Understanding the Goal:
The core elements of a soft portrait are:
* Reduced harshness: Diminish strong shadows and highlights.
* Smoothed skin: Reduce the appearance of texture and blemishes.
* Gentle color: Soften and mute colors for a more ethereal feel.
* Subtle glow: Add a hint of warmth and light.
Steps to Create Your Soft Portrait Preset:
1. Import and Select an Image:
* Open Lightroom 4 and import a portrait photo that you'd like to use as your test subject.
* Select the image and switch to the Develop module.
2. Basic Panel Adjustments:
* Exposure: Adjust this to achieve a good overall brightness. Aim for slightly brighter than neutral. Consider adding a small amount (+0.10 to +0.30) to lift the shadows.
* Contrast: Reduce contrast significantly. A good starting point is around -30 to -50. This helps to soften the harshness and flatten the tonal range.
* Highlights: Lower the highlights. Go as far as you need to prevent blown-out highlights, especially on the face. Experiment with -40 to -70.
* Shadows: Increase the shadows to recover detail in darker areas and further reduce contrast. Try +30 to +60.
* Whites: Slightly lower the whites to prevent clipping. A subtle adjustment of -5 to -15 can be helpful.
* Blacks: Raise the blacks a little to lift the darkest tones and contribute to the softer look. Try +5 to +15.
* Clarity: This is crucial. Reduce clarity significantly. Start around -20 to -40. Too much will make the image look flat. Clarity is key for softening skin texture.
3. Tone Curve Panel Adjustments (Optional but Recommended):
* Switch to the Tone Curve panel.
* Consider a slight "S" curve, but a very gentle one. This adds a touch of contrast without being harsh.
* Pull down the highlights a bit.
* Lift the shadows a bit.
* Alternatively, try adjusting the point curve and raising the black point a bit. This flattens the image and makes the shadows less dense, adding to the softness.
4. HSL/Color Panel Adjustments (Important for Skin Tone):
* Go to the HSL/Color panel.
* Luminance:
* Orange: Increase the luminance of orange (the primary skin tone color). +10 to +30 is a good starting point. This brightens the skin.
* Red: Increase the luminance of red slightly, as this often contributes to skin tone. +5 to +15
* Yellow: Experiment with luminance of yellows. A slight boost (+5 to +10) can add warmth.
* Saturation:
* Orange: Reduce the saturation of orange slightly. -5 to -15. This helps to desaturate skin imperfections and makes it look softer.
* Red: Reduce red saturation slightly (-5 to -10).
* Yellow: Reduce yellow saturation slightly (-5 to -10).
* Hue: Carefully adjust the Hue sliders. Small changes can have a big impact. Generally, you'll want to avoid shifting skin tones too dramatically. Experiment with very small adjustments:
* Orange: A slight shift towards red can add warmth.
* Yellow: A slight shift towards orange can add warmth.
5. Detail Panel Adjustments:
* Sharpening: Reduce the sharpening amount. Start by setting the amount to around 20-30 (or lower) and adjust from there. You want to soften the details, not accentuate them.
* Noise Reduction: Increase Luminance noise reduction. This helps to smooth out skin texture and reduce grain. Start with 15-30 and adjust to your preference. Be careful not to overdo it, as it can make the image look plastic.
6. Effects Panel Adjustments (Optional):
* Vignetting: Consider adding a subtle, light vignette using the "Amount" slider. A negative value creates a dark vignette, while a positive value creates a white vignette. A very slight dark vignette (-5 to -15) can draw the eye to the subject.
* Grain: Adding a very small amount of grain (Amount around 5-10) can give a subtle film-like look and prevent the image from looking overly processed.
7. Calibration Panel Adjustments (Optional):
* Experiment with the Red, Green, and Blue Primary sliders in the Camera Calibration panel. Subtle adjustments can influence skin tones and overall color balance.
8. Iterate and Refine:
* Continuously evaluate the image and adjust the sliders until you achieve the desired soft portrait look. Remember that the ideal settings will vary depending on the original image.
* Try the preset on a few different portrait images to ensure it works well across various lighting conditions and skin tones.
9. Save the Preset:
* Once you're happy with the settings, click the Preset button in the left panel.
* Click the Plus (+) icon to create a new preset.
* Name your preset something descriptive, like "Soft Portrait" or "Gentle Glow Portrait."
* In the "Check" options, only select the adjustments you want included in the preset. It's generally a good idea to exclude:
* White Balance (unless you want the white balance to be part of the effect)
* Exposure (unless you want the exposure to always be part of the effect)
* Lens Corrections (if you want them to be lens-specific)
* Transform (unless this is part of your aesthetic)
* Click Create.
Important Considerations:
* Skin Tone: Pay close attention to skin tones. Over-processing can lead to unnatural-looking skin.
* Over-Smoothing: Avoid excessive noise reduction or clarity reduction, as this can make the subject look like plastic or remove too much natural detail.
* Image Quality: Start with a high-quality image. Softening a low-quality image will only exacerbate its flaws.
* Subtlety: The key to a good soft portrait preset is subtlety. Avoid extreme slider adjustments.
* Testing: Test your preset on a variety of images to ensure it works well across different lighting conditions and skin tones.
* Customization: This is a starting point. Don't be afraid to adjust the preset further for each individual image to achieve the best results. Presets are designed to speed up the process, not to be a one-size-fits-all solution.
Example Starting Point (Slider Values - Adjust as Needed):
* Exposure: +0.20
* Contrast: -40
* Highlights: -60
* Shadows: +50
* Whites: -10
* Blacks: +10
* Clarity: -30
* Orange Luminance: +20
* Orange Saturation: -10
* Red Luminance: +10
* Red Saturation: -5
* Sharpening: 25
* Noise Reduction: 20
By carefully adjusting these sliders and experimenting with different values, you can create a beautiful and effective soft portrait preset in Lightroom 4 that will enhance your portrait photography. Good luck!