Ever wonder how much time it takes to create the grungie, high-contrast images that Dave Hill pioneered? Would you be surprised to learn that you can create the effect in under a minute? This 5-minute tutorial is designed to show you how to create this effect and get you on your way to perfecting your own technique and creating your own style.

I started with this simple image of model Andreyha - We did an 80's rocker chick themed shoot when she was just starting out. I had just purchased some new Bowens lighting equipment and wanted to test it out before using it commercially. This shoot with Andreyha produced some great results and this is one of my favorite images from that evening. this is how it looked Straight out of the Camera:

A fine image in its own right, but it didn't have the punch and edge that I remember from my teens in the 80s. I wanted something more hard, more dirty, more gutteral. It's how I remember the music, how I remember my life from those days. The edge has dulled on the music and the photos from those days - this is a good example of creating a feeling rather than replicating a look. I wanted to shoot how I remembered feeling, now replicate the exact look of the era. This image was lit and shot specifically to process with this edgie look. Here it is processed:

The lighting setup was quite simple, but the details are important. I side-lit the back wall to create high contrast. I used a tall stand and a narrow-beamreflector to aim down at the floor, creating a hot spot directly behind her. This is usually a bit garish, but fits this location and syle perfectly.The key was provided by a Small Softbox camera left. I wanted some of the effect of direct point source lighting, but wanted to soften it just a bit. My 20" square softox is perfect for this type of work. The fill light was bare bulb, tourned down load to lessen the fallof on the right edge of Andreyha's arm. Notice the highlight on her left shoulder.

The image processing took me less than a minute. Here's a 5-minute video that will show you how I did it. If you would like to download the PSD file, it's avaliable in my Repository.