Maxim look

[Alexardenti]

In your opinion... what ae the fastest ways to obtain that "Maxim Magazine" look to skin tones on models? A slight glow with uniform softness to the skin tones?

Do you know of a plug in filter that can obtain that look? I've used Kodak Digital Gem Pro and it gets very very close but not quite there.

Thanks!

[mayday]

I can assure you it's not done with a plug-in filter.

The skin is smoothed out with dodge & burn and it takes time although Maxim is'nt the highest quality publication.

[Jaysen]

I believe there is a tuturial here on RetouchPro that addresses this, isn't there? If not, there's definitely one out there specifically titled "maxim-look". Perhaps google it or try looking for it on OMP.

[bross]

Originally Posted by mayday

I can assure you it's not done with a plug-in filter.

The skin is smoothed out with dodge & burn and it takes time...

I agree. I mean no offense to the OP whatsoever, but I see so many posts these days asking for a filter for this look or that look. I'm really glad that there aren't one click filters that magically transform photos into virtually any style or look. Some filters and actions are certainly beneficial - no doubt about it, however our value as photographers, retouchers, etc. lies in our ability to create something that people want. The reality in this world is that the harder something is to accomplish the more it is worth.

I can't imagine Rembrandt spending weeks on a painting and then having his apprentice yell from across the room, "Hey look, I just downloaded the new 'One click Masterpiece' plug-in and did twenty portrait paintings in the last five minutes."

Again, I certainly am not pointing any fingers here and am not being critical of the OP's desire to learn a new processing technique. We all come here to learn from one another, and I have certainly learned much from folks here and on other forums. It's the quick fix approach that seems to have become so prevalent that concerns me the most.

As for achieving a look similar to Maxim or any other publication, there are so many variations of processing styles in the mainstream today, and most of those styles can be created in a multitude of ways. It's the old, "There's more than one way to skin a cat" situation. There are likely multiple steps used to create the "Maxim look" as there are in most of the highly stylized images you see in editorial and advertising use today. There is a lot to be learned by trying to reverse engineer a style. Some of that knowledge will take you to places that some others may not have discovered yet. I encourage you to learn as much as you can from the others here and in other forums and then spend as much time as you have available working on your own images applying that learning and figuring out what works best for you, and what doesn't.

And remember, the most important part of any style and the most important part of creating a great image in the end is to have great lighting in the setup. Having great lighting "in camera" is the launching point for a fantastic post processing job. A mediocre image will never produce that amazing finished look we all want. Focus (forgive the pun) on quality photography first, and then apply your post processing wizardry to take it to that next level.

Best of luck

[JD Spears]

I agree with 99% of what Bross said. We see so many questions about plug-in and most the time I just bite my bottom lip and move on, but in my opinion plug-in are for Photoshop wimps. Yes that includes Lucis Arts. Do you want to learn digital imaging or how to manage plug-ins?

[pixelzombie]

i agree with the previous comments, as you can see from this link there is more to the look than a plug-in:

http://www.onemodelplace.com/newslet...r_article7.cfm

[smak]

Originally Posted by pixelzombie

i agree with the previous comments, as you can see from this link there is more to the look than a plug-in:

http://www.onemodelplace.com/newslet...r_article7.cfm

Whoever wrote those pages uses basic PS steps, no dodge and burn. Brightness/Contrast (I thought that was illegal), painting over skin with a single color etc, diffuse glow, levels.

[Kraellin]

I can't imagine Rembrandt spending weeks on a painting and then having his apprentice yell from across the room, "Hey look, I just downloaded the new 'One click Masterpiece' plug-in and did twenty portrait paintings in the last five minutes."

uhm, any idea where i could get that plug-in?

there are, in fact, plug-ins and programs that will do some pretty amazing things, but i've found over the years they all tend to lack that one characteristic that makes a good image a good image, the human touch. i have literally hundreds of plugins and programs for manipulating, in one form or another, a digital image and not one of them can produce that almost indefinable quality of 'the human touch'. one of my favorite programs is filter forge. i work with this program a lot, altering and manipulating images in the hundreds, but i've just plain old found that until i add that 'human touch', whether it's adding some manual touch in a graphic editor or combining images or something, there are very few images that come straight out of Filter Forge (as photo art) that i would call 'done' all by themselves.

this is also true in photo restoration. i see folks trying to use all the various shortcuts, like de-noise programs, dust and scratch removal filters and so on and so forth, but almost invariably, these images are of a poorer quality than one that was pored over by hand. the program 'Neat Image' is a good example of this. and i mean no disparagement of the program, but in using this you'll find that it gets over-used by some as a 'quick fix' program that is used too much and too far. by using this tool in conjunction with hand techniques, it becomes a very useful tool, but by itself and turned way up, i've seen photos wrecked by trying to do it all with just the one tool.

so, learn your tools, roll up your sleeves and add that human touch