Nice tones - how to get them?

[profus]

I like tones and pp like in those 2 pics from this fine danish photographer ( pics borrowed from claus morkussen ). I have tried to reproduce it, but was never really satisfied with the result. I played with curves, bleach effect, enhanced contrast, vibrance and sharpness but...

I know he uses LR, but it's gotta be a way to do something like this in CS4/CS5?
Anybody wants to give a try? Thank folks - any inputs are appreciated!

( pic nr. 3 can be used to play with or you can use any other photo of your choice to modify )

 

[ColourBlind]

Shoot raw in a reasonably shaded area and using ACR to import the raw file in Photoshop, desaturate the image a little and increase the clarity slider.

Vignette the edges a little to finish

The background on these is also brighter than the subjects and looks a bit misty so it fades away nicely, creating a less intrusive backdrop.

 

[MichaelAM]

a more extensive description would be highly appreciated.
anyone?

 

[Newbie Phewbie]

The best I could do using the previous poster's instructions.