post processing - What kind of photo effect is this, where colors are a bit washed out, yet retains the crisp detail and the colors are almost pastel?

I've been seeing various photographers post photos with this type of effect

http://fadedandblurred.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/yangtze-2.jpg

it's a bit washed out, yet retains the crisp detail and the colors are almost pastel?

I am pretty good with photoshop, and i spent hours playing with color/levels/hues/saturation/trying to overlay colors (ala instagram), but it never comes out like this, and if it comes close it's almost by accident.

Can someone provide some insight as to how such effects are achieved? is it just a result of years of tuning ones post processing prowess?

The camera I am using is Nikon D7000.

Answer

It looks to me like it could be a bleach bypass. This effect was originally a film-processing technique, but it is often replicated digitally.

Here's one (rough) method to try in photoshop:

1. Make a duplicate layer of your photo, and set the duplicate to overlay.


2. Add a hue/saturation adjustment layer and desaturate the image (amount depends on image, so you'll have to experiment, but -60 might be a good start).


3. Add a level adjustment and play with the levels - in particular, pull the black slider to the right a little, the middle slider to the left a little.


4. Finally, you might want to add a curves adjustment and tweak the colour curves to your liking.