Forums > Digital Art and Retouching > How to emulate this post production

Photographer

emidio

Posts: 23

Renens, Vaud, Switzerland

It has been a while since I started to try to get this kind of post production. I really don't know where to start to get this kind of tone within my photos. I have seen this style in several magazines and I am not able to reproduce it. Any hints?

May 15 14 03:11 pm Link

Digital Artist

Koray

Posts: 6720

Ankara, Ankara, Turkey

Keep hiring retouchers evilgrin

May 15 14 03:29 pm Link

Photographer

emidio

Posts: 23

Renens, Vaud, Switzerland

Yeah, of course =_=.
that's because I am asking

May 15 14 03:38 pm Link

Photographer

A-M-P

Posts: 18465

Orlando, Florida, US

I see a slight peach, pink, magenta toning

May 15 14 04:44 pm Link

Photographer

Mikey McMichaels

Posts: 3356

New York, New York, US

That looks like a ring light with a soft box and a lot of contrast boosting. That looks like Canon skin tone processed in Lightroom.

May 15 14 04:51 pm Link

Photographer

Tulack

Posts: 836

Albuquerque, New Mexico, US

Mask blacks out. And add red to shadows and blue to highlights. Use histogram to apply only to skin tones.

May 15 14 05:17 pm Link

Digital Artist

Joe Diamond

Posts: 415

Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

Koray wrote:
Keep hiring retouchers evilgrin

May 15 14 10:00 pm Link

Retoucher

Retouch The Stars

Posts: 110

New York, New York, US

This may help. Make a selection of the skin. Then use selective color under adjustments and mess around with the sliders under red and yellow. It also looks like you'll have to use Dodge and burn.

May 17 14 07:18 am Link

Retoucher

Natalia_Taffarel

Posts: 7665

Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

I always LOVE it when people guess the post production without seeing the original.

You need a point A to get to B
Depending on the point A are the steps to get to B

There's NO way the same approach would work on two different points A

May 17 14 08:20 am Link

Retoucher

Tincture

Posts: 126

New York, New York, US

Natalia_Taffarel wrote:
I always LOVE it when people guess the post production without seeing the original.

You need a point A to get to B
Depending on the point A are the steps to get to B

There's NO way the same approach would work on two different points A

This is a great point.

However, at the risk of stepping on Natalia's point and having not seen the starting image, I'll try to make an educated guess that can be applied to images like this in general.

Overall, it's a very contrasty image, so you'll want your main curve to be something resembling an S curve.  I didn't make this jpeg, but it's a good explanation of what the curve does:
https://www.polishedpicture.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/s-curve_thumb.jpg
Your mileage my vary.

Global color and contrast will only take you so far. Another thing to consider is her skin; for the most part, it's color balanced, meaning that her fingers and feet aren't overly pink, there aren't more prominent green tones where the bones are closer to the skin, etc.  If an area is too pink, add some yellow (in the fingers for example), and if another area is too green, add some magenta.  It's these little details that make the image more cohesive. There are things in the image I would've done differently (her camera right hand is overly retouched, the boot looks about a size or two too big for her due to the lens distortion at the edges), but I'm just focusing on skin here.  Also that outfit is cray cray.  Back to the point though.
  You do this with localized adjustment layers, either curves, hue/sat, levels, selective color; whichever one works best for you.  If you do not know how to make masks to do this, I suggest you learn masking first.  It really is such a powerful foundation for color work and compositing and basically any form of commercial retouching.  It's the reason why junior retouchers first tasks at a studio are cutting masks.

May 17 14 10:16 am Link

Photographer

Solas

Posts: 10390

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Pump the clarity up in raw

May 17 14 11:11 am Link