James_N Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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You can learn a lot by "reverse engineering" the processing in Photoshop. Here I used a temporary Threshold adjustment layer and the Info Panel to get readings of the (1) Shadow, (2) Highlight, and (3) Neutral or Grey points in the first photo.
I also used 3x3 sample points to ensure the accuracy of the readouts.
The Shadow point (Sample #1) is Red = 52, Green = 32, and Blue = 23
The Highlight point (Sample #2) is Red = 242, Green = 238, and Blue = 225
The Neutral/Grey point (Sample #3) is Red = 134, Green = 131, and Blue = 126
http://i.imgur.com/ezpBL35.png
These numbers indicate that there are no true black (o reading) or white points (255 reading) in the photo suggesting that the shadow point has be raised and the highlight points lowered in the processing. Secondly, the shadows in the photo have been pushed towards Red but the neutral and white points are relatively equal.
Applying the same Curves to another photo yields this result:
http://i.imgur.com/feQDYk5.png
http://i.imgur.com/1jBK8RW.jpg
Obviously, the second photo was shot in harder, less diffuse light than the first photo; but in similar lighting conditions you will get the same results as the first photo by applying the Curves as described. You can account for the lighting difference by now manipulating the Composite Curve (represented in White). Also, you can save the Curves settings as a preset that can be applied to other images at any time.
You can get similar results with plug-ins but it helps to know how the processing was actually done.
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