"illustratve look", How To Achieve?, LuciasArt?

There is a fantastic photogapher from England by the name of Keith Henson (www.northscape.co.uk)

who has achieved an "illustraitve look"to his final images somehow in post processing. I would

appreciate it if members could go to his site and see what software he is using to achieve this "less

literal photo look" to his wonderful images. I know that he is using Lee and Cokin graduated ND filters

on hisCaon IDS camera to darken the horizons on his landscapes. He has a "tutorial' section where he

uses PhaseOne software for post processing, but I do not think that he is using PhaseOne to get that

"illustrative look" that I referring to. Do you think that he is using LucisArt software? I have found

several other commercial photographers on the net who have been getting the same "look' to their

editorial work. None of them will share anything about how they are achieving this look. Hope someone

can steer me in the right direction.

Looks like Lucis or some such similar local contrast enhancement software to me.

I can't really see anything in those photos that couldn't also be done in Lightroom, for instance. Actually, for a well-exposed shot, a bit of curves adjustments, contrast, saturation, clarity and sharpening and Bob's your uncle...

I'm guessing that he also combines several shots focusing on the background,middle and foreground rather then just using a single shot with a small aperture.

this particular one, http://www.northscape.co.uk/photo635759.html , & a few of his others look like he using High Dynamic Range Imaging

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HDR with tone-mapping will give your images an "illustrative look"

The "illustrative look" comes from adjusting the local contrast so it more closely matches what we are used to seeing in illustrations, paintings, etc... Now with digital processing that control over local contrast has become easier for photographers. There are numerous ways to manipulate local contrast starting with scene lighting. In processing there are many ready-made actions and plug-ins available, HDR, exposure blending, tone mapping, burning and dodging, low percentage/high radius USM, etc... Start out by researching and understanding local contrast and how painters have been using it for centuries. Then explore some of the methods of applying it to your photos.

Another good topic to google would be "contrast masking".

I like this illustrative look and can sort of do it using HDR software and further processing

in CS3 but I get a lot of noise.

 

What is the difference between LucisArt and regular HDR software? I don't want to spend

$150 on LucisArt if I don't have to.

 

If LucisArt can produce results without halos and noise I would buy it in an instant but I

can't tell much by using their trial software. The preview box is too small to really see any

good detail.

 

David

Keith does not use Lucis. He is hoping to be able to pop by soon to explain some more. In meantime it would be worth visiting the tutorial on www.northscape.co.uk and going through the one on levels and curves. I've done the curves adjust using the technique he describes and it turns an otherwise flat image into one with much more contrast all through the range. Combine this with the wonderful lighting over here in the UK and that'll take you a good part of the way there. I'm sure there's more that I'm hoping Keith gets a chance to explain.

Hi Guys,

 

I did type in a long answer last night but it doesn't seem to appear.

 

Pete is right - in fact without googling, I'd never heard of Lucisart and to be honest, I wasn't overly impressed with what I saw.

Most of my work is done in Capture One Pro using the color editor and the curve tool, with some curves having 30 tag points to them.

 

In Photoshop, I add selective 50/50/10 USM layers to objects within the image to give them more punch and as I work with wide angle lenses on the whole, I don't use several images with through-focal points. I know there are bits of software out there that claim to cope with the anomalies this practice would throw up but they are not for me. I achieve depth by correct focusing and staying away (wherever possible) from f22, as I've yet to fine a digital sensor yet that is happy with such small apertures.

 

I do occasionally use HDR software but Cynthia's link is to a straight shot that was achieved using nothing but a soft Lee 0.75 graduated ND filter.

 

So, having found this site (thanks Pete) and joined it, I should have a look around as I've spotted some great already in the POTW gallery.

 

cheers

Keith

cheers indeed.. nothing like getting your answer from the horse's mouth, as they say.. hehehe.. were you ears burning? ..Hi Keith! :D ..if not for Peter's question I wouldn't have seen your site! (or heard of LusicArt either, new here too).. now this is sort of exciting eh :) the mystery has been solved & something new to try sometime! Thank You

I thik it's sad that we 'Brit's' are considered secretive. I'm more than happy to discuss the exact workflow on anything I produce....unless it's top secret.

 

Taking some getting used to is this site but looks very promising.

Keith, many thanks for popping over here. Yep, the site does take a bit of getting used to as it's completely different in layout from lots of other forums, but once you find a couple of bits you're interested in it's fairly straightforward. It's great once you find some photographers whose work you like the look of then you can rummage through their portfolios! And by seeing who they are interested in (it's all detailed in their page) you end up finding more and more interesting work!

 

Cheers again

 

Pete

Soooooo no one can really recommend whether to buy LucisArt or just use HDR? (see above)

 

Thanks,

 

David

Lucisart (I've now tried it) and HDR and are very different animals. Combining multiple exposures to capture more of the tonal range and edging and single image mapping are not in the same field although the effects when done badly have a tendency to mirror one another.

 

Having used Lucisart now, I personally wouldn't buy it.....there's nothing there that cannot be done in Photoshop.

Thank you Keith! (Love your work by the way!). So how does one do something like this in

Photoshop? I have studied it and can come close but I get artifacts around high contrast

edges as well as halos. This image has sort of an illustrative quality to it. Almost between

an illustration and a real photograph. http://www.johnawad.net/dtl1.jpg, and also

http://www.davehillphoto.com/

 

I have seen many tutorials about how to achieve this look but none really nail it. The

LucisArt filter seems to do the best. I would combine with layers to make the look more

subtle.

 

And I'd probably only use the Sculpture, Whyeth, and Exposure modules of LucisArt - and

at a low setting.

 

Thanks,

 

David

thanks

Well Dave Hill's stuff relies on first getting the shot right in camera with good three way lighting and I suspect he's then blending that with a tone mapped version before appyling various USM layers on a luminosity blend. Of course he may just be good with Lucisart. LOL

 

 

I did see a tutorial on flickr today on Hill's method but to be truthful it was way off the mark in achieving the end result.

I'm one of these who doesn't worry how somebody else is getting a certain look or style and concentrate on the result I'm after.

yes 99% of of it is the lighting. I realize that. He claims to not use Lucisart or any HDR. So

it must be contrast masking or smart sharpen or something. I just want to know how to

do it because I like solving mysteries!

 

I saw that tutorial also on Flickr.

 

Thanks,

 

David

I am having the same problem as many others. When I apply these techniques, I am getting very high amounts of artifacts in my final result that is not suitable for print. I watched a behind the scenes video of Dave Hill's and somebody in the video mentioned him using LucisArt, but I am not sure if it was meant to be sarcastic or not. I know he uses a 5D for a lot of his shots, but even with that sensor, I am not getting anywhere near the same result.

 

Have any idea how I can get rid of these artifacts?