How can I edit to get these wedding photography looks

[ROOKIEJR]

Hi everyone, this is my first post on this forum.
I would you like to ask if anyone can tell me how can I get these 2 kind of looks in Photoshop.
I don't even know what kind of style these are, they look like paintings.

Thank you to anyone who will help me.

http://www.dezinebymauro.com/wp-cont...allery-web.jpg

http://www.dezinebymauro.com/wp-cont...allery-web.jpg

http://www.dezinebymauro.com/wp-cont...allery-web.jpg


https://500px.com/photo/160247569/tu...ser_id=2340805

https://500px.com/photo/142775691/-t...ser_id=2340805

[Shadowman]

Hi everyone, this is my first post on this forum.
I would you like to ask if anyone can tell me how can I get these 2 kind of looks in Photoshop.
I don't even know what kind of style these are, they look like paintings.

Thank you to anyone who will help me.

http://www.dezinebymauro.com/wp-cont...allery-web.jpg

http://www.dezinebymauro.com/wp-cont...allery-web.jpg

http://www.dezinebymauro.com/wp-cont...allery-web.jpg


https://500px.com/photo/160247569/tu...ser_id=2340805

https://500px.com/photo/142775691/-t...ser_id=2340805

I usually don't ask for names/location but wonder where you're from, reason why is if you've got Photoshop you need a good editing tutorial text such as Scott Kelby's series. You'll find techniques on achieving these styles but also he will give you a good breakdown on establishing a workflow on editing; Kelby's books won't boggle you with camera functions; that is something you'll need to work on separately. That being said, the images you linked start with you and the camera, you won't get to the editing stage without first becoming competent with the image capture.

[ROOKIEJR]

Thank you for you reply, I am from Italy. What i am really missing is how to get this kind of style very similar to a painting in photoshop. I understand that you can't do this to any photo but you need to work with lights location dresses expressions before getting to photoshop. But when you get to your photo (let's assume that you have done all of these things correctly) what's the kind of workflow you follow in post I had a look to some Scott Kelby's works but I can't remember this style, If you know could you please suggest me one of his books?

Thank you

[Shadowman]

Thank you for you reply, I am from Italy. What i am really missing is how to get this kind of style very similar to a painting in photoshop. I understand that you can't do this to any photo but you need to work with lights location dresses expressions before getting to photoshop. But when you get to your photo (let's assume that you have done all of these things correctly) what's the kind of workflow you follow in post I had a look to some Scott Kelby's works but I can't remember this style, If you know could you please suggest me one of his books?

Thank you

Either one of these books will help you out, Kelby usually describes specific techniques labeled as "trendy high-contrast, grunge effect, soft spotlight, or fake duo-tone effects. A lot of the techniques you are looking for will eventually become overused so keep your creative juices on alert for something new and interesting. If you get requests to consistently recreate a specific style you'll become bored with the genre.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Do-That-P...ds=Scott+Kelby

https://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Dig...ds=Scott+Kelby

[ROOKIEJR]

Thank you very much for your tips I will have a look tomorrow to see if I can find these books.

[Manfred M]

The first image is done purely in Photoshop, but the other four have been photographed to get the look before any PP was applied. You cannot get those looks purely in Photoshop.

With the exception of the first image, the other shots all have one thing in common; they are backlit (the light source is behind the subject) and flash has been used illuminate the subject. For shot number 2, you can see that the bright windows are being overpowered. On the third shot one can see that there is a remotely triggered flash right in front of the bride. On the fourth shot, we can see the heavy shadows of some large studio lights lighting the subjects and bow of the boat. In the fifth shot, you can see the sun in the shot doing the back lighting.

The last two images have heavy veiling flare from the sun hitting the lens elements, possibly enhanced using a cheap filter that has no anti-reflective coating, and then using local micro-sharpening in PP to counteract the flare. Some localized fogging (running the dehaze filter "backwards" and then cropping out the subjects might have enhanced the hazy look.


The first shot looks like it was made using some PP techniques to get the look. The image is heavily desaturated has some local re-colourization of the car itself. I suspect there might have been a third-party plugin as part of the workflow to accentuate the light patterns on the car.

