I spoke with him a few weeks back, it's a great guy, will ask about the processing!
Hello Bruno, nice reading you again and thanks for your kind words. My magic powder? Actually not a lot of it, I like to keep things simple and I don't spend too much time in belaboring an image. I value (1) shooting and (2) editing more than (3) processing. However, of course, no decent image will ever get the respect it deserves if you don't work on it with the required love!
Filmic? Well perhaps it's because I was born long enough ago to have been playing with Ilford HP5 for a good while!
My LR processing tools are few but well worn, mostly pre-set based (no commercial pre-sets even of VSCO is often tempting, I resist. I owe a debt of gratitude to a few, including Olivier Duong ar Inspired Eye, that are generous enough to share some of their recipes on the web, my presets build on their experience, modified to suit my taste.
In essence, I have a few presets doing specialized tasks (do not 'undo' other adjustments), namely:
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import basis: especially important when importing LeicaM9 color images for BW treatment. On Fuji files, I now rely on Adobe's version of Fuji's own JPEG BW conversion engines, though they make later color channel mixing impossible (a bit like using Leica Monochrom files)
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exposure fixing: faster with presets though always tweakable with sliders!
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contrast/clarity: a few gradually stronger presets to be used sparingly --- not every image can stang heavy contrast and I think Moriyama should be left well alone on his pedestal. I am thankful to Olivier Duong for showing me the power of lowlight/highlight contrast stretching in his presets! Very effective to bring structure out of an image.
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vignetting/grain: vignetting done in moderate, not immediatelt apparent doses is essential to 'focus' an image, and grain, well, it's grain! Filmlike at will. I read a lot of criticism of the Adobe grain engines but I believe it's unfair. Yes perhaps SilverEfex and TrueGeain are marginally more 'organic', but not to the point of justifying the creation of superheavy side TIFFs disrupting the zenlike LR flow!
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local dodging/burning, sometimes indispensable to higlight a face in particular. Long live those darkroom sessions, but muuuuch better to have full control of results on a screen... Never overcooked though, I believe in respecting the ingredients without makimg the processing take center stage. An image must speak to the shooting, not to the processing.
So there you go, my playbook is simple!
Best
Giovanni
