How to do this advertising look?

[jphilsantos]

I've been seeing this kind of effects mostly in advertisements

Here are examples of what I am talking about

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Star-...mpaign/3371971

What do you call this effect? and how do you do it?

Thank you.

[r*po]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

that's a pretty intensive light setup.

also to get good clarity you should use a pretty serious camera, not to say you cant do it well enough with the more prosumer friendly dslrs.

I just saw theres a "behind the scenes" which shows you a lot. you can see the lighting and it looks like hes using a 1d. The lighting will do a lot of the shaping and you'd notice it even with just playing with contrast. you can pull more out of it though by copying some of the channels or using a custom black and white of the image overlaying it. there's a good amount of dodging and burning and you can even toy with the hdr, just dont go too crazy there. then sharpen probably more than sensible.

you can also see he shot the figures separate from the backgrounds. you dont have to do it this way but its very common and then its compositing the images and using the same treatment on those layers so it matches. The main reason for compositing is so you can focusing on exposing one aspect and also create environments that just don't exist.

not my favorite look but it has its uses and is used a lot for sports and product advertising.

[jphilsantos]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

Thank you for reply and explanation. So i guess I can not really achieve something like that with my 500D.

Can you suggest what camera I should buy that is not super expensive like Nikon D3?

[dataflow]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

Thank you for reply and explanation. So i guess I can not really achieve something like that with my 500D.

Can you suggest what camera I should buy that is not super expensive like Nikon D3?

look at hdr for that kind of effect.
you dont need a good camera

[lunaxxxxxx]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

yes of course you can do this with your 500d . have nothing to do with mega pixels. these images you show here is in size of 600x400 pix. if you want to blow up images to 1mx1m then you might need a medium format camera. people who keep telling you need this and that high end gear knows nothing about flash lightning and the right tools to use in photoshop. So what u need is this: 2 to 3 light setup and it dosent have to be studio flash. can be done with speed lights and then know how to use color tools and especially the burn and dodge methods in PS. personally i use 50% grey layer set to soft light on skin and overlay on backgrounds ect. The best now a days its that u can shoot on background with a 3 light setup or two light setup, and then make a mask to do a final composite. then go out there and shoot whatever background that suits your needs . bringer together in photoshop. If your not that good at Ps shoot on location. remember to dodge and burn heavily to archive this effect. shoot background in HDR also... it is really not that tuff to make these kind of images as you think. just remember to do the first part in camera/flash light then you have all sorts of possibilities.

[eraanexact]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

Achieving a look like this is less about what camera is used and more about how the images are lit and composed. From watching the behind the scenes video, it looks like he's shooting with some variation of a Canon 5D (Mark2 or 3 etc) which will produce a good size image to start with. If you really need a huge file, you can always rent a high end camera instead of buying one. Sayin.

Same goes with the post processing. Even if there are third party plug-ins being used(not necessary to achieve this look, btw), they still have to be carefully composited together by hand.

[r*po]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

yes of course you can do this with your 500d . have nothing to do with mega pixels. these images you show here is in size of 600x400 pix. if you want to blow up images to 1mx1m then you might need a medium format camera. people who keep telling you need this and that high end gear knows nothing about flash lightning and the right tools to use in photoshop. So what u need is this: 2 to 3 light setup and it dosent have to be studio flash. can be done with speed lights and then know how to use color tools and especially the burn and dodge methods in PS. personally i use 50% grey layer set to soft light on skin and overlay on backgrounds ect. The best now a days its that u can shoot on background with a 3 light setup or two light setup, and then make a mask to do a final composite. then go out there and shoot whatever background that suits your needs . bringer together in photoshop. If your not that good at Ps shoot on location. remember to dodge and burn heavily to archive this effect. shoot background in HDR also... it is really not that tuff to make these kind of images as you think. just remember to do the first part in camera/flash light then you have all sorts of possibilities.

always someone...

yes, if you want to make small images that aren't as nice or clean you can even come close with a $500 camera with the right lighting and post.

You asked how to get this look, not how can I come close with a 500d.

there's much more to the higher end equipment than absurd megapixel numbers and people that brush that off aren't talking about making images for advertising. Professionals use professional gear because its better not because they like spending money on things they don't need.. You asked how to do an advertising setup, and a good camera with good glass and good lighting make a very very big difference.

the basics are the basics and a nicer camera isn't a substitute for that. but speedlights and photoshop aren't a substitute for professional gear, they just aren't. you're not going to get the nice lighting like your examples from just 2 speedlights, thats absurd.

