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i give, how does he do it
i am really captivated by jonny croslins images, how does he get that wonderful warm orange color to his images, they seem so perfectly saturated, hard to believe that he uses tungsten lights to get that arm glow, so there must be another way. Sep 07 05 04:07 am Link this might be a novel approach, but why not email him and ask? Sep 07 05 05:20 am Link me and a few other photographers were trying to figure it him out ourselves. Sep 07 05 05:23 am Link Could you provde a link to an example? Sep 07 05 05:58 am Link yes where is that link example at? Sep 07 05 06:06 am Link Sep 07 05 06:43 am Link I looked at a few of his images. He obviously does extensive post processing on his photos. The skin tones look almost unnaturally warm and tan, and yet his whites are correctly balanced. This isn't accomplished by simple lighting technique alone (a tungsten light source would render white tones too yellow). I'd guess a combination of heavy use of tanning beds, very controlled lighting, and very good Photoshop skills. Sep 07 05 09:19 am Link Looks like pretty basic Photoshop stuff to me. That look is very easy to achieve using masks or layer editing. Sep 07 05 09:37 am Link William Kious wrote: I agree. But, photographers, knowledgeable from having done extensive experimenting, would know how to achieve that look using a combination of things, or come close to the same results without using software. Crosslin appears to be one of them. Until, he divulges his technique in an open forum, we can only keep guessing. Sep 07 05 01:34 pm Link I cant belive you all like that photoshoped look so much!!!! Thought i was the only one!! (:-------- Hj Sep 07 05 01:41 pm Link You mean like...  Sep 07 05 01:56 pm Link I think he is just really good, and he uses a warm toned slide film. I played with different filmstock for a couple years. It is amazing what happens with slide films. I'd be willing to bet that's all there is too it. Sep 07 05 02:03 pm Link shoot raw, adjust to taste in cs2. seems fairly straightforward. if you think the images are coming out of the camera looking just like that youre most likely fooling yourself. Sep 07 05 02:07 pm Link Scott Aitken wrote: I looked at the link also. Great stuff. But I would not agree on the whites being balanced. The whites of the eyes a are bit too white. Natural looking photos have eye whites that are in fact a bit gray - exceptionally light gray but not actual white. If you capture the image and put the eyedropper/ color indicator on the whites and they come up as RGB= 255/254/255 or the like, they have been photoshoped. Sep 07 05 02:51 pm Link Stacy Patrick wrote: He obviously uses Photoshop. I'll betcha he is 9/10 of the way to his color with warm toned slide film. Good warm toned slide film does a great job of keeping whites white while warming up the image. They basically just oversaturate the reds and yellows a bit. Sep 07 05 03:26 pm Link Scott Aitken wrote: BINGO! Sep 07 05 03:34 pm Link I do about half and half depends reall what i am shooting and looking for.. Hj Sep 07 05 03:35 pm Link Joe K. Perez wrote: You can't keep a crisp white when shooting warm color temps - not without help from software or other processing techniques. I'm not sure it's possible at all with film (unless someone wishes to correct my assumption.) Sep 07 05 05:24 pm Link William Kious wrote: Warming films are made to do just that. The old Kodak E100 films did a great job with different saturations and temperatures. They changed the names of them a few years back. Try thier warm toned slide films. E100 GX is their new warm toned one that I see. E100WS might be discontinued. That one was saturated and warm. They get an A+ when it comes to warming without trashing the whites and blues. Sep 07 05 05:40 pm Link His is very talented with lighting. I would guess he is using some gels as well as other techniques. I recently received a gel sample pack from a company that had 400+ colors available. Gels can do wonders for an image. Sep 07 05 06:30 pm Link I agree with ISM. My guess would be by using a gel of some sort...possibly a bastard amber gel? I tried this myself once after seeing a FHM shoot and the results are quite suprising evens straight off the camera. I have that shot in my profile here if anyone wants to check it out. Whites pretty much stay white while the skin tone renders nice and warm. I'll always be a huge Johnny Crosslin fan though...his work is inspirational!  