To all dear sifu,

i'm always amazed with keda.z's artwork and his picture has a very silky color in it.

No matter how i experiment with bending layers n such, still can't achieve the same color as his .

Why eh ??

Please tell me the name of the tecnique, and does speedlight is a necessity to achieve it ?


Thanks all for the time

go for his workshop when he has it, u can learn straight from him

surely very expensive and i live in penang T.T hard to go .

Or he seldom do at penang? then nice loh . hahah .

keda.z is famous for compo and lighting. Both of that is playing very important on his editing style. So conclusion is train your basic first before getting to the editing..

You have to know what you're final product going to be turn only you start to shoot

Of course the lightning, timing, exposure has to be right and most important is the post processing

Give example pics?

Guys, OP is asking for the method of editing colours, not asking you to teach him the basics of photography.

I believe he doesn't only play with the curves but also the saturation, hue and luminance of every each colour as well as colour filters, heavy burning and dodging are also involved from the look of his photos.

It definitely takes a lot of time in editing to create a masterpiece like his.

Since im still new in photography, imagining fantastic the final product is still something im currently on with by referring pro's job and create my own one day. But even with the same setting, i couldn't reach the same final result. Need to practice more about compo, lighting like u guys describes then. hahah thx

something like this. it's seems like a drawing to me. I describe the color tone as silky. But i just doesn't know the right term for it .



Ah , ur comment clarify what i wanted so much clearer. hahah thanks man

After some research on the net , some suggested he apply photorealistic hdr toning in the post process. Is that so ??

This post has been edited by HarrionX: Aug 22 2013, 12:49 PM

That is what we trying to tell OP. Keda photo look nice not because just editing alone, it's because his lighting and compo. His Keda style lighting is affected his editing, without his proper ligting, you can't achieved the editing style. Without those then stop thinking editing first because you can't achieve it.

I was try copy Keda style for quite sometimes. Trust me, first I thought his editing but the end I realize is his lighitng and compo. That why I go strengthen my basic again.

This is one of photo I try copy kedaz however frankly tell you, his level and mine like thousand miles different. My basic lighting is poor and compo too.




This post has been edited by C.P.U: Aug 22 2013, 01:14 PM

But but , the result were great! and the lady in the middle picture has the same style as keda.z one . I might mistaken ur artwork as keda one hahah.

With the bolded sentence, i realized more and more that a perfect picture needs a great setting (lighting and compo), then after that we apply post editing for greater result. I'm quite attached to photoshop, so i thought the same result could be achieve just by photoshop . my bad

If you have extra time, could u provide some links to improvise my compo and lighting to achieve the same result as urs ? Thank you thank you

Extra info, i only owns a 600D , a 50mm 1.8 lens, and 11-16mm dx ii tokina lens, and a yg 560 speedlite.

Does that means I can't achieve the same result with the intermediate equipment?

This post has been edited by HarrionX: Aug 22 2013, 01:36 PM

Keda is great is placing his subject and how he light it up.. Serious my compo and ligting still suck haha but you can learn slowly from pro photo like keda. Flip his work and see how he use ligting, which angle, how high he shoot and how low he go..

the gradient you mean? if you are shooting at the golden hour (during sunrise/sunset) you could get what you want, then you have to play with the color in photoshop to get the smooth and silky look

yes, he use HDR but HDR is double edge sword for portrait, either you make the whole image look stunning or your subject will look weird

the top of the first image look like you did some cloning because of the repeating pattern

2nd pic is nice, i like the cool and warm tone mixing together

it is nothing wrong to learn from copying but having your own style in products is the best

Yes.. The cloning not perfect.. at I clone a lot this photo.. I only shoot until the bride skirt and the rest i just clone.. 30% photo is clone and not include the fake tiles..

wow....then it is not bad already, i only use cloning to clone away dust mark in the image

nothing wrong the replies so far actually.

they're telling OP the facts that if you can't get the basics right - don't bother learning up those PP techniques because it will not work.

ok la very simple.

i tell you straight, you are new. your focus now should be

1. getting your exposure
2. getting your composition
3. getting your colors (tonality, dynamic range)

that doesn't mean you can't try out PPing but just get your focus correct.

and his editing takes quite some work.

And if you look at his photos, they have the 3 elements I mentioned to you above. With those 3 elements, then only his PP can stand out. This applies to other photos too.

You could try out this software, helps a lot in trying to get your effects http://www.niksoftware.com/nikcollection/usa/intro.html

your camera, even a camera many years back can do it.

portraiture / wedding photos are not something that pushes the boundaries of photographic equipment.

the subject is stationary, you have time to pose all you want for most of the time ........... unless you're catching the magic hour, you better be damn good at posing and giving instructions to your subjects, and be quick in adjusting camera settings.

so as you can see - the photographer is the limitation.

no, you don't need pro gears to do great stuff.

my cloning oso never exceed 30% of the image i manipulate. He did it nicely, really hahah

I never notice the cloning part in the bride pic . Right after u mention it , then i notice. lol

First of all , thx for the software! going to try the trial today.

Well, i think i manage to understand abit of exposure.

But compo and dynamic range haven't : /

would it be ok if post some image here and ask u guys to comment it on what am i lacking and should improve?

ah , all this time i keep telling my self i couldn't get the effect coz i didn't hv 5d like keda.z did . hahah , my bad

yah , most wedding picture i study, sometimes the subject no need to do anything oso can get nice pic , it's all depend on the angle n such from the photographer. In which im still weak for now .

Thx for clarifying it!

Keda's pictures gave a soothing and smooth expression of the subject.

yeahh, it's like magic .

