Hey all! Just wanted to share a quick little trick that I like to use in photoshop to get a "matte-finish" look on some of my images. It's really very simple, but it it's not a process for EVERY image.
You wanna start with a relatively "open" image (look for something without muddy shadows). I'll use this shot from my trip to paris as an example, as this is the process I actually used on the final. Pull it up in photoshop.
© Nakota Sivak-Bennett
Next, you want to create a curves layer. Then, pull your bottom left point (the black point) up until your blacks start to look grey. Then, place a point just to the right of your black point and pull the darks back down a bit. This is definitely not an exact science, and you'll need to play with it a bit to get it right, but after a while of using this technique you'll have a good idea of what the curve will need to look like just by looking at the image. After adjusting the dark end of the spectrum, place another point towards the top third of the curve and pull your highlights back up to adjust contrast.
Again, it's very much something you need to play with to get it right, but you can really get some great results out of this simple trick! (It also works great on black & white images!)
© Nakota Sivak-Bennett