Here is a straight out of camera JPEG (no Photoshop work) where I am using this back-light with fill light technique. Notice all the flare that is naturally produced by flash pointing into the camera lens (you can see the flash on the camera left side of the head). I also used a studio light from the front to properly light the model and counteract the backlight.




Now, enhance the haze in Photoshop and...



There you essentially have the technique used in four of the images. It starts with a back light / fill flash camera technique, with some fairly minor Photoshop work.

[Black Pearl]

I'm with Manfred on this one. The first shot is Photoshop or Lightroom manipulation so should be fairly easy for you to copy...though I'd question why you'd want to copy another photographers style and not create your own. All the rest are mostly created on location using additional lighting and a good understanding of how to manipulate/balance it with the ambient light.

[ROOKIEJR]

Thank you for your advice Manfred. That was a very good explanation of the shots I linked above.
Well I am just starting out and I am looking to styles that I would like to learn that I think could be interesting to me and to potential clients. I know this kind of photography requires some on location work (carring lights around, have an assistant) but I prefer to give this kind of antique look to my photos. Where I live I don't think anyone does this style so I would like to do something different to get people to know myself.

I tried to achieve an antique look on the following photos but I am not sure if I got it right. It's very hard for me to judge my own photos.

http://antoniorota.com/wp-content/up...554edited2.jpg

http://antoniorota.com/wp-content/up...07/MG_2789.jpg

http://antoniorota.com/wp-content/up...07/MG_2760.jpg

[Shadowman]

Thank you for your advice Manfred. That was a very good explanation of the shots I linked above.
Well I am just starting out and I am looking to styles that I would like to learn that I think could be interesting to me and to potential clients. I know this kind of photography requires some on location work (carring lights around, have an assistant) but I prefer to give this kind of antique look to my photos. Where I live I don't think anyone does this style so I would like to do something different to get people to know myself.

I tried to achieve an antique look on the following photos but I am not sure if I got it right. It's very hard for me to judge my own photos.

http://antoniorota.com/wp-content/up...554edited2.jpg

http://antoniorota.com/wp-content/up...07/MG_2789.jpg

http://antoniorota.com/wp-content/up...07/MG_2760.jpg

I still think you run the risk of overusing a particular style especially if potential clients reference past works and you as an artist will eventually get bored with your output. Consider collaborating with your clients on new ideas, I know it takes time but I doubt if many brides will be content with an overused concept.

[Manfred M]

Those images are all partially desaturated images. This is a fairly common technique; one extreme is eliminating all colours except for the subject. It can be used in many situations, including landscape / urban landscapes, not just people shots.

The problem with the technique is that it is labour intensive and it is not cost-effective for many commercial photographers, other than perhaps to demonstrate their skill.






Here I created a selection of the warrior and her armour and using a B&W layer mask set to 75% opacity, partially desaturated everything else.

[Manfred M]

Consider collaborating with your clients on new ideas, I know it takes time but I doubt if many brides will be content with an overused concept.

John - I know a number of portrait and wedding photographers and they get selected based on two criteria:

1. Price; and

2. Their style as is represented by their portfolio.

Most brides can pick the look they want from other wedding pictures that they have seen. Very few of them have the time or inclination for artistry. The photography is usually one of the last things on their list (after the wedding dress, venue, meal, guest list) and is the one that they have no budget for.

As for collaboration; that requires a different level of skill and commitment from all parties. Wedding photographers work to a shot list and aim to "get it right in the camera". They are often JPEG shooters and spend virtually no time in PP. I asked one how much time he spends on an image after it was taken; answer 15 - 30 seconds. Collaboration is expensive. It happens for high end productions, not wedding photographs. Most people don't have the skill set to direct their wedding photographer as to how to be creative, unless they are themselves photographers or working in a related field.

