How does he get this look?

[Craig_Minielly]

Lots of discussion on this one... and some contention as to techniques...

I've admired that guys style and noted that a good deal of the impact comes from light control and successful subject animation ( man, that sounds like a really over-teched way of saying - " emotional" [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] ) , so if anyone wants to send me an image that they feel is in a simiar style, I will be happy to play with it for "the look" and post or just send it back privately if you wish.

Drop me a note if you want - cheers!

Craig

[Charles_Matter]

This is beautiful work, indeed.
I think it's worth noting..however. He certainly has cultivated a definitive look created by expert and deliberate PS use...but the underlying strength of these images relies more on the thought behind them..their composition..lighting and simple elegance. I'm particularly intrigued by his basic lighting techniques. It looks loke mostly available light. Wonder how this would fare in a dimly lit VFW Hall reception..?

[Frederick_Rider]

Cliff,

I e-mailed you a sample photo, before and after with an overlayed toned layer and a light diffusion filter. This tool allows the tone to be varied to your artistic taste and the diffusion (soft filter) tool is quite different from the blur or softfocus filtering filters you've probably seen defined. I applied the softening a little more aggressively than I normally would just to give the example some impact. Let me know what you think.