Photo Retouching - - The demystification of Jill Greenberg!!!

superkoax · #1 10-31-2007, 06:03 PM

Okey, here is another break into the world of photographer/retoucher who really made her pictures pop out with very nice retouching!

For me, to break down her style, is based only on what I see in her portfolio, so you might disagree with, but please answer and share your opinion or even your own retouching!

Her studio lighting is of most importance here. The studio lights adds the dynamic within the highlights...I would go and say she is the soft version of Dave Hill or maybe Dave Hill is the hard version of Jill Greenberg!
Soft highlights, skin plus some funny or odd facial expressions ...This is what I have come up with so far! But I will add my try to achieve some of here style...just for kicks!

Jill Greenberg is also known for here provocative series where kids are crying! She admitted on tv that to make the kids cry, they gave the kids lollipops and took the lollipos away to make them cry! This is something that I think is to go a bit over the boarder of creating appealing pictures...

actually I have tried to copy her kid pictures before...just by retouching

see her:

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/pho...lookalike.html

Let's all chip in with wisdom and knowledge to shed more light on this!

here is the link to the psd file of the picture here...

http://in.solit.us/archives/download/88896

high res version of the original image

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/505715

cheers

Gerry

pellepiano · #2 10-31-2007, 07:15 PM

Heres my try ... or version ...

superkoax · #3 10-31-2007, 07:31 PM

very nice, pelle...but not so Jill? Found the overall feeling and tone some what strange/odd(in a good way)...so a nice example of your arsenal!

pixeltek · #4 10-31-2007, 08:55 PM

here's one i had done awhile ago...different pic but was going for jill-style...

pellepiano · #5 11-01-2007, 05:46 AM

Nice.

Yes its easier when you can control the lighting yourself. I also did some sort of Greenberg shots a while ago.

thumbslinger · #6 11-01-2007, 12:08 PM

Pellapiano-
I loved your first example, even better than Jill's general look. Your's approached that boundry between an illustrated look and photog but not quite hyper-real.

Anyway, just wanted to add that.

palms1 · #7 11-01-2007, 03:50 PM

Gerry
I am posting this image so that i can stop looking at it and "fiddling" with it, I know i am not going to get anyway near the other posters but i have tried in fact i have been trying all afternoon and that is it now, think i will head on back to the photo art forum

I think your demystification threads are a brilliant idea and i do have a good read of them

Pelle Piano I really like your work

Palms

Peter S · #8 11-01-2007, 04:37 PM

I thought I'd join in with this one as well.

Peter

superkoax · #9 11-01-2007, 04:49 PM

PELLE: nice photos! This portray more of your style then Jill, your style is more upfront and this style fits your pictures in a nice way!

PALMS: Thanks for your words! The picture you posted is a bit blurred in the skin, but the feeling is nice!

PETER: Thanks for replying! Your picture is as same as mine, not sharp enough! i miss more highlight details here!

nevie · #10 11-01-2007, 06:34 PM

Her work is mostly about the lighting. She uses at several lights on the faces of her subjects. Her retouching is to make the people look, shiny or fake. She spends tons of time retouching to get that specific look. Pellepiano's lighting situtation is close to her lighting but you made is your own.

Peter S · #11 11-01-2007, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superkoax

PELLE: nice photos! This portray more of your style then Jill, your style is more upfront and this style fits your pictures in a nice way!

PALMS: Thanks for your words! The picture you posted is a bit blurred in the skin, but the feeling is nice!

PETER: Thanks for replying! Your picture is as same as mine, not sharp enough! i miss more highlight details here!

Sure your right, not as sharp as it could have been, but the pic I worked from was rather small so a lot of detail was lost. You need to be a member of Stock exchange to get the large original, and I'm not.

Peter

pixelzombie · #12 11-01-2007, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pellepiano

Heres my try ... or version ...

i really like this version better than jills, hopefully you'll explain some of the steps involved...

RossF · #13 11-02-2007, 01:38 AM

Yes, pellepiano, can you please explain how you did your first example? How did you get that glow/sheen on the skin, it's hard to imagine that it could be done with just dodging and burning...

pellepiano · #14 11-02-2007, 06:05 AM

I mostly painted with white ( wacom bamboo tablet ) on a layer set to Overlay which is kind of burning. I also added a new layer with a more brown skin tone and lowered the reds in the original. Jill Greenberg has the most fantastic skintones imo, I would love to know how she does it.

edgework · #15 11-02-2007, 08:30 AM

Well, if the consensus is that Greenberg starts with multiple lights to capture all the subtle contours of a face, could there possibly have been a worse image to start with, here? This is the textbook example of flat lighting.

Also, the kid's just so happy. Much more activity in the face muscles with crying babies, many more contours to capture.

That said, I tortured him into a semblance of shape and detail, though Greenberg's skin tones eluded me. They're amazingly cold, but so full of life.

http://edgework.tripod.com/samples/fauxGreenberg.jpg