Question: Striking portraits

[Wooglah]

I've found this set on the lickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vedats/...7615168718322/

You will notice that all the portraits of older people are done in the same fashion. They seem vibrant, sharp, ... striking.

So, even if I know that must be result of lots of work, knowlege and experimentation, I must ask - what are some general steps in achieving this kind of result, or - what general steps would you try to reproduce this kind of result when starting with regular portrait taken in the street, with no special lighting or stuff...

If there already is topic about tehnique similar to this, please include the link and lock the topic, I did not manage to find it, but since I dont know what I am looking for...

[OsmosisStudios]

Alot of it is high-pass and oversharpening.

[Wooglah]

Heh, sounds so easy, but I would never know that on my own I've used google to find out some tutorials on the topic now that I know what it's called.

Thanx

[OsmosisStudios]

http://photoshopfrenzy.com/?p=94

[Nathan deGargoyle]

You might also google "dragan effect" which should give you a few ideas.