How to take pictures like this? - 2

I've just picked up photography as a hobby and have been learning about some really neat ways to take pictures. I see pictures like this all the time and I was always curious how do they come out like this? Is is a Photoshop effect? Lighting effect? Combination of both? Any advice would fantastic. I'm taking a trip with some friends to a waterfall and I'd like to put this effect on it when they all go jumping off. Unless it's more suited for dark light settings and such. Thank you.

https://www.facebook.com/...=1&theater

Since there will be a lot of running, would anyone know the best setting on a Nikon 3100 for catching something like this and running. Best for fast motion.

'Absence of despair' is shot with a mix of ambient light & flash. It's also been post processed using HDR/tone mapping techniques plus also a high pass filter in an attempt to get the 'Dave Hill' look. THe lighting info is there for you to see under the pic;

'B800 in beauty dish to camera left.
B800 to camera right, bare for rim.
HUGE light in sky, for hair light
Powered by Vagabond II
Fired with Cybersyncs'

(B800's are Alien Bees monobloc lights, the Vagabond is the outdoor power source & Cybersyncs are the triggers he used).

The stage shot is done with a slow shutter speed to blur motion - how slow you need to go depends on too many factors - ambient light levels, the motion of the subject for example - you need to experiment. If you want to blur some of the motion but also have the subject sharp at the end of the movement (or the beginning), you can use slow sync flash with rear curtain (or front curtain) sync.