This look is driving me crasy

[shinphotography]

Hey guys,

It's been a long time time that i'm searching how to reproduce a look (see "the goal.jpg" to see which look), and I think that now I am close to the real shooting conditions (see the "My Sooc image.jpg).

Now there is I think a lot of retouching to obtain these colors, this "painting" look, this soft feeling.

Do you guys have some ideas on how to retouch to obtain "The goal" ?

Thanks a lot guys

[redcrown]

Re: This look is driving me crasy

This is kind of funny. Your image names have been removed, so we don't know which is "My Sooc" and which is "Goal". Could be either way. Both are good images. The guy is fairly standard - good light, good exposure, good white balance. The girl has been tweaked far from standard. The skin tone is very yellow and pale. And it seems likely the girl was toned separate from the background, which remains blue.

I assume you want to make the guy look like the girl?

First, you need to select him to separate from the background. Then just use a couple Curves adjustments and a Hue/Sat. On the guy's background, drag the red channel curve down a little bit. Drag the blue and green up a little bit. On the guy himself, use Hue/Sat to lower sat about 40%. Then use a Curve and drag the blue channel down a little bit. Does not take much to make him yellow like the girl. The only tricky part is masking the background around his arms and where the blue background comes through his glasses.

[klev]

Re: This look is driving me crasy

Your lighting is a major impediment here. It doesn't even resemble your target lighting. The other details involve color correction and emphasis of details that should have been partly there due to lighting. You'll notice that image emphasized cheekbones, lips, and eyes. Some of the shadows may have been tuned for better uniformity. My issue with your image isn't that the ratios are off. You placed your light in a completely different spot with respect to the subject.

This example is somewhat conceptually close. I'm just doing this on my laptop with its old display. It may be off, and masking is definitely very sloppy. Still my advice is to improve your lighting first. The post work may be difficult for you either way. I think you're more likely to stay motivated and keep learning on the post end if you start with a better image. Otherwise many people give up from frustration after however many hours with sideways progress.

Edit: The lighting and lack of makeup here don't sufficiently support the target. The target image has glossy lip makeup and sufficient lighting in the eyes. They boosted these details including the color of irises and lips in post. They did something similar with the makeup on the cheek. Without that color, it starts to look somewhat more reminiscent of albinism.

[skoobey]

Re: This look is driving me crasy

forum_guy.jpg

Dropbox link to PSD

[klev]

Re: This look is driving me crasy

[ATTACH]95459[/ATTACH]

Dropbox link to PSD

You did a much nicer job on the dodge/burn than me. I just used it with my color correction layers. Here's what it looks like. Better lighting would still be a massive improvement.

[skoobey]

Re: This look is driving me crasy

Yeah, I agree, maybe it's not so much the lighting, as it is the pose combined with the lighting. Having a model look away from the light source creates an unsettling effect, which may also be desirable depending on the intent.

[klev]

Re: This look is driving me crasy

Yeah, I agree, maybe it's not so much the lighting, as it is the pose combined with the lighting. Having a model look away from the light source creates an unsettling effect, which may also be desirable depending on the intent.

I think I forgot to mention part of that or edited out. The lighting in the original shot is highly pose dependent and has to be carefully controlled for the right impact. I also noticed I should have dialed down the contrast on the background, but it's still close enough for reference.

Photographers use big lights for this kind of lighting. It looks like a rather large light without fill to me. Bring down shadows. Set background to correct brightness level. It doesn't have sufficient color in the subject without those nice highlights in the skin along with eye and lip color. The shirt is also a much worse choice. I think the colors of various parts are really critical to a successful shot there, because they help avoid it being just about pale skin.

[shinphotography]

Re: This look is driving me crasy

Hey everyone,

Thank you so much for your answers! (SOrry for the pictures names Redcrown, I did not noticed! But of course, the Sooc image was the guy, and the goal was to achieve a look like the girl )

I listened to the main remark from everyone, the fact that the lighting was not at all like the goal look lighting. So I worked again on this, the result is in attachment. With a better pose (not as beautiful of the female model's one of course...) and a better lighting of the beauty dish (more face oriented) indeed post prod was more efficient.

I worked with a Blue/Cyan color tint layer at 1% opacity and a color adjust layer to inject yellow and cyan in whites, and then some curves to have a similar contrast.

The result is not yet as the girl, now I have to try all your methods to see the difference thanks a lot again!

[klev]

Re: This look is driving me crasy

You are closer with lighting, which is an improvement. I think you took the wrong approach to the post aspect. I think you overdid your curve layers. You have to realize your goal has some rather targeted work on the eyes, lips (especially their color), and skintone. It isn't just a set of global adjustments. I don't think you'll get much further until you come to terms with that.

I also mentioned most of this in my earlier response.