How can I recreate this cinematic zombie-portrait post-processing look?
Asked 10/30/2010
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2 answers
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I’m trying to understand the editing style used in a zombie portrait/gallery look like this: dramatic contrast, a vintage/cinematic color palette, strong reds, darkened edges, and a gritty textured feel. From looking at the images, it seems like there may be vignette, split toning or cross-processing, local exposure adjustments, and texture overlays. The shallow depth of field may be in-camera rather than added later. What post-processing steps would typically create this effect in Lightroom/Camera Raw and Photoshop?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
8
I think you've answered your own question, it looks to me like contrast + split-toning + vignette + texture layer. Nothing really suggests to me the bokeh was faked, the photos were shot with a 50 f/1.8
The vintage look as you put it is probably achieved by split toning, that is applying different colour shifts to the highlights and shadows. It doesn't take very long to do this sort of processing actually, and it can be very effective with this type if subject (it makes the make-up look a lot more convincing for a start). Here are some shots from a recent shoot where I did almost the same thing, except for the texture:
http://mattgrum.com/aaron/_M5M2778_preview.jpg
http://www.mattgrum.com/aaron/_M5M2937_preview.jpg
These were done with Adobe Camera Raw (pretty much the same as LightRoom) so you could create a preset. I'll dig out the settings when I get a chance!
Originally by user1375. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1375
15y ago
0
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This look is mainly a mix of in-camera shallow depth of field plus a fairly standard stylized edit.
Typical ingredients mentioned in the answers:
- increased contrast
- vignette
- split toning / cross-processing for the vintage-cinematic color shift
- selective local brightness/exposure tweaks, especially on faces and dark areas
- curves and color adjustments in Photoshop
- texture overlays, often blended in overlay mode
One answer noted the blur probably wasn’t fake bokeh; it likely came from shooting with a fast 50mm f/1.8 lens.
The photographer himself said his workflow was:
- Start in Lightroom on the RAW files
- Apply a custom preset for a consistent cinematic look across the series
- Make selective local adjustments to exposure/brightness
- Move to Photoshop for color and curve work to get a cross-processed look
- Add carefully chosen textures in overlay mode
So if you want to experiment, search for tutorials on cross-processing, split toning, vignetting, and texture overlays. A Lightroom preset can get you close, but the final look usually comes from combining those steps and adjusting each image selectively.
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