How to achieve this color toning

[noypi]

Hi Retouchpro, I just want to ask how to achieve this color toning, asside from Dodgin and Burning and proper lighting the subject, does it use a 3rd party plugin

[noypi]

Re: How to achieve this color toning

Disclaimer: No Copyright Infringement intended,i do not own this photo and i hope we can use this for experiment

[skoobey]

Re: How to achieve this color toning

Dodge and burn are lighting adjustments. If you want to affect color, use color adjustment tools.

[klev]

Re: How to achieve this color toning

You quite literally break it down piece by piece. There is no other practical way. Typically I start with the largest areas, and I try to make the smallest possible adjustments that get me close. On the first image, I would start with the leaves and possibly a very subtle basic curve or contrast layer. The leaves are very green. Obviously you don't want to overdo that, so you should refer back to your reference.

I would then color correct the clothing. It's surrounded by green, yet I don't see any green tinted reflection there. The color correction applied to the leaves will provide some of that stark contrast, so it may not take much.

I would then look at the skin and adjust it to look reasonable relative to the other components. Watch out for bright spots in it. Those cause problems when you're aiming for a very tan look.

Since the appearance of each thing is dependent on the appearance of the others, I try to fix the largest one, then adjust the next largest with respect to the first and so on. If you try to apply something globally, you will think it's close until you return to it a day later, at which point it's easy to repeat the process. Don't fall into that trap. Oh and some of those images have vignetted corners. That's obviously another thing.

[Luma]

Re: How to achieve this color toning

The images you are using as reference would not have been taken in one shot. The background would have been lit in a multitude of ways to expose for all the pros. A model then steps into the set, the lighting is moved to illuminate the model and his/her props. The model leaves and the next enters and once again the lighting is moved accordingly. When the shoot is finished, the photographer will have many shots which he/she compiles into a single image.

So this is not something that can typically be replicated in a single shot. The closest you could probably achieve (without all the lighting equipment) would be to capture HDR photos by taking the same shot (on a tripod!) at least five times, each with a different exposure going from completely underexposed to completely overexposed. The skill comes when you 'tone map' them together. There are many good and bad examples of HDR images.

HDR examples

How to shoot HDR

[klev]

Re: How to achieve this color toning

So this is not something that can typically be replicated in a single shot.

You don't need hdr for these, although the subjects could have been shot separately.

[Luma]

Re: How to achieve this color toning

I didn't say you 'need' HDR but by capturing more information, with 32-bit you have so much more to play with when colour toning.

[klev]

Re: How to achieve this color toning

I guess you could do that. It might give you a bit more flexibility in terms of pulling any colors you want from the background, assuming a bit of care. You would still end up dropping back to 16 or 8 to do the rest of the comp work, including any people. I don't know when these were produced, but it used to be much more difficult to incorporate HDR directly in photoshop. It was used more in rendering to replicate the effect of background reflections on artificial elements.