That "moody" look I see a lot?

I'm sure those of you who scour around the internet enough have seen (or contributed) to a fair amount of the kinds of photos I'm talking about. The best way I can explain it (and I'll image provide examples) is almost "grey" or "desaturated" (closest words I can find, but by no means correct), but at the same time, the image still has a lot of life. It's just all around really moody and subtle. I'm just kind of wondering what kind of post-processing goes into these kinds of photos? I've been trying to get similar results, but I can't seem to hit it where I want it. I feel like I get close, but fall short. I'm a heavy Lightroom user, but I also have Photoshop, but I don't really use it for post-processing photos.

These examples are from a photographer who actually got me into photography back when I was 13. The photographer is Jason Benjamin:

http://perfecthue.com …44686138_99bcd8​19ff_h.jpg
http://perfecthue.com …68405856_7ad9b2​b303_k.jpg
http://perfecthue.com …G_9125_jason_be​njamin.jpg
http://perfecthue.com …/photography/IM​G_5366.JPG
http://perfecthue.com …/photography/IM​G_7030.jpg

The two in the URL below are ones I took. One is a selfie (:p) which I think gets kind of close, but falls short. The other is one that I took of my ex which I think is pretty spot on, but again, just barely falls short of what I'm aiming for.

http://imgur.com/a/Fo1​if

Does anyone have any tips or advice? Does anyone even know what I'm talking about?

midnight sepia action? Try www.atncentral.com

well, I know there are tons of Lightroom presets that will get you in this ball park. Visual Supply Co comes to mind. Not the cheapest route to take, but its a bit quicker than messing around with the tome curves for hours.

Wait--people actually buy presets, or is it more of a plugin? I thought most of the people on here just did it themselves. :$

there are thousands of presets online, some you buy, many are free. And there are other routes, plugins come to mind, some great stuff out there and not very expensive.

quadwing wrote in post #16262217
Wait--people actually buy presets, or is it more of a plugin? I thought most of the people on here just did it themselves. :$

Yes you can buy presets and, of course, plug-ins. So just ask yourself what it's worth to you. Pay someone for their creative efforts, or do-it-yourself?

Well, what do most of you guys tend to do?

The examples def look like VSCO to me.

I use plug inst all the time, then tweak from there. Not sure what that has to do with other people's creativity, I'm not building my own camera or computer either, LOL

Most if not all plugins give you free trial, Alienskin, Niksoftware, OnOne, are just the top 3 IMO. They have plenty samples and videos on their site, you can look if you see something you like, then try it.

Presets are great tools, after all, LR itself already has a bunch. Of course you can do it all yourself if you have the time, I don't. I often combine them, change settings, layer them in PS, but as tools I see them no different than buying a set of 40 colors instead of mixing everything myself from the three primaries. Useful shortcuts that save a ton of time and quite often show ways I might never have stumbled across myself. In the end it's your vision, everything else are just tools to get there. You can build a house with a hammer and a hack saw or you can use better tools and prefab pieces

I'm actually misunderstanding how combining presets in Lightroom works. Using the default for example, I'm not quite sure how to stack one preset on top of another when it comes to getting a "look". And that's a good way to explain it--it makes me feel less like I'm cheating, hehe.

quadwing wrote in post #16262398
I'm actually misunderstanding how combining presets in Lightroom works. Using the default for example, I'm not quite sure how to stack one preset on top of another when it comes to getting a "look". And that's a good way to explain it--it makes me feel less like I'm cheating, hehe.

Some presets will "compliment" others, some will totally overwrite others.

Lightroom is not so good for "comprehensive and complex editing solutions", Lightroom gives you creative control and expects you to use it. Presets, if you use them, can be a "starting point", but will not necessarily give you a "finished product" depending on what you want to accomplish. This is why "demanding" photo processors typically resort to Photoshop or other more "in-depth" photo editors.

That being said, I still use Lightroom and only occasionally resort to Photoshop.

Those images all look quite different to me. One looks like midnight sepia, some look like the current low contact/no blacks trend, some just look warm.

quadwing wrote in post #16262217
Wait--people actually buy presets, or is it more of a plugin? I thought most of the people on here just did it themselves. :$

i bought two vsco preset packs and built a bunch myself over the past year or so. It all depends on how much time you want to invest in fiddling. It wasnt worth it to me to spend all that time required to figure something as obscure as digital film emulation out. I do feel the Vsco packs are a bit on the pricier side. Many of the Vsco (Visual Supply) pack presets are pretty close to one another, with subtle differences. I do think they tend to be grain heavy, but I make a habit of using the presets as a starting point, and working off from there.