How does she do it?

[Illuminati]

Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir is a photographer (not a Pentaxian though) that always amazes me. Her photos always have this surreal look to them, where things look muted not just desaturated.

Take this photo, for example: http://flickr.com/photos/rebba/1891604591/

Anyone have any idea how she might be achieving such an effect? I'm almost certain everything (except the perspective) is achieved using PP.

- Jason

[CyberCoyote]

I'm at work so can't test it, but it looks like she's using s sepia layer over parts of the exposure and then adjusting the opacity for the desired effect, letting the sky be. The use of the wide angle makes for some interesting pics there..

[Illuminati]

I made an attempt to mimic her style today. My photo comes nowhere close to what she can produce, but I think it came out quite well.

Here's the unedited (except for resize):


Here's the edited version:


What do you think?

- Jason

[Peacekeeper]

What did you do?... EXACTLY..... on that post process Jason

Crash

[Illuminati]

Crashman wrote:

What did you do?... EXACTLY..... on that post process Jason

Crash

Not much, actually. I did the usual levels adjustment and sharpening first. To get the effect, I first applied a color mixer layer; this should bring the colors down and really add the surrealism (mine only does it modestly). Next, I applied a brightness/contrast layer to bring the brightness back up. Third, I applied a lens correction to add the vignette.

That's essentially what I did.

- Jason

[Illuminati]

Tried another photo to see how the technique handles something with people in it. Took a lot more tweaking in the color mixer to get both the (somewhat) surreal look with a reasonable skin tone.



- Jason

[Peacekeeper]

"I first applied a color mixer layer; this should bring the colors down and really add the surrealism (mine only does it modestly)."

Exactly, what is a color mixer layer???