Jason Sep 07 05 07:58 pm Link ISM wrote: Nope, not using gels :-) Sep 07 05 08:00 pm Link oh well....cross that one off! lol  Sep 07 05 08:06 pm Link Try selective hue sat layer add red and add yellow and add black paint the eyes white or dodge them... and if you want highlights on legs or arms you can convert the file to lab then go to the lighness channel and dodge the areas then convert back or something like that Sep 07 05 08:15 pm Link Looks like use of AL, but why do you want all your images to look the same? Sep 07 05 08:16 pm Link wow, simply wow. wow Sep 07 05 09:10 pm Link joe duerr wrote: very close, but his whites are so brilliant, and even my image here just looks orange, but close. so what did you do? Sep 07 05 10:38 pm Link johnnycrosslin wrote: you weren't suposed to catch us talking about you. Sep 07 05 10:42 pm Link johnnycrosslin wrote: Heavy use of tanning beds? As in the kind people get into, like a coffin and bake in it? For reals? C'mon. Nooo. Seriously? *grin* Sep 07 05 10:50 pm Link You must love all the attention, huh Johnny? Anyway, these days, with PS, you could remove heavy scars from models... even take out a few extra pounds that they may have and "forget" to tell you about before they show up... I know a photog here in Hawaii that has had to do that... shape the model until perfection (to the models limits) is achieved. I don't like it when models are not as they "let" themselves appear and show up other than they should... but that's another thread all together Anyway, I think it all comes down to knowledge and experience, some beautiful people to work with, and a beautiful location, which I would guess is his property due to the frequency of use. Praise to the master, and maybe in 89 years, someone will write a thread about me... Cheers to goals! Sep 07 05 11:15 pm Link Joe K. Perez wrote: usually its just a spray on tan - but I'm sure that's deadly too :-| Sep 07 05 11:21 pm Link Richie Varela wrote: When is the use of Photoshop too much? No one can say... Sep 07 05 11:23 pm Link Based on the brilliance of his colors and the fact that the background or "Less lighted" areas of the photo are begining to be consumed with darkness.... I am guessing he uses some "manual Compression"... In Photoshop levels..(Ctrl/L) First compress the high end until you just start to blow pixels in the light spots, then back off a hair... Then compress the low end to the dezired look... playing with the two ends combined with the middle (overall brightness) can give you a variance of warmth... I still have not gotten my images as "Warm" as his.... Feel free to share at any time.. Sep 08 05 03:40 am Link P.S. That technique works best if the photo was shot slightly underexposed...I'm also thinking he adds a layer.. Sharpens it and brightens whatever color is most dominant in the models eyes...Then places that layer under the main image with compression and erases the eyes, perhaps the lips as well... He also has one hell of a MUA Yes, no? Sep 08 05 03:49 am Link mixed lighting with tungsten and strobe? Sep 08 05 05:55 am Link Not to sound like a jerk but, Before the advent of PS there were "traditional" ways of lighting. In MAxim, FHM and other lad mags the photogs will use a straw color Rosco filter. Depending on the intensity will depend on the color of the skin. Not to mention many of thhe models come in with tanned skin which ads to it. Now you say that the model is wearing white yet the skin is very warm. Yes PS is used to whiten the outfit more for these shots. The free DVD that came with an older Maxim issue showed the photoshoot with a photographer shooting the model with a medium format camera, ring light with Straw gel taped to it while sjooting in the kitchen. The poloroids were great and the color was from the gell. Playboy achieved the warm hair light by using a hot light for the hair and strobes on the skin. Especially for blondes. There are standard well used formulas that photographers have created either by trial and error over time or have learned by assisting for other photographhers early in their career. That my 2 cents. Spend it how you want. Sep 08 05 06:10 am Link First let me say that his work is very impressive and anything I say is not to take away from what he is doing/has done, but his images show great skill, planning, and execution in many aesthetic as well as technical regards. His work is very close to Ed Konkle out of Chicago. Ed had a huge web presence several years ago but he seems to have disappeared. I studied Ed's work along with a number of others and am quite familiar with the current photographer in question. In fact I e-mailed him and he was quite nice (thanks). I have shot about 40 colors of gel, used everything from a 24 inch pan, to a 7ft ocotobox, to a Pro foto