Hehe, you guys only see it on SCREEN.

You haven't seen the artworks in person. Wait till you see it on print, even more WOW.

You making me drooling lol

the print itself surely coz 1k+ right?

Cost of the print? No la, not RM 1k to print those photos la. Doesn't cost much. I know cos Keda and myself print using the same service provider. So I know the price, and I did manage to see his prints before when I visit the printer.

Furthermore I was part of the organizing committee for some local photography events, I also get to see Keda's pic if he submits for the competition.

You see, what a lot of people don't know there's a lot more involved before he even get to bag any prize.

I'm a little short of time right now, maybe I'll explain more later if you're interested.

Perhaps you can read what I wrote here. http://www.goldfries.com/photography/my-jo...ciation-mpa-uk/

Just see what I go through to reach MPA qualified status.

They have 3 levels. I'm at the lowest level which is the F. If I'm not mistaken, Keda reached A, which is the 2nd level and not long ago reached the top level, which is really hard to reach.

Basically myself and Keda went through the same process. The key separation between me and him, is his artistic ability which is really really astounding.

Eh no no , i meant the price of his printing product and , waa so lucky to have top used service provider. Can view so many famous ppl's print too

Ah, i'll be waiting from u more. =D

Btw , thanks alot for ur website. Amazing post and inspire me to believe 600d isn't the limitation. Yah like the judges, im shocked how u got all the dishes pic like in studio just with a single speedlight??

Tbh , if u put ur self level F, then im Z now .

I can get commercial grade quality food photo without using speedlight. http://www.shutterstock.com/sets/927619-pa....html?rid=10757

You see ah, a lot of people PP for digital viewing only. Ask them about PRINT and they go blank.

For MPA level qualification and competition, we're judged based on PRINT. This means people like Keda, will have to edit as such and the PP itself would have to also look great (or even better) in print.

You have a 600D. good. Your 60D works like my 60D.

Let me show you this

http://www.thempa.com/commercial-photography-food.php CLICK this, then click the image on the furthest right (the lobster)



That's my photo. I've been featured there for some 2 years now. EOS 550D. 50mm f1.4. 580EX II flash. Shot was done in about 2 minutes, it was just a food that's on display at an event. Manipulation of single flash with environment.

In short - the moment you start to think your gear is limiting you, that's it. You're not going to be progressing already.

Look at the image below


Source

Taken with Samsung Galaxy Nexus. My louyah camera phone punya Nexus can do, your DSLR cannot do?

his wedding package I donno la, last I heard is 5 figures type. budget RM 20k first la.

now back to the topic.

RM 30,000 type printer used to print the works that are sent to competition.



Like I said - judged on print. Judging done by top-caliber photographers.

Why judge on print? By having good print, it shows the photographer is competent in the post process, not just the digital part of the workflow but also down to choice of printer, print material, and so on so forth.

For me, I've not bought any lens for a few years now. I spend on International level competitions. Money goes to the participation fees, print cost and print shipping.

If you get good grades, those become bragging rights. Whether you get good or bad grades, you get to know where you stand - INTERNATIONALLY.

And not only that, these competition also give you feedback. From your score, you get to know how good is your image. For example last year's competition, I was quite confident that my photos were good enough but to face with the harsh reality that all my photos were good BUT fall short of the grade to be given recognition. Many of my photos are 2 points short of their 80 points requirement to be given a merit prize.

Put it simple, I pay to get to know where I stand, and to get feedback from experts.

All in all it's about where you want to head to in the photography world. You want to advance in your gear or advance in your art?

Will you be a painter with 3 brushes that produces beautiful art? Or a painter with a whole lot of high-grade brushes but produces mediocre work?

Thank you for sharing all these info. It's really an eye opener for me.

wah this type of photo must have very good lighting source do u use reflector

yes - good lighting source.

no reflectors used.

Just so happen that day there was good sunlight. the sunlight was already diffused by the surrounding buildings. You could consider those buildings as reflectors in a way.

can you tell the difference between the photo above and the ones taken with DSLR here? http://www.shutterstock.com/sets/927619-pa....html?rid=10757

the dslr one sure handle the detail in highlight better

In Keda Z's work - you'll see a lot of element of planning and execution.

The shots are all very well thought of. From the subjects, to the attire, the background, lighting and in some cases - the moment (eg wave splash).

Learn to get a good shot holds priority over PPing techniques.

Printing thing as in material and color profile izzit? Or there is more of it ?

no need good lens, spend more on other thing. ok ok noted.

Damn, the lobster and the one from samsung galaxy nexus . But im so jealous from the samsung galaxy one , looks really like dslr, pro shot dy. hahah



I'm going to used and remember this quote for a very long time. Truly motivating! thanks!

Hopefully my pic got reviewed in ur photosfeedback

printing material - glossy or matte, lustre paper? art paper? 101 other papers out there.

a lot of people PP for colors only - did you know that there's destructive side of PP where it spoils the pixels in the image, making it less appealing in print?

is not only the type of paper and color profile only

for each type of paper there is different profile to them, for example glossy paper will have higher contrast by nature, matte will have lower contrast and etc

if you are displaying your work in exhibition center/booth/public place where the lightning might be different, it will affect the quality and details of your prints as well

in photoshop there is a feature where you can turn it on to show the part where the color is over-saturated for the paper to handle then you have to make appropriate adjustment to it

get it right in out of the camera is just a part of it, having good camera/lenses is secondary, it is the combination of the whole workflow that makes the difference

Pinning this thread on my fav list. Love how the conversation is going. Well done everyone.

Good lecture brian...