[Shadowman]

Manfred,

There are two or possibly three types of wedding photographers, (1) those who do it for the fun (ha!), (2) those that do it for a living, and (3) those that do it for the end product. I added the link because some photographers plan ahead and will attempt specific shots that not only benefit the client but the photographers portfolio as well. I remember reading a magazine that I can't remember the name where photographers end goal was to be able to market themselves based on the merits they received from their peers, basically the photographer has the opportunity to choose/charge clients based on their achievements. My comment to the OP regarding redoing the same style has just as much to do with the photographer's creativity as well as their potential to market themselves apart from their competition.

https://www.ispwp.com/contests/resul...ts-summer-2016

[Manfred M]

Manfred,

There are two or possibly three types of wedding photographers, (1) those who do it for the fun (ha!), (2) those that do it for a living, and (3) those that do it for the end product. I added the link because some photographers plan ahead and will attempt specific shots that not only benefit the client but the photographers portfolio as well. I remember reading a magazine that I can't remember the name where photographers end goal was to be able to market themselves based on the merits they received from their peers, basically the photographer has the opportunity to choose/charge clients based on their achievements. My comment to the OP regarding redoing the same style has just as much to do with the photographer's creativity as well as their potential to market themselves apart from their competition.

https://www.ispwp.com/contests/resul...ts-summer-2016

Photographers who do not compete on price / product are a very tiny niche group. This is something that can be fine for a well established photographer with a long history and in a large market; not for someone who is just trying to get into the business.

The photographer I asked about how long he spends on an image is an international award winning wedding photographer.

[Shadowman]

Photographers who do not compete on price / product are a very tiny niche group. This is something that can be fine for a well established photographer with a long history and in a large market; not for someone who is just trying to get into the business.

The photographer I asked about how long he spends on an image is an international award winning wedding photographer.

I agree with you on the pricing, I've discussed this with some friends who consider themselves wedding photographers and with a knowing price of $2,000-3,000 per gig, some of my friends would do the job for less but they won't spend a lot of time on post-processing.

[george013]

He's using a small and powerful light source. The shadows are conflicting. Once you see that a lot of the magic is gone. Well, not all.

George

[rpcrowe]

I don't know if this will help but, it might be worth a look...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySMIb4hyges

Maarten Schrader has other "How to edit like ***" videos. Do a YouTube search for Maarten Schrader...

Kelvin Designs has other "how to edit like ***" YouTube Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LvTTbGbhrM

If you are interested in more YouTube videos along this line do a YouTube search with "How to edit like" as the search parameters. This is the result of that search...

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...w+to+edit+like

[Shadowman]

One thing that hasn't been discussed is the quality of the images, I'm not talking about the technical but the aesthetic; would these images win any awards, do they break the rules of composition (I know this comment will bring ""no rules" comments) but even if rules are ignored does the artist's choice work even if so called rules are not heeded?

[Manfred M]

One thing that hasn't been discussed is the quality of the images, I'm not talking about the technical but the aesthetic; would these images win any awards, do they break the rules of composition (I know this comment will bring ""no rules" comments) but even if rules are ignored does the artist's choice work even if so called rules are not heeded?

John - I don't understand your question.

These are all "good images" from both a technical and compositional standpoint, although in the second set of images (#8); the subject is too centered and this would probably affect the scoring in a composition.

If I were judging these in a competition, they would get good scores for technical and compositional components. Where these images do less well is that they have little to no emotional impact on the viewer as they are quite sterile and look rather forced.

[Shadowman]

John - I don't understand your question.

These are all "good images" from both a technical and compositional standpoint, although in the second set of images (#8); the subject is too centered and this would probably affect the scoring in a composition.

If I were judging these in a competition, they would get good scores for technical and compositional components. Where these images do less well is that they have little to no emotional impact on the viewer as they are quite sterile and look rather forced.

Hi Manfred,

It seems you have looked beyond the flair of these images and that's the point I was trying to make, while we are quick to adopt a particular style we sometimes overlook other aspects of imagery. For instance, the bride walking up the staircase or sitting on the auto; does the crop work or did the photographer just wing it or are we nitpicking on small details. Was this crop a compositional compromise, was the photographer using a rule of thirds, golden mean and ran out of real estate, could these images be framed as presented?