I also didnt say anything against speedlights, they are great light sources if you are on a limited budget and their limitations aren't an issue. for this setup which is intensive to do correctly you can take your time to get the one shot you need, so sure you could use speedlights and the right modifiers if you wanted. however, use just 2 and you will have a very different lighting than your examples. You dont need to use the exact lights they did. light is about power, direction, coverage and color. The silver umbrellas spread the light out while adding a bit of that silver glow to the skin, on some of the others where you see a big softbox, that softens the light adds less of that glow and greats a more diffuse light, and you can get these for speed lights too.

if you are on a tight budget you're just going to have to get creative. I shoot a lot of stuff with just one speedlight and a reflector if I need some fill.

Terry richardson made a high fashion career using on camera flash or one speed light, but we arent talking about getting that look.

The video shows you the camera which could be a 5d, hell maybe a 7d, but not likely. and they show you the lights and that shows you a lot on how those images were actually made which is really cool of him to do and share.

You dont have access to that stuff that's fine.
These new rebels are pretty nice and you'll be able to get close enough with it if you are just wanting to play with it. If its for an actual job where you really want that extra sauce you can always rent gear but theres no point spending the money if you dont need to.

but the hyperreal illustrated look is more about the contouring from dodge and burn and hdr effects than the specific camera and in your examples which are nice examples of this method the lighting is a big factor.


quick search
for sports portrait lighting setup

shows something that may get you on track although not as good an example its the same concept and my clear up steps mentioned here.

http://www.photoflexlightingschool.c...ait/index.html

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/f...phy-portraits/

this shows you a 3 speed light setup version but you can see the difference in the lighting compared to your example and the hdr effect is a bit strong to force the look a bit. also looks like he shot this scene all in one shooting at the right time of day so the background was well lit too. It helps that it was overcast and he had those clouds for the background. If you don't have an overcast day like this dusk is great time to shoot things like this and get nice effects. This is a good example of achieving something similar with budget restrictions. your camera will do this no problem.

http://jonhaverstickstudio.com/2012/...ighting-setup/

AT one time I even made my own beauty dish for $12 from home depot shooting with a 20d. As good as shooting a 5d with a mola beauty dish? ...no
definitely not, but it was what I had to work with at the time and it worked fine, although the dish didn't last two uses.

[lunaxxxxxx]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

so.. what was these images shot with?

[lunaxxxxxx]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

i mean the ones that op liked too..

[jphilsantos]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

Thank you everyone for this enriching conversations. Honestly I only have a camera (500D) and a computer for retouching. My budget was so limited because I was student but now that I am already graduated I will try to save up money by working and buy some lights (any recommendation? what should I buy first camera or light? I am also planning to shift brand to Nikon)

[r*po]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

so.. what was these images shot with?

http://www.amazon.com/MD-CL-FUNSAVER.../dp/B001O8KGTW

[r*po]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

you'll figure it out.

It takes time to build your kit. do some research and you'll start finding you start leaning one direction.

I shoot Canon because Im used to it really and for the video features they came out with but nikon will do that now too. I couldnt afford to have a good stills and decent video camera so it was a nice option for me and I really like the 1d when I get the chance to shoot with it. One brand isnt really better than the other and it will come down to personal preference. they have differences, and really they're just going to put out a better camera next year anyway so get one you're going to have good lenses for and is appropriate for your needs.
I really like Leicas too but they are crazy expensive and I havent shot with it but the newest fuji xpro1 looks like a nice camera to do a lot with. It can be nice to have a smaller rangefinder type camera too. Images ive seen from it look pretty good and I like that they took the body of the old contax.


start with what you have and get the basics, you can still take great images with the 500d and you'll figure out if its something you're that serious about to put in the money on. if you can get your hands on some of the nicer cameras play around with them and see what you like.

start simple, shoot what interests you and you can do a lot with natural light. first thing I got was a speedlight and a reflector.
and if shooting large ad campaigns is what interests you you can always look into assisting, its a great way to learn while making money too.

[kav]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

What do you call this effect? and how do you do it?

You don't really call it an effect. The problem is asking the wrong questions at times. The photos aren't identical. They follow a similar style, but if you were really really trying to understand someone's work, ideally you'd try to retrace their steps. You can dissect quite a bit from looking at the images. Someone mentioned a behind the scenes. That should provide some additional information, but much of it comes down to figuring out the lighting, getting the cleanest possible results there to minimize headaches later. Then you look at it and think okay he emphasized highlights along this part of the lighting like this, no the shadows are definitely warmer there. It's stuff like that. If you're comparing to reference, you can tell a lot about their choices even if you don't use the exact same tools and actions.

If you don't understand the breakdown of the visuals, that is an independent problem from not being sure how to nail smaller technical details without problems

look at hdr for that kind of effect.
you dont need a good camera

This has absolutely nothing to do with hdr. The photos are composites, and they allowed them to take on some slightly surreal qualities where areas that you might visually expect deep shadows retain full detail. Calling it an hdr effect is just going to confuse them.

