1. Understanding the Basics
* What is a Preset? A preset is a saved set of Develop settings in Lightroom. Applying it instantly adjusts your photo based on those settings.
* Starting Point: It's usually best to start with a photo that's already well-exposed and composed. Presets are not a magic fix for bad photos, but they can enhance good ones.
2. Planning Your Preset
* Define Your Style: Before you start, consider the look you're going for.
* Warm & Golden: Think sunshine, highlights, and a cozy feel.
* Cool & Moody: Think desaturated colors, shadows, and drama.
* Bright & Airy: Think soft light, muted colors, and a clean look.
* Vintage/Film-Like: Think faded colors, subtle grain, and a nostalgic feel.
* B&W: Decide if you're going for high contrast, soft tones, or something in between.
* Consider Subject Matter: Will the preset be for outdoor portraits, studio shots, or a specific type of lighting? Certain settings work better depending on the environment. Skin tone also varies significantly.
3. Key Lightroom Develop Settings to Adjust
Here's a breakdown of the crucial settings in the Develop module and how they can affect portraits:
* Basic Panel:
* Exposure: Adjust overall brightness. Be careful not to overexpose highlights or underexpose shadows.
* Contrast: Adjust the difference between highlights and shadows. Higher contrast = more drama; lower contrast = softer look.
* Highlights: Control the brightness of the brightest areas. Reducing highlights can recover detail in overexposed areas (like skies or bright skin patches).
* Shadows: Control the brightness of the darkest areas. Raising shadows brightens them and can reveal detail.
* Whites: Similar to Highlights, but affects the absolute brightest points.
* Blacks: Similar to Shadows, but affects the absolute darkest points.
* Temperature: Adjusts the white balance (warmth/coolness). Warmer = more yellow/orange; cooler = more blue.
* Tint: Adjusts the green/magenta balance.
* Presence (Clarity, Vibrance, Saturation):
* Clarity: Adds or reduces local contrast (midtones). Use sparingly as it can create a harsh look. Often useful to slightly reduce Clarity for softer skin.
* Vibrance: Increases the saturation of the more muted colors, protecting already saturated colors. Generally safer than Saturation.
* Saturation: Increases the saturation of *all* colors. Be careful not to overdo it.
* Tone Curve:
* Allows for more precise control over contrast and brightness.
* Point Curve: Use this to create S-curves (increase contrast), inverted S-curves (reduce contrast), or other custom shapes. Subtle adjustments here can make a big difference.
* Channel Curves: (Red, Green, Blue) Adjust individual color channels to shift the color balance in highlights, midtones, and shadows. This is how you can get unique color grading.
* HSL/Color Panel:
* Hue: Shifts colors along the color spectrum (e.g., changing red towards orange or magenta).
* Saturation: Adjusts the intensity of specific colors.
* Luminance: Adjusts the brightness of specific colors.
* This panel is crucial for skin tones. For example, you might slightly desaturate orange/yellow to reduce redness.
* Color Grading:
* Allows you to add different colors to the highlights, midtones, and shadows.
* Experiment with subtle color shifts to create unique looks. A touch of teal in the shadows and orange in the highlights is a classic look.
* Detail Panel:
* Sharpening: Adds sharpness. Apply modestly. Use the Masking slider to only sharpen edges and avoid sharpening noise in smooth areas like skin.
* Noise Reduction: Reduces noise (grain). Can soften details if overused. Pay attention to both Luminance and Color noise reduction.
* Lens Corrections:
* Enable Profile Corrections: Automatically corrects distortion and vignetting based on your lens.
* Remove Chromatic Aberration: Fixes color fringing around edges.
* Effects Panel:
* Grain: Adds film-like grain. Use sparingly.
* Vignette: Darkens or lightens the edges of the photo.
* Calibration Panel:
* Subtly tweak the overall color balance. Often overlooked, but powerful.
4. The Workflow: Creating Your Preset
1. Choose a Representative Photo: Find a photo that's similar to the type of portrait you want your preset to work well on.
