I. Understanding the Goal:
A soft portrait typically aims to:
* Smooth skin: Reduce harsh textures and blemishes.
* Soften highlights: Prevent overexposure and create a gentle glow.
* Enhance shadows: Add depth and dimension without harshness.
* Add warmth: Create a pleasing and inviting tone.
* Subtle sharpness: Maintain detail without emphasizing imperfections.
II. Lightroom 4 Settings:
Open a portrait photo in Lightroom 4 that you want to use as a reference. As you adjust the settings, pay attention to how they affect your image. Remember that these are general guidelines; you may need to adjust them based on your specific photo.
A. Basic Panel:
* Exposure: Adjust to taste. Slightly underexposing can help control highlights. Try -0.10 to +0.30.
* Contrast: Reduce contrast to soften the image. Try -10 to -30.
* Highlights: Lower the highlights significantly to recover detail in bright areas. Try -40 to -70.
* Shadows: Increase shadows to brighten up darker areas and reveal detail. Try +20 to +50.
* Whites: Slightly reduce whites to further control bright areas. Try -5 to -20.
* Blacks: Adjust blacks to set the overall tone and contrast. Try -5 to +10.
* Clarity: This is important! Reduce Clarity to soften textures. Try -10 to -30. Too much will make the image look blurry.
* Vibrance: Increase Vibrance to subtly boost the saturation of muted colors, adding warmth and life. Try +5 to +20.
* Saturation: Use sparingly. Slightly increase overall saturation if needed, but be careful not to make skin tones look unnatural. Try -5 to +5.
B. Tone Curve Panel:
* Point Curve (Most Common for Softness):
* Subtle "S" Curve (Very Slight): Create a very slight S-curve by adding a small point in the upper-midtones (slightly above the center line) and pulling it up a little. Then, add a small point in the lower-midtones (slightly below the center line) and pull it down a little. This will add a subtle boost in contrast and depth. *Avoid making the curve too steep, as this will negate the soft effect.*
* Flatten Highlights (Optional): If you want to further reduce harsh highlights, you can flatten the top of the curve slightly by pulling the rightmost point horizontally to the left.
* Channel Curves (RGB, Red, Green, Blue): Avoid major changes here unless you want to adjust color balance. Subtle adjustments to these curves can be used to fine-tune the overall tone and add a slight color cast (e.g., a touch of warmth). If you're unsure, leave them as they are.
C. HSL/Color Panel:
* Luminance:
* Orange: Slightly increase the luminance of orange to brighten skin tones. Try +5 to +15.
* Yellow: Adjust yellow luminance depending on the lighting. Often, a slight increase can help. Try 0 to +10.
* Saturation:
* Orange: Slightly decrease orange saturation to avoid overly orange skin. Try -5 to -10.
* Red: Adjust as needed. Too much red can make skin look blotchy. Usually a slight decrease ( -5 to 0 ) is beneficial.
* Hue:
* Orange: Minor adjustments here can affect skin tone. Experiment with small changes to shift the orange hue towards red or yellow until the skin tone looks most natural. Try -3 to +3.
D. Detail Panel:
* Sharpening: Sharpening is crucial, but needs to be done carefully.
* Amount: Reduce the sharpening amount to avoid emphasizing skin texture. Try 20-40 (lower than default).
* Radius: Keep the radius low (around 0.5 - 1.0) for fine detail.
* Detail: Reduce the detail slider to further smooth skin. Try 10-30.
* Masking: Increase the masking slider (e.g., 50-80) to apply sharpening only to edges and avoid sharpening skin. Alt-click (Option-click on Mac) on the masking slider to visualize the areas being sharpened (white areas are sharpened).
* Noise Reduction:
* Luminance: Slightly increase luminance noise reduction to smooth skin and reduce grain. Start with a low value (e.g., 5-15) and increase as needed. Be careful not to overdo it, as it can make the skin look plastic.
* Color: A small amount of color noise reduction (e.g., 5-10) can help reduce color blotches.
E. Lens Corrections (Optional):
* Enable Profile Corrections: Check the "Enable Profile Corrections" box to automatically correct lens distortion and vignetting based on your lens profile. This can improve the overall image quality. This option won't exist if you haven't processed any image from that lens previously.
* Remove Chromatic Aberration: Check the "Remove Chromatic Aberration" box to eliminate color fringing along edges.
F. Effects Panel (Optional):
* Post-Crop Vignetting: A subtle vignette can draw the viewer's eye towards the subject. Try a very slight negative value in the "Amount" slider (e.g., -5 to -10) with the "Style" set to "Highlight Priority."
III. Creating the Preset:
1. Reset if Necessary: If you've been experimenting with different settings, click the "Reset" button at the bottom of the Develop panel to start from scratch with a fresh image. Alternatively, use the "History" panel to step back to the original state of the image.
2. Make Adjustments: Adjust the settings in the Develop panel as outlined above, fine-tuning them to your liking using your reference photo.
3. Click the "+" Button: In the "Presets" panel (usually on the left side of the screen), click the "+" button next to "Presets" to create a new preset.
4. Name Your Preset: Give your preset a descriptive name, such as "Soft Portrait - Lightroom 4."
5. Choose Settings to Include: In the "New Develop Preset" dialog, carefully select the settings you want to include in your preset. *Crucially, only select the settings you adjusted*. For example, if you only changed settings in the Basic, Tone Curve, HSL/Color, Detail, and Effects panels, only check those boxes.
* Tip: Uncheck "Process Version" to ensure the preset works with older versions of Lightroom.
* Tip: Uncheck "White Balance" if you want the preset to adapt to the existing white balance of each photo. This is usually preferred for portrait presets.
6. Click "Create": Click the "Create" button to save your preset.
IV. Applying and Refining the Preset:
1. Apply the Preset: Open a different portrait photo. In the "Presets" panel, locate your "Soft Portrait" preset and click on it to apply it.
2. Fine-Tune: The preset is a starting point. You will *always* need to make further adjustments to tailor it to each individual photo. Pay close attention to:
* Exposure: Adjust exposure to suit the specific lighting conditions of the photo.
* White Balance: Adjust the white balance if the colors look off.
* Noise Reduction: Increase or decrease noise reduction depending on the ISO and noise levels of the photo.
* Skin Tones: Examine skin tones closely and make small adjustments to the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance of Orange, Red, and Yellow as needed.
* Sharpening: Adjust the sharpening settings to balance detail with skin smoothing.
V. Important Considerations:
* Lighting Conditions: The ideal settings for a soft portrait will vary depending on the lighting conditions. Bright, direct sunlight will require more highlight reduction and shadow adjustment than soft, diffused light.
* Skin Tone: Skin tone is a key factor. Presets created for lighter skin tones may not work well on darker skin tones, and vice versa. Pay careful attention to the HSL/Color panel and adjust the orange, red, and yellow sliders accordingly.
* Photo Quality: The quality of the original photo will affect the final result. A well-exposed, properly focused photo will be easier to work with than a poorly shot one.
* Don't Overdo It: The key to a good soft portrait is subtlety. Avoid overusing Clarity reduction, noise reduction, and skin smoothing, as this can result in an unnatural, plastic-looking appearance.
* Experiment: Don't be afraid to experiment with different settings to find what works best for you and your style.
By following these steps, you can create a versatile "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 that will help you achieve beautiful and flattering results. Remember to adapt the preset to each individual photo for the best possible outcome. Good luck!