1. Understand Your Style and Vision:
* Identify Your Aesthetic: What kind of portraits do you admire? Are they vibrant and colorful, moody and desaturated, classic and clean, or something else entirely? Knowing your style will guide your preset creation.
* Consider Skin Tones: Portrait presets live and die by how they treat skin tones. What kind of skin tones do you prefer – warm, cool, natural? Understanding this is critical.
* Think About Lighting: How do you typically shoot? Harsh sunlight? Soft natural light? Studio lighting? Your presets should be tailored to the lighting conditions you frequently encounter. You might need different presets for different lighting scenarios.
* Keywords: Jot down keywords that describe the mood and feel you're aiming for. This helps you stay focused while experimenting.
2. Choose a Starting Point (An Existing Photo or Preset):
* Existing Photo: Select a portrait photo that you like *mostly* as a base. The ideal photo will have good exposure and a pleasing composition, but will need color grading.
* Existing Preset: If you're new to preset creation, starting with a pre-made preset (either one you've purchased or one of Lightroom's defaults) and tweaking it is a good way to learn.
3. Experiment in the Develop Module:
This is where the magic happens. Work through the following panels, making subtle and purposeful adjustments. Remember to always refer back to your starting photo to make sure the changes you're making are improving the image:
* Basic Panel:
* White Balance (WB): Crucial for skin tones. Experiment with temperature (warm/cool) and tint (green/magenta). Use the Eyedropper tool to sample a neutral gray area (if one exists) or a slightly shadowed area of the skin for a starting point.
* Exposure: Adjust overall brightness. Be careful not to clip highlights or shadows.
* Contrast: Adjust the difference between highlights and shadows. A little contrast can add definition, but too much can look harsh.
* Highlights: Control the brightness of the brightest areas. Reducing highlights can recover detail in overexposed areas.
* Shadows: Control the brightness of the darkest areas. Lifting shadows can reveal detail in underexposed areas.
* Whites: Set the brightest point in the image.
* Blacks: Set the darkest point in the image.
* Presence (Clarity, Vibrance, Saturation):
* Clarity: Adds local contrast, enhancing texture. Use sparingly, as it can easily become harsh on skin.
* Vibrance: Increases the saturation of the less saturated colors. A good choice for adding subtle color without making skin tones look unnatural.
* Saturation: Increases the saturation of all colors equally. Be careful not to overdo it.
* Tone Curve:
* A powerful tool for shaping the overall tone and contrast of the image.
* Point Curve: Offers more precise control. The "S" curve is commonly used to increase contrast.
* Experiment with adjusting the highlights, midtones, and shadows separately.
* HSL/Color Panel (Hue, Saturation, Luminance):
* Hue: Adjust the color tint (e.g., shifting reds towards orange or magenta). Essential for fine-tuning skin tones and other colors in the image.
* Saturation: Adjust the intensity of specific colors.
* Luminance: Adjust the brightness of specific colors. Can be used to brighten or darken skin tones subtly.
* Color Grading (Split Toning in older versions):
* Allows you to add color tints to the highlights, midtones, and shadows separately.
* Can create interesting and stylized looks.
* Use sparingly for a subtle effect.
* Detail Panel:
* Sharpening: Add sharpness to the image. Use a moderate amount and mask it to avoid sharpening noise in the sky or smooth areas of the skin.
* Noise Reduction: Reduce noise in the image, especially in the shadows. Be careful not to over-smooth the image.
* Color Noise Reduction: Reduces color artifacts in the image.
* Lens Corrections:
* Enable Profile Corrections: Corrects distortion and vignetting caused by the lens. Usually a good idea to have this enabled.
* Remove Chromatic Aberration: Reduces color fringing.
* Calibration:
* Allows you to adjust the primary colors (red, green, blue) and can have a significant impact on the overall look of the image.
* Experiment with the sliders to fine-tune the color balance and create unique color palettes.
4. Saving Your Preset:
* Go to Develop > New Preset (or click the "+" button in the Presets panel).
* Name Your Preset: Give it a descriptive name that reflects its style (e.g., "Warm Portrait," "Moody B&W," "Soft Focus").
* Choose a Group: Organize your presets into logical groups (e.g., "Portraits," "Landscapes," "B&W").
* Select Which Settings to Include: This is important. You don't always want to save every single setting. Consider *not* saving:
* Exposure: Exposure can vary significantly from photo to photo. It's best to adjust exposure individually.
* White Balance: Similar to exposure, white balance is often specific to each photo and lighting condition. However, if your preset is designed for a particular lighting setup (e.g., studio tungsten), then saving WB might be appropriate.
* Lens Corrections: If you want the preset to work well with different lenses, it is best not to include.
* Transform: Unless the image always needs to be cropped the same way.
* Create: Click the "Create" button to save your preset.
5. Testing and Refining:
* Apply Your Preset to Different Photos: The key to a good preset is its versatility. Test it on a variety of portrait photos with different skin tones, lighting conditions, and compositions.
* Make Adjustments: After applying the preset, don't be afraid to tweak the settings further to optimize the look for each individual photo. This is especially true for exposure and white balance.
* Iterate: Don't be afraid to go back and refine your preset based on your testing. Preset creation is an iterative process.
Tips for Creating Creative and Unique Portrait Presets:
* Experiment with Color Grading (Split Toning): Add subtle color tints to the highlights and shadows for a unique look. For example, try adding warm tones to the highlights and cool tones to the shadows.
* Master the Tone Curve: The tone curve is a powerful tool for shaping the overall tone and contrast of the image. Use it to create specific moods and styles.
* Use HSL/Color to Sculpt Skin Tones: Pay close attention to the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance of the skin tones. Slight adjustments can make a big difference. For example, decrease the saturation of oranges and reds slightly for a more natural look.
* Add Film Grain (Sparingly): A touch of film grain can add texture and a vintage feel to your portraits.
* Create Black and White Presets: Experiment with different black and white conversion techniques. Try using the color mixer to control the tonality of different colors in the image.
* Use Graduated Filters and Radial Filters: Create localized adjustments to emphasize certain areas of the image or to create a more dramatic effect. For example, you could use a radial filter to brighten the subject's face. These local adjustments *are* saved within the preset.
* Study the Work of Other Photographers: Analyze the styles of photographers you admire and try to recreate their looks using Lightroom.
Common Mistakes to Avoid:
* Oversharpening: Sharpening is important, but too much can create unwanted artifacts and make skin look unnatural.
* Oversaturating: Be careful not to overdo the saturation, as this can make colors look garish and skin tones unnatural.
* Overusing Clarity: Clarity can add texture, but too much can make skin look harsh and unflattering.
* Ignoring Skin Tones: Skin tones are the most important aspect of a portrait. Always pay close attention to how your adjustments affect skin tones.
* Creating Presets That Are Too Extreme: Presets that are too extreme may only work on a very limited number of photos. Aim for presets that are versatile and adaptable.
* Not Testing Your Presets: Always test your presets on a variety of photos to ensure that they are working as intended.
By following these steps and tips, you can create creative and unique Lightroom develop presets for portraits that will help you streamline your workflow and achieve your desired look. Remember to experiment, have fun, and develop your own unique style. Good luck!