What is this portrait lighting/color style called, and how can I recreate it?
Asked 1/10/2012
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I saw a portrait on 500px that looks a bit like high key at first, but it has a darker background and a faded, yellow-green tone. I’m trying to identify the style and understand whether the look comes mostly from lighting, post-processing, or both. Is there a common name for this effect, and what edits would you use to achieve a similar result in Photoshop or GIMP?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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This looks like a well-lit portrait (I'm thinking artificial off-camera lighting rather than natural light) with a 'vintage' colour treatment in Photoshop. The lighting is pretty much impossible to replicate in post-processing, but you can achieve a similar colouring result in Photoshop or GIMP by opening your Levels tool and doing the following:
Edit each channel individually:
Red: raise the bottom left point.
Green: make a new point in the center and drop it slightly.
Blue: raise the bottom left point and lower the top right point, then make a new point at the center and drop it slightly.
Use an adjustment layer or a separate image layer and vary the opacity to alter the strength of the effect.
Originally by user3205. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user3205
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This is best described as a well-lit portrait with a vintage-style color treatment, rather than true high-key lighting. The bright, soft portrait lighting was likely created during the shoot, while the faded yellow/green cast was added in post.
A similar look can be made with curves/levels or color balance adjustments:
- Slightly desaturate the image.
- In individual RGB channels, lift the black point to create a faded matte look.
- Shift color toward green and yellow for the skin/background tone.
- Some examples from the answers: raise the lower left point in the red and blue channels, slightly lower midtones in green/blue, and optionally lower the blue channel’s top right point.
- Alternatively, use Color Balance and move toward green and yellow/away from magenta and blue.
Use adjustment layers and reduce opacity to control the strength.
So the useful search terms are things like “vintage portrait effect,” “matte faded portrait,” or “curves vintage color grading.”
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