I. Understanding the Goal:
A "soft portrait" look typically aims for:
* Reduced sharpness: Less defined details, minimizing blemishes and wrinkles.
* Softened highlights: Avoid harsh highlights, creating a more even skin tone.
* Slightly lifted shadows: Revealing details in the darker areas, preventing overly contrasty images.
* Warm or neutral color tones: Depending on the desired style, warmer tones can enhance skin, while neutral tones maintain a natural feel.
* Slightly desaturated colors: Adding to the overall gentleness.
II. Key Lightroom Adjustments:
Here's a step-by-step guide to the adjustments you'll make in Lightroom 4 (Remember, these are starting points. You'll need to adjust them based on the specific photo):
1. Basic Panel:
* Temperature: Adjust the temperature slider slightly towards warmer tones (e.g., +5 to +15) for a more flattering skin tone. If you prefer a more natural look, leave it closer to neutral.
* Tint: Make minor adjustments to the tint slider to balance out any green or magenta casts in the skin.
* Exposure: Adjust the exposure slider as needed to get the overall brightness of the image correct.
* Contrast: Reduce contrast slightly (e.g., -10 to -20). This helps flatten the tonal range and contribute to the softness.
* Highlights: Pull down the highlights slider (e.g., -20 to -40) to recover detail in bright areas like skin and clothing.
* Shadows: Lift the shadows slider (e.g., +10 to +30) to reveal detail in the darker areas and reduce harsh shadows.
* Whites: Slightly reduce the whites slider (e.g., -5 to -15) to further control bright areas.
* Blacks: Increase the blacks slider slightly (e.g., +5 to +15) to lift the darkest areas. This contributes to the softer, more airy feel.
* Clarity: This is CRUCIAL. Reduce the clarity slider significantly (e.g., -20 to -40). Clarity affects mid-tone contrast and detail. Reducing it is a key element of the "soft" look. Avoid going too far, as it can make the image look blurry.
* Vibrance: Increase the vibrance slider slightly (e.g., +5 to +15) to enhance the colors in a subtle way.
* Saturation: Slightly decrease saturation (e.g., -5 to -10) to contribute to the softer look and prevent colors from becoming overwhelming.
2. Tone Curve:
* Point Curve: Consider a subtle "S" curve, but keep it very gentle. A gentle S curve will add slight contrast.
* Click on the middle of the curve to create an anchor point.
* Slightly pull the top portion of the curve upwards.
* Slightly pull the bottom portion of the curve downwards.
* Channel Curves (Optional): You can use the Red, Green, and Blue channel curves for more precise color adjustments, but be cautious. Subtle tweaks are best. For example, gently lifting the red channel in the shadows can add warmth.
3. Detail Panel:
* Sharpening: Reduce the sharpening amount. A good starting point is 0 or a very small amount (e.g., Amount = 20, Radius = 1, Detail = 25, Masking = 0). You might even set Amount to 0 to disable sharpening entirely in the preset. You can always add sharpening later if needed.
* Noise Reduction: Increase the luminance noise reduction slightly (e.g., 10-20). This helps smooth out skin and reduce grain, contributing to the softer look. Be careful not to overdo it, as it can make the image look plastic.
* Color Noise Reduction: Leave as is or slightly increase it (e.g., 5-10).
4. HSL/Color Panel:
* Hue: Make small adjustments to the hue of the skin tones (orange, red) to fine-tune their color. For example, shifting the orange slider slightly towards red can warm up skin.
* Saturation: Adjust the saturation of specific colors to balance the image. Lowering the saturation of reds and oranges a little can help prevent skin from looking too vibrant.
* Luminance: Adjust the luminance of specific colors. Increasing the luminance of oranges and yellows can brighten skin tones.
5. Camera Calibration Panel (Optional):
* Experiment with different camera profiles. Some profiles will produce more pleasing colors for portraits than others. You may like one of the Adobe Standard variants. This is subjective.
III. Creating the Preset:
1. Make Your Adjustments: Start with a portrait photo and make all the adjustments described above until you achieve the desired soft portrait look.
2. Create the Preset:
* In the left-hand panel in Lightroom 4, find the "Presets" panel.
* Click the "+" icon next to "Presets".
* Choose "Create Preset."
3. Preset Name: Give your preset a descriptive name, such as "Soft Portrait," "Dreamy Portrait," or "Gentle Skin."
4. Choose Settings to Include: This is critical. In the "Create Preset" dialog box, select *exactly* which settings to save in your preset. It's generally best to include:
* Basic Tone: Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Clarity, Vibrance, Saturation
* Tone Curve: Point Curve
* Detail: Sharpening, Noise Reduction
* HSL/Color: Hue, Saturation, Luminance (at least the settings you changed)
* Camera Calibration: Profile (if you changed it)
* Do *NOT* include:
* Process Version: This can cause issues with older photos.
* Crop: You don't want a preset to crop every photo the same way.
* Transform: You don't want to apply the same perspective corrections to every image.
* Spot Removal: Spot removal is specific to each image.
* Graduated Filter, Adjustment Brush, Radial Filter: These are local adjustments and will almost never be appropriate for every photo.
5. Click "Create."
IV. Using and Refining the Preset:
1. Apply the Preset: Open a new portrait photo in Lightroom. In the "Presets" panel, find your newly created preset and click on it.
2. Adjust as Needed: Every photo is different. Your preset is a *starting point*. You will almost certainly need to make further adjustments to the exposure, white balance, and other settings to perfectly suit the individual image. Pay particular attention to:
* Exposure: Adjust to get the brightness correct.
* White Balance: Fine-tune the temperature and tint to get accurate skin tones.
* Clarity: You might need to increase or decrease it slightly depending on the photo's original sharpness.
* Noise Reduction: Add more or less as needed depending on the camera and ISO used.
* Local Adjustments: Use the adjustment brush or graduated filter to selectively adjust brightness, contrast, and other settings in specific areas of the image (e.g., brighten the eyes, darken distracting areas).
V. Tips and Considerations:
* Start with Good Photos: A good, well-exposed and well-lit photo will always yield better results with presets.
* Shooting in RAW: Shooting in RAW format gives you the most flexibility in Lightroom.
* Lighting Matters: Presets can't fix bad lighting. Aim for even, diffused lighting when shooting portraits.
* Experiment and Iterate: Don't be afraid to tweak your preset over time as you learn more and develop your style.
* Batch Processing (with caution): You can use presets to quickly process multiple photos, but always review and adjust each image individually.
* Skin Smoothing (Advanced): While reducing clarity and increasing noise reduction helps, you can also use the adjustment brush with negative clarity, negative sharpness, and increased softness for targeted skin smoothing.
* Backup Your Presets: Regularly back up your Lightroom presets to avoid losing them.
By following these steps and experimenting, you can create a versatile and effective soft portrait preset in Lightroom 4 that will help you achieve beautiful, flattering results. Remember that the best presets are those that are tailored to your own shooting style and aesthetic preferences.