How to Replicate Dave Hill's Photography Style and Effects in Adobe Photoshop

Dave Hill is one of the most popular photographers alive, and has taken shots of hundreds of celebrities, athletes, and bands. All of his shots have a unique, easy to identify style that is uniquely his. Though many people try to replicate Dave Hill's style, it is primarily the by-product of careful lighting and excellent photography skills. The results gained from running a normal photograph through Photoshop won't be identical to Dave Hill's effects, but will be similar...and who knows? You might just develop a style that is uniquely your own.

Step 1 - Lighting

If you want to get as pure of an image as you can, look at the 'behind the scenes' videos on Dave Hill's official website. You can get an idea of the way he sets his lighting up for different types of shots, and use that to glean information on how you should go about lighting your own scenes.

Notice that in many of his images, he uses light to create harsh angles, and also tends to avoid deep shadows.

Step 2 - Bracketing

If you don't have the proper lighting equipment to light an scene the way you need it, take bracketed shots (assuming it is a stationary object), and process them in an HDR program or Photoshop. Do not tone map them, just combine them.

Step 3 - Processing

At this point you will need to process the photo. The individual photograph will demand unique settings, but the process to get the style is relatively similar.

Open Adobe Photoshop and import the photo. Make sure the colors are set to CMYK or RBG depending on the image. Download the free trial of Topaz Adjust, a plugin for Photoshop that allows you to manipulate images easily using an array of sliders and presets.

Open Topaz Adjust (Filter > Topaz Labs) and wait for your image to load in it. Scroll through the presets and find one that most resembles the look you're going for. In most cases (which is unique to my photography, it might not apply to yours), the Dramatic Portrait is the best preset to use.

Increase the softness of the image so that skin tones are slightly smooth. Don't over-sharpen; the look Dave gets isn't from being sharp, but from being properly formatted. Increase the vibrance or saturation until the colors are bright, but don't make them cartoonish.
Close Topaz Adjust and use the burn tool to selectively darken creases, and use the dodge tool to selectively lighten things, such as eyes and clothing.