bright / white skin like Kristian Schuller

[Linkin]

Hey guys,

for a while I´m trying to figure out how to get such a bright, almost white skin like Kristian Schuller in most of his pictures, without letting it look too unnatural or just sick.

I tried several things from pulling out the black of the reds in color correction, to duplicating a b/w layer and playing with the layer styles arround. But it always looks kind of weird and very uneven.

Maybe you have another way to go there, that I do not know. Would appreciate every kind of help!

here is a link to Kristian Schullers Website

http://www.kristianschuller.com/flash_start.php

examples under : fashion -> vogue hellas
advertising -> eva padberg
advertising -> bng paris


Thank you,
Linkin

[andyong]

for bright almost white skin in her color photograph right? not the BW.
you can try hue/sat:
in the Output Chanel MASTER, decrease the saturation -30 to -60 (to your taste).
in the Output Chanel RED, increase the brightness +20 to +50

it will be more easier to find the method if you gave us a sample image to work with, because each picture will need different way to touch.

[Gobsmacked]

I'm only a novice at this game but if you want to add glow . Ctrl click on thr Blue Channel to select the Hilights . On a new layer fill selection with white , blur and adjust opacity . Bill

[igot2pman]

I think the editing is done by her sister Peggy Schuller. Click studio (top right) and Peggy style and Kristian photography.

But eather way both photography and editing here is top notch. Everything seems to be spot on. I see a lot of wide angle and gel color stobes, along with vibrent shiny things.

You could also make the image B&W with a layer and then reduce the opacity or use a mask; along with the desaturation. Just an idea, i'll do some testing...

-Keven

[Linkin]

hey thanks for the answers so far. peggy schuller is his wife and working as a stylist. i guess he has a personal retoucher working in his studio.

@gobsmacked - i dont really want to have a shine

@igot2pman - already tried to play with a black and white layer and layer styles or opacity but i quickly loose any kind of natural texture. in his pictures it still looks kind of natural even if the skin is white

[Mandos]

Hi there,

A good method could be to go to the channels and select the whole red channel (ctrl + a) copy and paste back to a new layer and then set the layer mode to "negative multiplication". Sorry I am working in german version so pls be generous if the translations are incorrect.

[Tareq]

Do you have an original sample that you would like to work on? i want to try this retouch myself and see the result.

[amica999]

Originally Posted by Mandos

Hi there,

A good method could be to go to the channels and select the whole red channel (ctrl + a) copy and paste back to a new layer and then set the layer mode to "negative multiplication". Sorry I am working in german version so pls be generous if the translations are incorrect.

That would be "screen" Welcome, Mandos, nice to jump in with advice

[Mandos]

Thx for the warm welcome Amica999

But isn´t "screen" what is called in german "ineinanderkopieren" as in copy? See dramatized effect in my example

Cheers Mandos

[amica999]

Originally Posted by Mandos

Thx for the warm welcome Amica999

But isn´t "screen" what is called in german "ineinanderkopieren" as in copy? See dramatized effect in my example

Cheers Mandos

No, that would be overlay :-)
http://www.drweb.de/magazin/photoshop-englisch-deutsch/
Just in case

Blending Modes: Füllmethoden
Normal Normal
Dissolve Sprenkeln
Multiply Multiplizieren
Screen Negativ multiplizieren
Overlay Überlagern (früher: Ineinanderkopieren)
Soft Light Weiches Licht
Hard Light Hartes Licht
Color Dodge Farbig abwedeln
Color Burn Farbig nachbelichten
Darken Abdunkeln
Lighten Aufhellen
Difference Differenz
Exclusion Ausschluss
Hue Farbton
Saturation Sättigung
Color Farbe
Luminosity Luminanz
Linear Burn Linear nachbelichten
Linear Dodge Linear abwedeln
Vivid Light Strahlendes Licht
Linear Light Lineares Licht
Pin Light Lichtpunkte

[Linkin]

wow the effect is really nice. in this example it it of course too much but going down with the opacity is not a big problem. did you just copied the one red channel and applied it on screen modus?

[Mandos]

@Linkin
Yes that's the way I did it! I ended up adding a quick 'n dirty mask to reveal the original red of the lips some red in the hair and the makeup of the eyes. Five minutes work

@amica999
Thank you very much for the helpful translation link. I didn´t even know such a needfull thing existed

[amica999]

Mando, you are more than welcome. I often get confused reading GERMAN tutorials

[igot2pman]

Took a while, but its close. Picture is from an old thread from RTP.

The its not B&W, its peach-ish. I used my own version of what Mandos did. I chose to darken the shadows as the example pictures also did.

-Keven

[Tareq]

My turn on that last post shot link.

[igot2pman]

Tareq,

I like what you did here. Can you go a little into how a achieved your version.

Just curious,
-Keven

[Gobsmacked]

Keven , sorry to be so stooopid ! What is a Degrunge layer ? Bill

[Mandos]

I had a go at the example pic as well

[Mandos]

I am pretty impressed by Tareqs pic as well. How did you get there? Can´t be only highpass and sharpening?

