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Thread: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

  1. #51
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

    Here we are after a year of thread and I still don't get the connection. To me, Karsh and Hurrell did things quite differently. I've had long conversations with one
    of Hurrell's longtime assistants, and we have a big Hurrell print in our family collection. A lot of pencil smudge on the negatives was involved. Karsh, on the other hand, tended to render some very crisp prints with hard lighting if the subject was appropriate for that. I don't see much resemblance at all.

  2. #52

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    Re: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Here we are after a year of thread and I still don't get the connection. To me, Karsh and Hurrell did things quite differently. I've had long conversations with one
    of Hurrell's longtime assistants, and we have a big Hurrell print in our family collection. A lot of pencil smudge on the negatives was involved. Karsh, on the other hand, tended to render some very crisp prints with hard lighting if the subject was appropriate for that. I don't see much resemblance at all.
    Well, they both shot b&w portraiture with an 8x10 and were very good at what they did.

    I'm a big fan of both and I agree, Drew. They differ more than they resemble each other.

  3. #53

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    Re: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

    Geez!
    How come nobody here wants to sucker punch Hurrell and deck Karsh?
    I took on Ansel, Kerestz and Weston with one arm tied behind my back in that other thread.
    What a bunch of panty waist poltroons!
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  4. #54
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

    Quote Originally Posted by John Kasaian View Post
    Geez!
    How come nobody here wants to sucker punch Hurrell and deck Karsh?
    I took on Ansel, Kerestz and Weston with one arm tied behind my back in that other thread.
    What a bunch of panty waist poltroons!
    May the Force be with you.
    Tin Can

  5. #55

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    Re: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

    Funny, I missed the point that all this was about punching and decking. As Drew pointed out correctly, the original question may be a little beside the point. Karsh had a very consistent style while Hurrell changed frequently. The closest common denominator may be the light, though they used that quite differently, too. It's also interesting to see that basically all posts (mine included) assumed that stradibarrius indeed meant Hurrell's soft look. It made for an interesting thread anyway. I think my own preference doesn't matter in this respect.

    Peter
    c&c always welcome!

    "The world just does not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera." (W. Eugene Smith)


    http://peter-yeti.jimdo.com

  6. #56

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    Re: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Yeti View Post
    Funny, I missed the point that all this was about punching and decking. As Drew pointed out correctly, the original question may be a little beside the point. Karsh had a very consistent style while Hurrell changed frequently. The closest common denominator may be the light, though they used that quite differently, too. It's also interesting to see that basically all posts (mine included) assumed that stradibarrius indeed meant Hurrell's soft look. It made for an interesting thread anyway. I think my own preference doesn't matter in this respect.

    Peter
    I've got a book on Hurrell and the beginning of the book starts out with his very early work and progresses to his later work. It's obvious that his images got sharper over time and were not soft focus later.

    If we read the OP's original post it says that he owns an RB67 150mm soft focus lens that he is not happy with. I think what he is looking for is sharp but not clinically sharp like Karsh's work and Hurrell's later work. Today's modern lenses are sometimes too sharp for portraits unless you desire to show every little detail and imperfection.

  7. #57

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    Re: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Yeti View Post
    Funny, I missed the point that all this was about punching and decking. As Drew pointed out correctly, the original question may be a little beside the point. Karsh had a very consistent style while Hurrell changed frequently. The closest common denominator may be the light, though they used that quite differently, too. It's also interesting to see that basically all posts (mine included) assumed that stradibarrius indeed meant Hurrell's soft look. It made for an interesting thread anyway. I think my own preference doesn't matter in this respect.

    Peter
    Here you go, Peter
    http://www.largeformatphotography.in...19#post1231319
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  8. #58
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

    Hurrell matched the work to the need. Movie stars needed to look like movie stars, even if it meant chainsawing a wart off their nose. They had all the necessary
    tricks long before Photoshop. One doesn't go about making Charles Bronson and Jane Russell look the same. I mean ... one needs wrinkles and character marks,
    the other needs everything blended and covered up. Every portrait photographer knows that much.

  9. #59

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    Re: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

    If I may chime in, 20 years ago I tried to copy the Hurrell look, I found a beautiful fresnel light that gave a glow to the skin, I used a very thick 8x10 film I cannot remember which one but it had to stand up to a lot of pencil work, I found that I did not need to soften the lens because the combination of light and the pencil work gave the desired effects, having said that the skill the retoucher's back then must have been exceptional and after trying these techniques I just could not match the skin glow he had, so I gave on on portrait work.

    Karsch on the other hand was great at capturing the subjects character not only the lighting but the mood and pose, as Drew said, these two are very different, I love Hurrell for immortalising woman and Karsh for men.

    Give me Photoshop any day.

  10. #60
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: technique to get the "Karsh, Hurrell" look from sharp lenses??

    I don't do portraits often. But I've kept my big Arri Fresnel and a 14" dagor for the 8x10. My problem is finding classic graded papers with a lot of silver that snatch
    develop well - a VERY different technique than I use for typical landscape photography, but ooohh so subtle in the midtones and highlights. I've got a bit of EMaks paper left. Otherwise I've made MGWT work nicely, but in a different manner. I've got a lot of respect for those old timers who did this kind of thing on a routine
    basis. But they knew about pyro too.

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