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

[fxphoto]

Just put them together for comparison.

[fxphoto]

I gave it a try. Background is a HDR. Subject photographed with three flashes. Processed in CS5. what you think?

[longside1]

Originally Posted by fxphoto

I gave it a try. Background is a HDR. Subject photographed with three flashes. Processed in CS5. what you think?

Very dirty / grungy appearance to the skin tones. Looks like over use of Lucis.

[fxphoto]

I toned the grunge down a bit but the contrast has gone down too. Needs more work.

[CaptainHook]

http://vimeo.com/26297793

[moroj82]

Originally Posted by reko

this seems to be only for cs 2 and 3
for cs 4 or 5, nothing ?

fantastic program, but does anyone know how it generates the 'enhanced' edge masks that picks up background edges of things like clouds etc.

I tried my own method using find edges, desaturate, curves, maximum, but it's not creating as strong a selection like the enhanced edges mask. I have other areas selected that aren't just the outline edges but also edges of fabric and things like that that I dont want to sharpen.

[julianmarsalis]

http://www.vimeo.com/26297793

Adventure Series - Exposed
by Dave Hill

All 11 images of the Adventure Series are deconstructed.
I had to flatten a lot of the layers, but at least you can get an idea of what goes into each image.
Enjoy!


Man now that is some serious masking and compositeing in each image and what goes into each image is a hell of a lot of work from what I am seeing damn no wonder his stuff is how it is....

[CaptainHook]

@julianmarsalis - yeah i posted that 2 posts above yours. :P

[marioav]

my tryin to achieve dh/jg look. w/o hipass & sharpening.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2739/...61fc877f_z.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/...10583d36_z.jpg

[Boneappetit]

Originally Posted by marioav

my tryin to achieve dh/jg look. w/o hipass & sharpening.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2739/...61fc877f_z.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/...10583d36_z.jpg

Hi marioav: Your attempts are pretty good. But in order to achieve the DH / JG styles, take a look at page 79 of this thread. It has a complete explanation on how it's done... (Although, nobody's results are going to be like DH or JG, maybe similar but not exactly the same)...

[stefandb]

I think this could be very very close to how it is done.
Of course the lighting, as everyone knows by now is of prime importance.
Have a look at this and also check out his channel for more examples.
His name is Kristof Verschueren, from Belgium and he does both the photography and the retouching.
He explains step-by-step.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAroK0FYLuY

this is in 2 parts...as you will see.

Here's another one where he explains how to do it....
http://www.youtube.com/user/kristofl.../8/R00HRyPL_DM

and another step-by-step example one here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/kristofl.../7/YtBL8WuZ8MU

He always shows the RAW image and works from there. Check it out !

[stefandb]

and have a look at his work .....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8379674...n/photostream/

http://www.lookit.be/

[marioav]

Originally Posted by stefandb

and have a look at his work .....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8379674...n/photostream/

http://www.lookit.be/

i dislike his work — it looks very dirty.
dave hill makes his pictures very delicate and I dont realize it at first sight.
but when I am lookin at works of that man — the 1st thing I get — it is dirty non-delicate job. Sometimes it interesting but mostly not.

[santoro80]

After looking at the "adventure exposed" video I can see there is no secret... whole trick is in compositing. The individual layers by its self looks pretty normal. His look is created by lighting and VERY complex compositing which adds depth to the image. There is really nothing else in it. I can see it now.

[ShadowLight]

Dave Hill: - "All 11 images of the Adventure Series are deconstructed.
I had to flatten a lot of the layers, but at least you can get an idea of what goes into each image.
Enjoy!"

http://vimeo.com/26297793

[JohnnyL]

Finally dave made a video... http://youtu.be/zSGY_N2Z_y0

Now please stop posting over sharpened, poor light, high pass images.