If they're shooting all of the elements for a comp, there are a lot of ways to help ensure reasonable accuracy. You can shoot a spherical pano or hdr pano to give whoever is comping it more reference regarding the position of the sun, the overall lighting of the scene, and an idea of what off camera objects might reflect into the scene if this was being shot fully on location. You can get references for reflections and length/hardness of shadows to help when it comes to building shadows for the comped elements. There are plenty of things to ease the flow of the work. It's just not helpful trying to reduce it to such a simple answer.

Achieving a look like this is less about what camera is used and more about how the images are lit and composed. From watching the behind the scenes video, it looks like he's shooting with some variation of a Canon 5D (Mark2 or 3 etc) which will produce a good size image to start with. If you really need a huge file, you can always rent a high end camera instead of buying one. Sayin.

Same goes with the post processing. Even if there are third party plug-ins being used(not necessary to achieve this look, btw), they still have to be carefully composited together by hand.

You already know my opinion on much of this. Personally I used to find out of the camera, digital back files often felt like they had more depth, especially in shadows or the way they'd resolve semi translucent things like eyes. Skin often felt flatter when I'd see dslr vs. digital back photos shot by the same guys. Cameras like the 5D though have really bridged that gap quite a lot, and a little post work or adjustment in technique can make them look way closer than you could get a few years ago unless we're talking about really nice printing at larger sizes. I need to check out the MKIII. I want to know how much the extra dynamic range helps.

I think it may be difficult for people to look and try something like this themselves, especially when it comes to gathering all the shots, but looking at it as an effect of sorts is just too limiting when you need clean cutouts of the appropriate elements, then each one may be tweaked individually. It looks like the basis for much of this lighting was set up during the shooting stages prior to being accentuated in post. Some of the mixed lighting could have been done with gels too. It would have made more sense if the OP asked how to handle a technical problem encountered when trying to recreate something similar. There's just no real way to get it without understanding that any given element of that comp can be adjusted as needed, so there's no way to reduce that to a template.

It makes more sense to test and refine, like if they're having issues defringing the green screen or keeping the falloff of a highlight from looking too painted, that could be a technical issue. I think they need to be comfortable with changing almost anything about a photo including swapping things in or out. There also seems to be a lack of emphasis in this thread on the art direction. It's obvious that the background elements and colors didn't end up that way randomly.

so.. what was these images shot with?

It doesn't really matter. You should just use something you can afford to buy or rent. Digital medium format/digital backs do still produce really nice results, but I see a lot of nice stuff produced on the smaller dslrs. They're capable of producing some really nice results.

I should include here, when I see a good photo, I never care what camera was used unless it's a case of I can't get that level of detail from what I'm using, and I'm interested in testing that model as an upgrade.

[r*po]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

You don't really call it an effect. The problem is asking the wrong questions at times.

you should check out the full posts before adding something thats just going to confuse the guy.

effect works just as good as any other question, you know what he means, and it s perfectly legitimate question for any image really.

hes not trouble shooting problems hes having with the effect he didnt know how to approach it and has very limited gear.

Plenty of the the provided references give good guiding points to start experimenting and have a better understanding.

asking a question about avoiding technical problems in trying a similar technique isnt what the question was or else thats what he would have asked and I dont really think thats a better phrasing of the question. Its a popular and common effect... ahem.. technique and theres no shame in asking about it.

Im pretty sure even the photographer who took these wasn't gathering " references for reflections and length/hardness of shadows to help when it comes to building shadows." He just good at the technique probably due to a lot of trial and error and practice to get it the way he likes it.

HDR can be part of building the effect and understanding the effect, especially for the background plates so it is good to look into, just know it gets misused quite a bit. I also dont think its an accident theres a lack of mentioning Art Direction.


Santos! Go nuts man, try it. even if you understood half of what Kav was talking about you're still not going to know until you try it and practice it and put in the time. then you'll figure out whats not working for you.

its really not as complicate as all that stuff.. unless you want it to be, then it can be very easily.

Your own taste will rule out a lot of things and it does take some time to get good at things youve even seen an exact step by step how to of. Then you'll get yourself into "damnit why are my shadows junk." fret not about that, the more you go into photography the more you'll become obsessive about certain things and youll start to look at it differently.

You did pick good examples of this style and not everyone does that so you know what you want it to look like.

now go experiment.

also heres some more tutorial to help inspire in your composites rather than deter


http://design.creativefan.com/make-a...poster-design/

http://www.photoshopdaily.co.uk/news...-billybonkers/

http://www.pxleyes.com/tutorial/phot...-Portrait.html

http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/ph...at-photograph/

http://layersmagazine.com/planet-pho...-channels.html

[dataflow]

Re: How to do this advertising look?

if you really wanted to go nuts you could try and do it this way
http://www.americanprideandpassion.com/

no one ever shows the compositing side of things