure you will accept, your image in its current state is only a small step in the direction of Dave Hill. It will be interesting to see what your shot looks like after more detailed post work.

Regards,

[VS387]

Hello Everyone,

First post here and enjoying a great thread with great information. I too (as have many others) have always enjoyed the DH style of processing. Have never found anything remotely resembling a workflow to achieve it online as you all well know. But i have been experimenting over the last few years and have developed my own take on his style. While nothing like DH, I'm glad i found his style of processing which helped me in developing my own. Please take a look at a recent photo I took with a lovely model. Please tell me what you think. I'm more than happy to share the process step by step in written form. I'm not a professional just a guy who enjoys photography as a hobby and dabbles in Photoshop CS4. I don't mind sharing the work flow in the hopes that someone might just be able to improve it and share it as well. Feel free to send me a message if anyone's interested in the work flow. Thanks

Rene

[warrenj]

Beautiful work VS387, well done!