2. Develop Your Look: Start adjusting the Develop settings, starting with the Basic panel.
* Work Methodically: Adjust one setting at a time and see how it affects the overall image.
* Subtlety is Key: Avoid extreme adjustments, especially in Clarity, Saturation, and Sharpening. Overdoing it will make your presets unusable on a wide range of photos.
* Focus on Skin Tones: Pay close attention to how your adjustments affect skin. Use the HSL/Color panel to refine skin tones. Often, slightly reducing the orange and yellow saturation and adjusting luminance is helpful.
3. Fine-Tune: Use the Tone Curve, HSL/Color, Color Grading, and Detail panels to refine the look.
4. Preview: Toggle the "Before/After" view frequently to see the impact of your changes. (Press '\' key)
5. Save Your Preset:
* Go to the Develop Module -> Presets panel (left side) -> click the "+" icon.
* Choose "Create Preset."
* Name Your Preset: Give it a descriptive name that reflects its style (e.g., "Warm Portrait," "Cool Moody B&W," "Studio Soft Light").
* Choose a Group: Create a new group for your custom presets to keep them organized.
* Check/Uncheck Settings: This is important! *Uncheck* any settings that are specific to *this* photo and you don't want applied to all photos (e.g., Crop, Spot Removal). *Check* all the settings that contribute to your style. Generally, it's best to *uncheck* Lens Corrections (since different lenses will need different corrections), Transform, and Spot Removal.
* Click "Create."
5. Testing and Refining Your Preset
1. Apply to Different Photos: Test your preset on a variety of portraits with different lighting, skin tones, and subjects.
2. Make Adjustments: You'll likely need to tweak the preset based on how it looks on different photos. You can edit an existing preset by right-clicking on it in the Presets panel and choosing "Update with Current Settings."
3. Consider Variations: Create variations of your preset with slight differences (e.g., "Warm Portrait - Low Contrast," "Warm Portrait - High Clarity").
6. Advanced Tips and Techniques
* Skin Tone Adjustments:
* HSL/Color Panel: Use the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance sliders for Orange, Red, and Yellow to fine-tune skin tones.
* Targeted Adjustment Tool: Click the Targeted Adjustment Tool (circle with a dot) in the HSL/Color panel and then click on the skin in your photo. Adjust the slider to affect the chosen color range.
* Color Grading for Mood: Experiment with adding different colors to highlights, midtones, and shadows.
* Using Graduated Filters and Adjustment Brushes: For more precise control, use these tools to apply adjustments to specific areas of the photo *before* creating the preset. For example, brighten a face that is in shadow, or darken a blown out sky. These adjustments *will* be saved in the preset.
* Create a "Base" Preset: Consider creating a base preset that applies basic corrections like lens profile correction, noise reduction, and a touch of sharpening. Then, create other presets that build upon this base. This simplifies your workflow and ensures consistency.
* Study Other Presets: Analyze presets created by other photographers to understand their techniques and learn new approaches. (Note: Don't just steal presets, use them to learn and inspire!)
* Experiment with Black and White: Use the B&W panel to create custom black and white conversions with specific tonal ranges.
* Camera Calibration Play around with this setting to add a unique tone to your photos. Be sure to uncheck this when you are exporting your preset. This setting works best if you are using the same camera for every shot.
7. Common Mistakes to Avoid
* Over-Processing: Avoid excessive Clarity, Saturation, Sharpening, and Noise Reduction.
* Inconsistent White Balance: Be aware of the white balance and adjust it appropriately for each photo.
* Ignoring Skin Tones: Always check how your adjustments affect skin tones.
* Not Testing on Different Photos: Test your presets on a variety of photos to ensure they work well in different situations.
* Including Photo-Specific Adjustments: Don't include adjustments like Crop or Spot Removal in your presets.
In Summary: Creating great Lightroom presets for portraits takes practice, experimentation, and attention to detail. Start with a clear vision, work methodically, and test your presets on a variety of photos. By following these tips, you can develop your own unique style and create presets that enhance your portrait photography. Remember to always adjust the presets to the individual image, as no preset will be perfect for every photo!