How to get this velvety, textured look

[AndreaThomasNC]

I love the photography of Jessica Hamlin! Her photos have such a rich texture and an almost "velvety" look to me. I know she has mentioned primarily using the Canon 135mm lens, which is also what I use for most of my sessions.

Here is the example photo (the color one): https://www.pinterest.com/pin/159526011779543401/ (If you click on the link, the photo is near the very bottom of the post so you can see a larger version of it.)

I have attached my "similar" photo.

Any ideas what I am missing to get that look? I feel like my photos are more "flat" in comparison and don't have that "texture" to them.

Edited April 1, 2016 by AndreaThomasNC

[Crystal Felton]

can you directly link to her site, instead of a pinterest link?

[AndreaThomasNC]

Here is the blog post that the pin is from: http://jessicahamlinphotography.com/2016/02/6-months-family-maple-valley-family-photographer/

Pinning was the only way I could find to link directly to the one image that I was trying to show.

[Crystal Felton]

I see...sorry, I'm at work, so I can't view the pin   are there any on her page that have the look you are trying for?  and is this a color thing, or just a texture in the background thing?

[AndreaThomasNC]

If you follow the link to the blog post that I just posted, the image is the 2nd row from the bottom, there are 2 pics of the little boys, 1 in color and 1 in black and white - I'm looking at the color one.

The "texture" is actually on the subject, not the background, and I'm probably not doing a good job of describing it. The subject just looks almost 3D to me, like the little boy just pops off the background and if you could touch the picture it would feel velvety. I don't think it's really a matte effect, although there might be some brown tones added to the shadows.

I feel like my images are very "flat" in comparison to the shading in these.

Edited April 1, 2016 by AndreaThomasNC

[Crystal Felton]

yeah, it's shallow dof, the subject is well away from the background, good light, probably some sharpening, and purple tones in the shadows.

[Damien Symonds]

One thing that Crystal didn't mention is how, in Jessica's photo, the background is generally darker than the child.  I'm not saying it's dark, as such, just darker than the child.  This is VERY important.

And yes, your background is a bit busier than hers.

For the colouring, just add a Levels layer and move the black Output slider on each channel:

• Red 30
• Green 15
• Blue 40

[Crystal Felton]

damien is right, you could easily darken your background with levels though