Doctor X

Alright so I've had a couple people ask me (both on here and elsewhere) about a post processing technique that I've been trying for a little while. I've tried my best to replicate the effects that Andrzej Dragan uses in his photography. Now I know my stuff isn't even close to the way his photographs look but I get an effect that's... related at best.

Here are a couple examples of what I've come up with in the past.







Your camera equipment isn't really as important as the post processing technique itself.

What you will need for this technique is:
A camera
A well composed photo
A computer
A copy of Adobe Photoshop (CS/CS2/CS3)
A lot of time
A lot of patience

Usually I could spend 30 - 40 minutes on one photo, if I really want to pick up the details that will set the photo off visually. You can rush through the process and have a photo cranked out in about 15 - 20 minutes but for the best results I advise you to take your time and do it right the first time... just make sure you have the time to spare and experiment. Also, if you have not done this already, make sure your history states are at their maximum (I believe 1000 steps). This may be accessed through the preferences menu. Go to Edit > Preferences > General. There should be an option in there, on CS3 it is under Performance. The reason I say this is because if you are not satisfied with your results you will want to backtrack to fix them, and if you do not have your history state set at the highest value you may lose that ability.

Anyway, what you'll want to do first is pick a subject or photo that has decent dynamic range overall. This means no photos that have harsh contrast or is over/under exposed. Also I would advise that you use a subject which has a lot of detail in the face. This means a person with wrinkles, bags, or other imperfections that you may emphasize. Obviously you'll want to make sure it's OK by the person you're taking the photo of but it really is more dramatic if you find someone with texture in their skin and wrinkles, like bags under their eyes or other facial features.

For my example I will be using this photo:



Some things you should know about the photo before I begin. For one, I did not choose the best subject, however it is 2:00 AM right now and I can't really find any good photos to start on right now. Also, I am going to show you on the picture that is resized. I would suggest that you work on it in a full size image. Since you will be adjusting everything through Photoshop functions you do not need to shoot in RAW. This image was in High Quality JPEG. How do you know if the photo you chose is a good one? Look at the histogram, or you can tell just by looking at it. If you notice in mine, the lighting looks pretty natural, there's no harsh shadows or highlights, and it doesn't seem under/over exposed really.

OK so first thing's first, open up the image in Adobe Photoshop. After you've opened up the image, duplicate the background layer. You may do this by right clicking the background layer in your layers palette and selecting "duplicate background". What I do is press CTRL + A, CTRL + C, CTRL + V. What that does is selects the background layer and pastes it onto the photo, basically duplicating it and making a new layer.

So now that you have two layers that are identical, what you want to do is adjust the highlights and shadows. The way I go about this is to go by your own gut instinct and see what works best. So what you will want to do is go to Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlights and just start working from there. If you haven't already, check the box that says, "Show More Options." Choose the settings that look the best to you.

Here's what I came up with:



After you've come up with your Shadow/Highlighted duplicate layer, you may adjust the opacity of that layer if you are still not satisfied. This will allow you to control the "intensity" of the image I suppose. After you've fiddled with that layer enough, flatten the image.

Now what you will want to do is check the levels, as changing the shadows and highlights has altered your histogram. Again, play it by eye, whatever looks best to you you should do. In this case, I needed make it a little darker and I adjusted the midtones a little... I also added a little more contrast to the photo through the Brightness/Contrast tool found through Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast



Now things start getting interesting... What you'll want to do now is duplicate the background layer. Desaturate the photo. You can do this by going to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. What I do is press CTRL + Shift + U. So now you have a black and white layer on top of a color layer. Mine looks like this:



One this layer, you want to Invert the colors. You can do this by Image > Adjustments > Invert. I press CTRL + I. So now you have an inverted black and white layer on top of a color one...



After you've inverted the colors, you want to add a Gaussian Blur. This can be accessed by going to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. I won't make any recommendations as far as how much blurring you should be adding since every image is different, so go by what you think is good. In my case I went ran with this...



So now you have a blurry, inverted black and white on top of a color image. Where is this going? Just wait. On your Layers Palette you have blending modes like these.


Where it says "Normal" you will want to click. This opens all the different blending modes. Click the one that says "Overlay." Now your photo is back to color, and it looks a little different before. You might be thinking it looks too crazy, so if that is the case adjust the opacity of that layer. In my case, I decided to go with a 50% opacity setting. Here's what I got.



Once you've adjusted everything to your liking, flatten the image. Once the image is flattened, duplicate the background layer again. This is the most "dramatic" process of the project. These next few steps are what will take up the majority if your time, as they are what bring out the minor details in your subject, so TAKE YOUR TIME WITH THIS NEXT SET OF STEPS. Do not overlook your subject, take everything into consideration.

What you will do is take your Burn Tool, and set it to Midtones 14%. For the brush settings I always went with a 0% hardness setting, and adjusted the brush size for whatever details I was trying to emphasize. Basically what you will do is take this burn tool and you will burn in any crack, dimple, pimple, or any other part of the subject that you want to essentially make darker. It is very effective under the eyes, in the cracks on people's lips, emphasizing shadows, etc. Take your time and make sure you go over these things until they are clearly visible and darker. Do not be afraid to overdo it because we will be adjusting the opacity later, however use your best judgment with whatever looks best. Here's what I got...



I know my friend looks like a crack head now but work with me here. After you've done the burning, you need to do some dodging. Both of these tools can be found in the tool palette. Make sure your dodge tool is set to Highlights 14%. So after you've highlighted some of the areas of the photo you will end up with something like this...



