How do they achieve this look and color?

[mshi]

Hi all,

I am a newbie, and would like to ask all pros here what are the possible ways they might have used in Photoshop for achieving the following look.

Here

and

Here

I am particularly interested in learning how the orange light leak effects on the left side of the frame can be achieved.

Thank you.

Michael

[rooter]

It might not be the answer you want to hear, but you could do that by clicking two buttons in RadLab.

To get orange like that on the left, you could just use a soft air brush with the paint mode set to Color.

[fraiseap]

Ah! UK Vogue.

The traditional way is E6 (slide) film processed in C41 chemicals and a natural light leak in the camera. It can be emulated in digital but it has been done so many times I have to ask ; why?

[mshi]

Rooter, thank you for the pointer and the blend mode trick. Is there anyway to do that in PS without using any plug-ins at all? Thanks.

[insmac]

Yep. I bet it's bare PS, no steroids.

As for the shots itself: Mert & Marcus, these two can tint to the limits.

Google Giorgio Armani FW 2010 or Cindy Crawford TSUM campaign, the closest examples I can think of. You'll see the visual relationship.

There are endless ways to apply the mentioned effect. Try using gradient map (which applies a certain tone to every part of the image from shadows to the very highlights) from violet to yellow (sample the values from these vogue shots). Lower the opacity to the taste. You may also apply a global curve adjustment layer in order to bump darks a little, as the mapping tends to flatten the whole look.

The images above, however, differ from each other in processing. The first one has Natalia's skin masked and - as such - the mapping (or whatever the method) does not affects it. The latter has significant violet tint present in dark parts of her legs.

[mshi]

insmac, thanks so much for your input. Those examples you listed are really helpful to brew my taste for coloring.

[insmac]

Not a problem.

If you're into these colour shifts, get to know Camilla Akrans:
http://www.managementartists.com/
She tends to alter the tones in a very similar way.

But everything above applies to 'colour' part of your question yet you've asked for the 'look' too. Hence, notice the lighting: harsh sunlight, most likely with strobes to have even more impact on a viewer. Skin tones are lightened. Also coloured gels mounted on these strobes create additional, strong tints.

[mshi]

insmac, thanks again for that wonderful pointer. Let me ask you a newbie question, please. Can you suggest any resources for learning coloring in PS? Thank you.

[insmac]

It is not so newbie ... to understand the colour theory and apply it in practice precisely to the desired effect is one of the toughest things to learn for a retoucher, I believe

Anyways, If I were you, I would cut the digging into a few parts:

1) The colour theory; colour wheel, complimentary tones etc.

2) Cinema colour grading - I'm not kidding - you can learn amazing things by watching how do colorists share their thoughts and techniques on the subject. The principles are always the same; learn how to alter the colours to create a specific mood. When and where to add or remove tinting.
Check out the book 'If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die: The Power of Color in Visual Storytelling' covering usage of specific tones in order to create a particular scene.

3) Google various tutorials and walkthroughs: gradient mapping, color balance sliders, blend modes, digital cross processing etc. If you don't have own photos fitting your needs, google for plain (in terms of colour) high fashion/beauty images and try the techniques for yourself on these samples. Some tricks simply do not match the specific types of images.

4) Dig through RetouchPro archives

5) Last but not least: Avoid plugins. I know, I know: whatever it takes. In my opinion, however, having everything in control, keeping colour adjustments separate, knowing why do I do it and what is gonna happen if I push the red button now is key.

Good luck!!

[mshi]

insmac, I really appreciate your help.

[crimper]

Looks like 'cross processing' with slide film
NIK has filters to simulate the same effect Colour Efex Pro 4
derek

[oneredpanther]

There was a pretty monster thread over on Model Mayhem that was in the ballpark for what you're looking at there. Could be useful.

It seems that this is generally done with a few trips to LAB colour mode, for which I hope you're awake.

As for your orange light leaks, that bit is simple as pie. Make a new layer and with a big brush, make some streaks or blobs in a colour like #993300, blur it a bit and set the blending mode to Linear Dodge (Add) and adjust opacity to taste.

[mshi]

Great link, oneredpanther. Your specified color, however, doesn't yield the orange thingy that I was trying to get on my monitor. Perhaps I didn't do it right?

[adtechniques]

Originally Posted by oneredpanther

There was a pretty monster thread over on Model Mayhem that was in the ballpark for what you're looking at there. Could be useful.

It seems that this is generally done with a few trips to LAB colour mode, for which I hope you're awake.

As for your orange light leaks, that bit is simple as pie. Make a new layer and with a big brush, make some streaks or blobs in a colour like #993300, blur it a bit and set the blending mode to Linear Dodge (Add) and adjust opacity to taste.

Sorry for my curiosity, but what is "few trips to LAB colour mode"? I try Lukau13 advance but never achieved this color? What do you do in the Lab mode?

[mshi]

To understand LAB color space, you may wish to read the following work by Dan Margulis.

Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace

http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-LAB-...4522955&sr=8-1

[mshi]

I followed some of the suggestions found here, and tried on one image. Please give me some advice for improvement. Thank you.

here

[RobertAsh]

Originally Posted by mshi

I followed some of the suggestions found here, and tried on one image. Please give me some advice for improvement. Thank you.

here

I rather prefer your rendition compared to the original post's images.

One thing that bothered me about the original posted images is the film / flare sort of effect washing out a lot of the contrast. Looks like a light leak from the film days, but seems like there is a whitish cast all over. The color treatments are interesting but the whitish cast is distracting, at least to me.

mshi's go at it captures the color cast without the flare-ish effect, I prefer mshi's treatment in that regard.

[mshi]

Robert, thanks for sharing your thoughts with me. But, I found my first try had a slightly abrupt orange light leak transition, which is distracting to me. So, here is my second try and this time I added some magenta leak/reflection effect on the bottom right corner area. Any feedback is appreciated.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7024/6...b402868c_b.jpg

[santoro80]

Nice. How did you do it?

[mshi]

i used some curves/gradient map/blending modes.