Cheers Mandos

[Tareq]

OK friends,

First of all i didn't use highpass at all, in fact i don't like the effect of highpass.

OK, i will tell you what i did but not sure exactly what i did completely.

1. Duplicate or create new layer
2. Desaturate the photo by any way you choose [Desaturation, B&W, Channel Mixer,...]
3. Change the layer mode to Overlay
4. Play with Opacity, good between 60-80%
I like the effect in this level, but you can do more if you want
5. Repeat the above steps if you want more, if enough then go move to following steps
6. Play with curves and levels and contrast to add more punch for details and also to balance the exposure little bit maybe
7. You can add Shadows/Highlights to above step for more option
8. If details are too much, then i use Noise Reduction, with that i achieve 2 things:
a- Eliminate Noise if shown.
b- Reduce the details on the face.
9. If the details are good enough without noise reduction and you want to add more then do the opposite, add Sharpness t a limit to bring some details as you want.

10. Last step [Can't remember if i use this step as last or after step 4, just you can try both ways] i go to Hue/Saturation, then i reduce the saturation of Master to -50 for overall, then i can play with Red channel to reduce the reddish cast on the face, i can see yellowish as well, but you can play with any separate color channel in Saturation option.

Try that and tell me, because i am not good in Photoshop, some can try with dodge&burn, maybe some can use Layer masks for more accuracy, do whatever you can and please tell me, i want to learn as well.

Good luck!

[andyong]

my try .. i dunno if it near to what you lookin' for.

[Tareq]

Originally Posted by andyong

my try .. i dunno if it near to what you lookin' for.

I like your attempt.
It will be kind from you to tell us what you did!

[jcmillerphoto]

Tareq-

I really like your take on this image. Excellent post. Thank you.

Jason

[insmac]

About the Kristian Schuller's work: basically it might be a complex lighting setup using a beauty reflector or even harsh lighting without any diffuser as the key light source. I 'm revealing nothing new, but by using that you end up with bright skin tones and deep blacks which you ca see on the RAW file. With a touch of quality postproduction you can achieve that glamour yet not plastic look.

Otherwise play with blend modes (softlight/overlay/) and apply some adjustment layers (e.g. curves) in order to remove shadows which are too deep, lower down the exposure or do similar things to make the picture look smoother.

Good ol' D&B works well but remember to control color saturation shifts when doing so.

[Tareq]

Originally Posted by jcmillerphoto

Tareq-

I really like your take on this image. Excellent post. Thank you.

Jason

Thank you very much, Jason!

Tareq

[andyong]

Originally Posted by Tareq

I like your attempt.
It will be kind from you to tell us what you did!

Same as i mention earlier in this thread,

Hue/Sat for decreasing Master saturation, increasing RED brightness.

Additional adjustment for more contrast, more sharpening, a little fix on the skin, shadow/highlight.

[igot2pman]

Originally Posted by Gobsmacked

Keven , sorry to be so stooopid ! What is a Degrunge layer ? Bill

It’s a quick easy way to smooth and even skin. Its a lazy mans D&B.

Basically a 2 copy merges of an image, fist one is a type of blur, and the one on top is highpass set to overlay (softL, or vividL).

The blur evens the skin (I used surface blur), and the highpass preserves the skin and other texture. If you do a search, a lot a resources here. and here is a TUTORIAL The quick de-grunge trick. It’s not what I use but it will get you started.

-Keven

[igot2pman]

Originally Posted by andyong

my try .. i dunno if it near to what you lookin' for.

I like what you did too, i was so afraid of blowing the hilights that i stayed conservitive. You walked the line of great hilights.

Good job,
-Keven

[SymbolPhoto]

Can someone give a step by step here. I tried Tareq's method and didn't come anywhere close.

[Tareq]

OK.

1. Image resizing as you want
2. Duplicate layer
3. Image > Adjustments > Desaturate
4. Change Layer mode to Overlay
5. Set the Opacity to 60%
6. Layer > Flatten Image
7. Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. Set "Master"saturation to -30, and then change to "Red" and set to -20 [or as your taste].
8. Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlights. I set Highlights to about 30 and the shadows around 10 or less [again, it is your personal adjustments]
9. Levels [1.10 midtone]
10. Add contrast [Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast (5-10)]
11. I played little with curves, i created S shape just a slightly
12. Watch the colors, if still not good enough or has some casts then you can go back to Hue/Saturation anytime, and now i use PSCS4 i can use Auto Tone which may correct a little.
13. Last step, Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask, set the Amount to 20, and Radius to 200 and Threshold 0, I applied it twice for more punch

Save for web or save as JPEG
Enjoy it!

Tareq

Here is the result:

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/9412/...4122397lo3.jpg

As you can see, it is different than my first try above, just because i was looking to save the details and the highlights on his face, but in the first one i used portraiture for adding that smooth a bit and higher highlights.