Whoa! That looks pretty gnarly. Maybe a little too scary for the kids. If that's the case, adjust the opacity. In my case I turned it down to about 80%. After you've fiddled with the opacity, flatten the image. So now I'm left with...



Those two steps took me about... 30 minutes. They are pretty critical for getting the look you want, so I am going to emphasize that you take your time and make sure you catch many of the details in your subject.

Next we'll be duplicating the background layer. What you will want to do is make the image Sepia. You may do this through the Hue/Saturation tool. You may access the tool through Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. You may also press CTRL + U. Click the "Colorize" box and you want to make it as close to Sepia as you can. Go by what looks good. This is what I got.



Once you've gotten your sepia layer, change the blend mode to "Soft Light." This seems to add contrast and a sepia tint to your photo, like so:



Hmm... maybe a little too contrasty for you? Adjust the opacity. I turned it down to 70%.



Once you've adjusted the opacity, flatten the image. Now duplicate it again! What you want to do this time is is go to Image > Adjustments > Variations. In this little tool you want to make your image more yellow and darker. You should end up with something like this...



Well that looks kind of weird... Oh wait, change the blend mode! Change it to Hue. You should see something to this effect...



Flatten your image. The next step is optional. Sometimes it works well, and sometimes it doesn't work that well. In my case I'll choose not to do it but what you will do is what is known as "Painting with Light." In your layers palette you will want to make a new fill layer with a solid color. To access these options go to your layers palette and click the little circle that is half black/dark color and half white/light color. Click "Solid Color." Once the color options pop up make sure it is black. Change the opacity to somewhere between 30 - 60% (whatever is to your liking). Click the brush tool, and make the color BLACK. I like softer brushes because they do not create harsh shifts between colors and offer a nice gradient so I will recommend a softer brush. Basically wherever you click, it will erase the solid color you filled the layer with. So if you want your subject to really POP you might want to do this. This is effective in lighting situations where the background is not as well lit as your subject. In my case, In N Out has plenty of lighting but I'll show you what it would look like if I had chose to do it.



In my case, I think it looks like shit, so I'm not going there. Bye bye step 31. This next step is also optional, but it's a little bit more subtle so it will work in most instances. Basically we will be making the subject pop more by blurring the background more. Flatten the image, and duplicate the background layer. Add a Gaussian Blur to the layer on top. It should look like this.



Just basically take an eraser and erase any part of the photo you want to be in focus.



Essentially you are done now. With a few extra touch up steps I changed the last frame I showed to this...



So to recap... I started with this:



and ended up with this:



It wasn't the best photo to use, but it got the point across. Essentially you're finished, unless you decide to further edit the photo. Cheers, and good luck!

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DJ MURDOK 818

Holy snap!!! nice write up man, thats a whole lotta editing

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Doctor X

Yeah, it took me about an hour and fourty minutes to write that up... lol

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CRX_VTEC

thanks Doc!!!

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JakeB.

Good job on the write up

I've added it to the Tutorial section of the FAQ thread per TouringAccord's recommendation.

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junior40er

nice!!! :thumbsup:

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Doctor X

Thanks guys!

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JakeB.

I restored your user rating to 100% for putting so much effort in

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AMG

Great write up!!!

awe....

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Doctor X

I appreciate all the positive support!

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stevenmannn

for puttin forth time to help us few in the photography portion of HT

much deserved

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TehMan

nice X...i remember when u imed me with how to do this...i was so damn lost lol

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Doctor X

Haha yeah man a lot of people who tried it said they kind of felt lost... Hope this tutorial helps.

Anyone try it yet?

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Haleiwa-Brando

Nice write up man. Thanks for sharing. Will give this a try sometime soon. Looking at the guys website, his lighting is very controlled as well as using one to two light sources max.

Most of his stuff looks to be one light source, but some look as though he's got one main light source, then a very subtle and diffused source coming from an opposite side.

Your example is cool, but maybe try it with lighting other than house/fluorescent bulbs coming from all directions?

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Genuine Rolla

Thanks for the write up..!

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Doctor X

Yeah I'm going to play with different light sources during summer. I haven't been able to really explore different lighting situations yet because I don't really have the money for strobes. But for sure I'll be trying out different lighting

Broke ass college student FTL haha.

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InJ3cted

thanks, I'll try this later

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jokercykoe

Thanks for the writeup, appreciate it

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Haleiwa-Brando

I have two suggestions that may make this a bit easier:
1) Sepia Step:
a) Image&gt;Adjustments&gt;Desaturate
b) New Layer box&gt;Color:None&gt;Mode:Normal&gt;Opacity:100%&g t; 'click' OK
c) Photo Filter box&gt;Filter:Sepia&gt;Density:80%(what I went with)&gt;Preserve Luminosity&gt; 'click' OK.

2) Last Gaussian Blur Step:
a) Make final layer
b) Gaussian Blur to your liking
c) Select Erase Tool and set at 100%
d) On your Layers history in the bottom right corner, click the 'eye ball' next to the locked background layer.
e) Re-select Layer 1
f) Erase area that you want in focus. Whatever you set your 'new background' pref at you will see as you erase. Mine is always set as 'none' so while I erase what I want in focus, I see the small white/grey checker boxes.
g) Check work by clicking eyeball on and off to check progress
h) When done, click ON eye ball and flatten image

Here is my first attempt at this technique using my dad. Photo was taken at a Starbucks with the sun coming directly through a window blind to his left. It was pretty fun to do and I learned quite a bit
BEFORE:

AFTER:

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Doctor X

Glad to see someone tried it out! Looks pretty cool. Any other photos you tried the technique on?

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