ring light, to simple umbrellas, trying to get "that" look. I have shot both the Kodak SW100 and digital. I have extensive Photoshop skills (but am still learning), but I will say that I think a number of people are off the mark on judging his work or concluding his "recipe". I'll take a stab at it. These of course, are just my opinions. First, he shoots incredibly gorgeous women who are generally very tan. You cannot begin to understand the difference a good tan makes on a model, until you have shot a very tan model and a pasty white girl under the exact same lights if you are trying for this look. Second, he clearly understands his color pallete. You might be surprised the difference in appearace between shooting a model on a grey or black backdrop, versus a harmonious color pallete. His models, most often than not, are wearing colors that work in harmony with his warm pallete, reds, purples, blues, greens, etc. and he pays great attention to the background colors.....or should I say, his backgrounds often feature complimentary colors. Third, he obviously has a good MUA or the girls are quite excellent at applying their own makeup. Lastly, I would agree that he is editing a number of the parameters in Photoshop (not that this is a bad thing). In the end, I think his final product is the sum of a number of factors, all of which he has carefully considered, and all of which demonstrate masterfull execution. In other words, if you think there is a magic recipe, I think you are undervaluing the skill his work demonstrates. As for gels, I have found that they help in the rim light department, but not on the main light. If you look at the image of Brit in my porfolio, I lit her hair from the side with gelled lights, and used a big pan reflector with a Rosco product over it to diffuse it. I shot it on a brown background that was gelled to raise the saturation. Then I photoshopped it a bit. Is it of the caliber Johnnie shoots? No, but I think it has the overall "warm" look to it. Mark Sep 08 05 02:33 pm Link i totally echo gunfitr sentiments as to JC work and gunfitr guess is an amazing educational theory.. even if it isnt what jc actually does, some great photographic philosophies and principles are put forth......this is a fun thread to comment on as we all are guessing basically... i try not to overthink the hows and simplify what I would do to recreate this particular look... heres my guess.... first of all canon cam used..probably 1ds.. skin color tonality and sharpness shows that.. definitely not 6 or even 8 mp resolution here and also RAW capture......custom white balance setting set a tad warmer than standard canon... also saturation bumped a bit on capture both of these insures the consistent skin color tonality inherent on all pics BEFORE any PS has to be done.. let cam do as much work as possible upon capture... 55 gallon drum of baby oil... or even better, olive oil (choice of bodybuilders, not as shiny as babyoil)... great care has been taken to insure skin gloss and consistency thereof... now my guess for lighting.. very simple.. main is large soft box with silver/ gold shiny interior combo.. not standard white interior,,,, light is too snappy for mushy white interior...photoflex multidome with velcro silver/gold interior or maybe just silver..... and a good quality strobe source.. my guess Norman/Photogenic which throw a warm skin color balanced slow burning pop... shutter speed carefully set to let in ambient room light and modeling light from strobe to balance front to back illumination... no alien bees used in his work ...lol.. i do not believe PS has been used to great heroic lengths on each pic... i believe the majority of the look inherent in jc work was done on capture.. but whatever tonality enhancement combinations are used, they are very formulaic to insure consistency (actions anyone?)...lol.. but pics do seem to have had a dupe layer with blending option 'multiply' and faded to taste.. this deepens and enriches skin tones and deepens shadows in background elements to create depth... the greatest compliment any photog can get from another photog or even a photo savvy model is that they have a very recognizable 'style'... JC has definitely done that... ! Happy Holidays ! Mikey Sep 08 05 09:54 pm Link I say we all go out and try to shoot a photo that comes out with his "Style" and warmth to it..... See who comes the closest. Sep 08 05 11:30 pm Link this has been one of the best threads that i have seen here, what a smart bunch of people, not a snotty word in sight, i will try many of your suggestions in my quest to try and emulate johnny's images. Sep 09 05 01:58 am Link |
