# PP Style | Thoughts on This?



## MichaelHenson (Dec 23, 2015)

Hi all,

I've been stalking a wedding studio and really like their style of processing. Most weddings tend to be super "airy" and bright with little contrast/mood. This studio has a different approach and I really like it. I'm trying to nail down how they achieve their signature look. From what I can tell, they aren't afraid of contrast and they have a unique processing to their colors. I'd love to hear your feedback/observations on how they achieve this look. I've played around a bit and get on the right track but there is just something I'm missing...

Twisted Oaks

Thoughts?


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## gsgary (Dec 23, 2015)

A lot of it is shot on film


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## MichaelHenson (Dec 23, 2015)

gsgary said:


> A lot of it is shot on film



I know some of it is. But they shoot a lot on a D750, a Pentax 645Z, and a Leica. This blog post for example:

Shooting Between The Lines | Twisted Oaks Studio


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## gsgary (Dec 23, 2015)

The Leica M9 and M240 give a film look to the colours


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## MichaelHenson (Dec 23, 2015)

That’s not what I want to hear!


There has to be a way to replicate that film look in post, right? Or is my best bet for that style going to be to sell a kidney on the black market to raise enough for a Leica setup?


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## vintagesnaps (Dec 23, 2015)

Yes, go sell a kidney. I don't know, much of what I've seen that's supposed to look like film often looks to me like pictures that have been in a shoebox in somebody's basement for decades. Color anyway, which likely shifts over time.

If I shoot fresh film in one of my rangefinders or use the same lenses on my digital camera, I don't know how much anyone could tell from the scanned images. I think in person a print from film looks quite a bit different. If I use a plastic or vintage camera it's going to look like it was shot with a film camera.


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## MichaelHenson (Dec 23, 2015)

Yeah, I get it. It's just that I really like the look of those images. The contrast, the colors, etc. It's unique but not "over the top."


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## Derrel (Dec 23, 2015)

Looks entirely digital to me, with plenty of Lightroom presets that add strong color toning  or color "looks" to the images. I see some faked tilt/shift processing on a few images, and maybe a few "real" tilt/shift lens shots. I see what looks like a fairly wide use of fast primes, like maybe a 35mm f/1.4 and and 85/1.4, lenses like that. The WIDE-ANGLE region is the one area where FAST primes like 24mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/1.4 create images that an f/2.8 zoom lens simply can not create; wide views with OOF backgrounds, which keeps the attention on the foreground, and minimizes the recongizability of the background.

Overall, this site's stuff looks like fairly straightforward processing and developing of the files, but there **us** some fake shallow DOF work being done, occasionally, along with what I can tell is heavy PS faked tilt/shift work on a few shots. I looked through three complete blog posts to form these assessments. You're right--so,so,sooo many wedding shooters have gone to the _light, bright, and airy look_ over the last decade; this stuff looks more normal, more old-fashioned, just good old regular photography, but with some modern software touches on some of the shots.


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## limr (Dec 23, 2015)

The Pentax listed on their website is the 645N, not 645Z: The description: "Jay – My go-to film camera for many reasons, biggest one being reliability and great lens selection. There really isn’t anything like shooting film, and being a hybrid shooter has helped give Twisted Oaks Studio the unique look to all of our imagery."

Before I looked at their site, I have to say that my thought was, "Looks like slide film." Apparently, some of it _is_ film, and quite possibly slide film. As for their digital shots, there are presets in most cameras but also in software to replicate slide film, so it seems they are leaning towards that film look when processing their digital shots. I noticed some of them also have a slight vignetting, which honestly reminded me of the look you can get from a Holga.

Ah, I just read the description for the Leica M240. Apparently at least one of them is sponsored by Leica.


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## MichaelHenson (Dec 23, 2015)

Great info!

I know that some of the DOF come from "Brenizer" method stitching to get huge amounts of DOF. 

So, I need to look into some presets or insight into how to replicate that look. I don't have to completely copy it or whatever, but it is unique and I really like the way it looks as opposed to the usual look, like Derrel mentioned.


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## gsgary (Dec 24, 2015)

Get some rolls of Portra 160/400 and 800


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## Braineack (Dec 24, 2015)

i quite dislike the PP on the majority of the portfolio.  I'd be very disappointed if I ended up with those shots and would probably ask for them to be redone, esepically if my wife's white wedding dress looked green in a few of the sets.


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## gsgary (Dec 24, 2015)

My Sony A7 with Leica fit lenses and close focus adapter gets rich colours straight out of the camera and very shallow dof


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## vintagesnaps (Dec 24, 2015)

If you want that look then get a film camera and pop some Portra in it! lol Seems like so much trouble to try to replicate a look, I don't quite get the appeal myself of so much post processing instead of just shooting it on film in the first place. To each his/her own I guess.


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## 407370 (Dec 24, 2015)

Looks all digital to me. There is good use of HDR and DOF in post work for most of what I saw.
Thing that stands out for me was the composition of a lot of the pics seemed just that wee bit unusual, which I found really compelling.


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## limr (Dec 24, 2015)

vintagesnaps said:


> If you want that look then get a film camera and pop some Portra in it! lol Seems like so much trouble to try to replicate a look, I don't quite get the appeal myself of so much post processing instead of just shooting it on film in the first place. To each his/her own I guess.



I'd say Ektar, but other than that, +1.


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## MichaelHenson (Dec 24, 2015)

I snagged the VSCO Film 04 pack that is "slide film" and it's got me very close to the look I like. Filmic without being too "soft" or whatever...


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