This video is over an hour worth of great information and you can see his lights

[noypi]

Thanks for the link, JohnnyL

[Fadewoodarts]

It has been a long time since I have posted on this thread, but I would like to say that I'm not trying to replicate DH, but I do spend a lot of the same amount of editing time, compositing and all the works on my images how DH does. Check out some of my stuff at http://www.facebook.com/fwstudios

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...96673144_n.jpg

[longside1]

Given that the purpose of this thread is to try and understand how Dave Hill creates his images i.e. lighting and photoshop techiques, what is the point of posting an image, which you admit is nothing like the work of Dave Hill (and i agree, it isn't)? How does that help demistify his work flow?

[Boneappetit]

Take look on page 79 of this thread, it explains how is done !!!

[longside1]

No offence meant but what is the point of providing a workflow if it doesn't acheive the Dave Hill look? i still don't know why you posted your image.

[Boneappetit]

Originally Posted by longside1

No offence meant but what is the point of providing a workflow if it doesn't acheive the Dave Hill look? i still don't know why you posted your image.

My image was posted before the explanation, because I was looking for the same thing... I meant Robert Randall's explanation not mine...

[longside1]

Originally Posted by Boneappetit

My image was posted before the explanation, because I was looking for the same thing... I meant Robert Randall's explanation not mine...

okay, no probs. i still don't see the point of posting images if you're not trying to acheive the Dave Hill look. Why not just start another thread!?

[=)JC]

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/pho...t-randall.html

And here are the thread with the pics of luminocity masks from tutorial at page 79, by the way.

[Boneappetit]

Originally Posted by longside1

okay, no probs. i still don't see the point of posting images if you're not trying to acheive the Dave Hill look. Why not just start another thread!?

I still don't see that you don't see my point. That's what i said, I posted my image because I was trying to get the look, then someone posted the article by Robert Randall, which is the one i was making reference...

[noypi]

Can anyone post an image based on page 79 or based on the article by Robert Randall

Thanks

[longside1]

Originally Posted by Boneappetit

I still don't see that you don't see my point. That's what i said, I posted my image because I was trying to get the look, then someone posted the article by Robert Randall, which is the one i was making reference...

Boneappetit, please accept my apologies, i was confusing you with fadewoods earlier in the thread! Cheers

[Fadewoodarts]

I guess I'm a dumbass for posting like that.. my apologies!

My point is, I don't think anyone will ever achieve Dave Hill's master work, so my advice for everyone is to just do what you can with what you got, and create an awesome style of your own, even if it is similar.

[PhotoHobo]

Alright y'all I'm new here, and I haven't really read much of this thread, but I can tell people are still confused.

I'm more curious about Dave Hill's backgrounds than anything. Does anybody know how to add atmospheric haze and flares to landscapes like Dave does? Look at the background in this shot: http://www.davehillphoto.com/commerc...ord-Fusion.jpg

It's hazy, and dreamy. The first think I think of is when you bring up the lightness under hue/saturation, but it's definitely not that simple. Check out how it fades in to nothing in the background. Does anybody have any tips on how to do this?

Also this photo: http://www.davehillphoto.com/commerc...-Kate-Tong.jpg
And this one: http://www.davehillphoto.com/commercial/#19
And a bunch of others in his current portfolio, the lens flare clearly isn't real flare, but it looks so seamless.

Any tips on either of these techniques? I think they contribute to Dave's style more than his contrasty lighting.

[kkamin]

As a designer, I see him using the fogged background or flared background as a way to separate the subject from the background. Since his depth of field is infinite, he cannot use that as a technique for separation.

You can tell that his fogging of the background was done selectively. In the urban scene, he probably created a radial gradient to somewhat simulate the effect of the fog getting stronger in Z space. And then tweaked it by hand. It's not perfect and you can tell the most important thing was to get an almost pure white behind the subject's head. I think it's win-win, because it achieves separation of the subject and emphasis on the subject, while adding atmosphere to his images.

On a side note. This thread is kind of old, and when I look at his images now they look too 'illustrative' to me. I'm kind of sick of this look. I prefer:

http://joelgrimes.com/3/artist.asp?A...&Akey=P7FJP8B4

Joel Grimes achieves a similar look and he's probably buds with Dave Hill, but he doesn't push the look as far, and I think he's a better photographer overall too. Just my opinion.