# Gregory Crewdson - how does he make photographs look like paintings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764 "2017-07-08T18:22:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/1 "2017-07-08T18:22:40Z")
I like his new series, Cathedral of the Pines. They remind me of watercolor paintings. Like this [https://goo.gl/images/gT6Y1m](https://goo.gl/images/gT6Y1m) But they are photographs. Is he heavily manipulating them in Photoshop? He only says he uses diffused lighting. He’s doing more than that to get this look. They could easily be mistaken for paintings. They are quite well done. I’d love to have full size framed prints for the wall. I really like the white house winter scene. The street photo is very good too. > **[Eerie photos show the dark side of rural US | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/style/article/gregory-crewdson-photographers-gallery/index.html)** > > Gregory Crewdson’s latest series, “Cathedral of the Pines,” brings his signature foreboding aesthetic to the rural Berkshires in western Massachusetts. > [@](#): > > Crewdson carefully constructs his tableaux and then bathes them in soft, suffusing twilight, real and artificial. Then he takes the photograph. Something has happened or is about to happen; we don’t know quite what. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/2 "2017-07-08T19:30:36Z")
There was an Australian radio program some years ago about Crewdson. [http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/artworks/artworks-feature-the-elaborate-moments-of-gregory/3658338](http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/artworks/artworks-feature-the-elaborate-moments-of-gregory/3658338) There are a couple of images of his sets among the photos here. And you can listen to the interview with him [here](http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2012/01/aks_20120101_1105.mp3). Interestingly he mentions that he never takes the photo himself. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/3 "2017-07-08T23:12:52Z")
Awesome. I’ll play the interview later this evening. Thank you for the link ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/4 "2017-07-08T23:58:06Z")
Dunno how he, specifically, does it, but there are some very nice image-processing filters that take pictures and make them look like oil-paintings. Take a look at [dreamscopeapp.com](http://dreamscopeapp.com) – they have a gallery of samples on their home page. For further exploration you need to sign in, but they appear to work for free. There are painting and drawing apps for lease – not free, but not horribly expensive – and some of them have “oil painting” filters. The results can be pretty impressive. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/5 "2017-07-09T00:26:54Z")
The Filters sound interesting. I have a few photos of landscapes that might be improved that way. I’ll try [dreamscopeapp.com](http://dreamscopeapp.com) first. Several of their examples are very nice. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/6 "2017-07-09T00:50:08Z")
The quintessential photo-to-painting program is [Studio Artist](https://synthetik.com), which has been around for ages. ---
**Author:** ![pabstist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@pabstist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pabstist)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/7 "2017-07-09T02:03:24Z")
I’ve seen his photos in real life, and they are not at all watercolor like, rather they are super sharp focused. Very realistic. They do not look like paintings in any way. Have you only seen images of the photos on the site you linked? Here’s a better image of the first photo shown there- [![](http://thephotographicjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/CREWD-2013.The-Shed2.jpg) ](http://thephotographicjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/CREWD-2013.The-Shed2.jpg) The prints in this series are also about 4 by 5 feet. Maybe you could hang it on your dining room wall. But, a lot of his earlier works are almost billboard sized! Yeah, he’s probably my favorite artist working these days in any medium. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/8 "2017-07-09T02:15:20Z")
That is a lot sharper than the image on CNN. I hadn’t noticed the paintings leaning on the wall. 😃 It’s the vibrant colors that reminds me of water color paintings. The rich, earthy brown in that photo. The contrasting bright green. Very nice composition. I probably can’t afford his work unless prints become widely available. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/9 "2017-07-09T02:44:12Z")
All photographs do go through Photoshop or similar post-processing these days, for adjusting the lighting via High Dynamic Range, or sharpening, and many are blends of multiple photos taken at different times or exposures to have them all in focus or to be the work of art they’re after. I think what you’re perceiving is a low contrast, overcast light with a very long lens makes everything unusually, but carefully, composed and composited. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/10 "2017-07-09T03:05:05Z")
…Crewdson lights his images like a movie set. He uses big huge soft light to light his images, and is meticulous in planning his images, which includes the balance of colours that he choose to use in his final shot. [https://nz.pinterest.com/pin/199988039675817789/](https://nz.pinterest.com/pin/199988039675817789/) Crewdson shoot his work to be seen big. This gallery picture shows how big his prints are. [![](https://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/installation-e-web.jpg) ](https://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/installation-e-web.jpg) There is an extraordinary amount of detail in these shots. This is one of my favourite Crewdson images: [![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iaUuJP1tMuc/T0asxt_xo3I/AAAAAAAAgh8/CGHJa1bRBkY/s1600/gregory-crewdson-untitled-shane-e28098beneath-the-roses_-2006.jpeg) ](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iaUuJP1tMuc/T0asxt_xo3I/AAAAAAAAgh8/CGHJa1bRBkY/s1600/gregory-crewdson-untitled-shane-e28098beneath-the-roses_-2006.jpeg) If you look real closely, through the mist in the background you can see a group of people there. Its hard to see online, but you can see them clear as day when looking at the print. I’m sure he is as meticulous with his post processing as he is with planning and producing the shoot. But it isn’t just the post processing that makes these shots so unique: its the attention to detail, its the pre-planning, its the deep-depth of field. > **[Gregory Crewdson's Epic Effects](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/gregory-crewdsons-epic-effects-48744461/)** > > The photographer uses movie production techniques to create "in-between moments." But you'll have to supply the story line My favourite quote from the interview was “we had to cancel the rain shoot because it rained.” These are carefully crafted images, not spontaneously captured. He typically has limited print runs of 10 prints only, and they sell for up to $150,00 per print. But that isn’t surprising when each shot might cost over a hundred thousand dollars to produce. So I don’t think he is planning on making his prints more widely available. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregory-crewdson-how-does-he-make-photographs-look-like-paintings/790764/11 "2017-07-09T03:15:32Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That is a lot sharper than the image on CNN. I hadn’t noticed the paintings leaning on the wall. 😃 > > It’s the vibrant colors that reminds me of water color paintings. > > The rich, earthy brown in that photo. The contrasting bright green. Very nice composition. > > **I probably can’t afford his work unless prints become widely available.** You could go to one of the exhibits and take pictures. 😃