Help needed with Black & White process

[#1]

I have been trying for weeks to replicate the chromey look you often see on female models skin without success.

The nearest I have come is using the gradient map with a high contrast but it just produces a greyish image without that lovely chrome/metallic look in the image I have attached below.

Would greatly appreciate any advice in achieving this effect.

Using a Mac with Photoshop 2021

[#2]

I have been trying for weeks to replicate the chromey look you often see on female models skin without success.

The nearest I have come is using the gradient map with a high contrast but it just produces a greyish image without that lovely chrome/metallic look in the image I have attached below.

Would greatly appreciate any advice in achieving this effect.

Using a Mac with Photoshop 2021

[#3]

I don’t see an attachment. 

Also please post an image you want to edit thusly. 

[#4]

Sorry, here is the image that did not post

for

Help needed with Black & White process

[#5]

Have you considered the lighting this was shot in?

A smallish softbox fairly close to the model, slightly to the left and above the camera, will give this effect. Plus a reflector and a light on the right to highlight the shoulder.

The art of photography has been in sharp decline for a while. These days, people think everything is "just Photoshop". And while it is a fantastic tool that can do a lot of things, most of them are much more efficiently and quickly done on the spot. Ten minutes rigging lights, vs. four hours in Photoshop...or as in your case, weeks.

[#6]

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate that the lighting setup will produce a similar effect. This lighting is one of the few I use

to get that nice wrap around softness but I still cannot get that metallic/silver/chrome type finish. My images are similar to the one posted but end up looking like a nice soft B&W image without the chromey type glow.

[#7]

Can you post one of those unedited images (or part thereof)? 

[#8]

Hi,

Sorry I do not have an image that was taken with that lighting setup at the moment that I could post, the only recent images suitable are exclusive to a client.

Apart from the lighting setup, can you offer any ideas in Photoshop to create that look, a preset or LUT or plain good old adjustments.

As I mentioned previously it appears to be better with higher contrast and the B&W conversion done with a gradient map adjustment layer.

Many thanks for your interest in helping.

[#9]

Smoothing, Frequency Separation, large-scale oversharpening, touch-up, …

The approaches depend on the image, so without the image in question (or a relevant section of it) it seems close to pointless to discuss this.