I. Understanding the Goals:
A "soft portrait" typically aims for:
* Reduced Sharpness: Softens skin and minimizes harsh details.
* Lowered Contrast: Creates a less intense, more airy feel.
* Subtle Color Grading: Warm or muted tones are often preferred for a softer look.
* Smooth Skin Tones: Diminishes blemishes and imperfections.
II. Start with a Raw Image:
* Use a RAW image for maximum editing flexibility. JPEG images are already compressed and limit your ability to make significant adjustments.
III. Adjustments in Lightroom:
Here's a breakdown of adjustments you'll need to make in the Basic, Tone Curve, HSL/Color/B&W, Detail, and Effects panels. *Remember, these are starting points. Adjust to your specific image and desired outcome.*
A. Basic Panel:
* Exposure: Adjust to achieve a good overall brightness. Often slightly overexposed (0.1-0.5 stop) for a brighter, softer feel. *Adjust this carefully!*
* Contrast: Reduce significantly. Try -20 to -40. This softens the image and reduces harsh shadows.
* Highlights: Reduce slightly (-10 to -20) to recover details in bright areas and further soften the overall look.
* Shadows: Increase to bring out detail in darker areas and create a more balanced exposure. Try +10 to +30.
* Whites: Adjust subtly (perhaps -5 to +5) to fine-tune overall brightness and avoid clipping.
* Blacks: Adjust subtly (perhaps -5 to +5) to fine-tune overall contrast and shadow detail.
* Clarity: This is KEY. Reduce Clarity significantly! Try -20 to -50. This softens the image and reduces texture. *Overdoing this can make the image look artificial.*
* Vibrance: Increase slightly (+5 to +15) to boost muted colors without over-saturating skin tones.
* Saturation: Adjust as needed, but generally keep it moderate. A slight reduction (-5 to +5) might be beneficial.
B. Tone Curve Panel:
* Point Curve (Highly Recommended): Create a slight "S" curve, but very gentle. Pull down the upper part of the curve slightly to tame highlights and lift the lower part to open up shadows. This adds a subtle touch of contrast without harshness. A flatter curve will make the image even softer.
* Channel Curve: (Optional - can refine color toning): You can adjust the Red, Green, and Blue channels individually to introduce subtle color shifts. For example:
* Red: Lift the shadows slightly to introduce a touch of warmth.
* Blue: Lower the highlights slightly to reduce harsh blue tones. Can also lift the shadows slightly to introduce a cooler tone.
C. HSL/Color/B&W Panel:
* Hue: (Optional) Subtle shifts can be used to adjust skin tones.
* Orange: Small shifts can improve skin tone appearance.
* Red: Small shifts can affect lip color and rosy cheeks.
* Saturation:
* Orange: Slightly reduce saturation in the orange tones (-5 to -15) to soften skin tones. *Be careful not to desaturate them too much.*
* Yellow: Slightly reduce saturation in the yellow tones (-5 to -15) to remove potential sallowness.
* Luminance:
* Orange: Increase luminance (+5 to +15) to brighten skin tones. *Be careful not to make the skin look too shiny.*
* Yellow: Increase luminance (+5 to +15) to brighten highlights and add a gentle glow.
D. Detail Panel:
* Sharpening: This is crucial! Reduce Sharpening significantly! Set Amount to 0-20. You may even want to set it to 0 and rely on other techniques for detail enhancement (see below).
* Radius: Keep this low (around 0.5 - 0.7).
* Detail: Keep this low (around 20-30).
* Masking: Increase Masking (60-80) to apply sharpening only to edges and prevent noise in smooth areas like skin. Hold down the Alt/Option key while adjusting Masking to see the areas being sharpened.
* Noise Reduction (Luminance): Increase this slightly (5-15) to further smooth out skin tones and reduce grain, especially if shooting at higher ISO. Be careful not to overdo it, or you'll lose detail.
* Noise Reduction (Color): Increase slightly (5-15) to remove color noise.
E. Effects Panel:
* Vignetting: Add a very subtle vignette (-5 to -15) to draw attention to the subject. Experiment with the midpoint and roundness settings to tailor the vignette to your image.
* Grain: Adding a small amount of grain (10-20) can sometimes give a film-like, softer look. Experiment and see if it works for your style. Adjust size and roughness as needed.
IV. Refining for Specific Images:
* Skin Tone: Pay close attention to skin tones. Use the HSL/Color panel to fine-tune orange and yellow hues and luminance. Use the Adjustment Brush (see below) to target specific areas of skin.
* Eyes: Slightly sharpen the eyes using the Adjustment Brush. Enhancing the whites of the eyes can also brighten the face.
* Hair: Adjust the color and tone of the hair to complement the overall soft look.
V. Using the Adjustment Brush:
* The Adjustment Brush is invaluable for targeted adjustments.
* Soften Skin: Use a brush with a *low* Clarity (-50 to -75), low Sharpness (-20 to -40), and possibly a slight increase in Smoothness (+10 to +20) and paint over the skin. Feather the edges of the brush generously.
* Dodge and Burn: Use separate brushes with slightly increased Exposure (dodge) to brighten areas and slightly decreased Exposure (burn) to darken areas for subtle contouring.
* Eye Enhancement: Brush on the iris with increased sharpness, clarity, and saturation to bring out the eyes.
VI. Saving the Preset:
1. In the left panel, click the Presets tab.
2. Click the + button to create a new preset.
3. Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait - Gentle").
4. Crucially: Select *only* the settings you want to include in the preset. For example, you might *not* want to include Exposure, as that's very image-dependent. In general, select all the settings you adjusted EXCEPT Exposure, White Balance, and (potentially) any local adjustments you made with the Adjustment Brush.
5. Click Create.
VII. Tips and Considerations:
* Less is More: Don't overdo any single adjustment. Subtle tweaks are key to a natural-looking soft portrait.
* Start Subtle: It's easier to increase an adjustment than to undo an extreme one.
* Image-Specific Adjustments: No preset is perfect for every image. You'll likely need to make further adjustments to each photo after applying the preset.
* Experiment: Don't be afraid to play with different settings to find what works best for your style.
* Practice: The more you practice, the better you'll become at creating and refining presets.
* Consider Skin Retouching Software: Lightroom's tools are good for basic softening, but dedicated skin retouching software (e.g., Photoshop) provides more advanced capabilities for blemish removal and detailed skin smoothing, should you desire.
By following these steps and experimenting with the settings, you can create a "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 that will give your images a beautiful, flattering, and gentle look. Remember to customize the settings based on the specific characteristics of each image you process. Good luck!