1. Find Inspiration and Define Your Style
* Explore: Look at portrait photography that you admire. Pay attention to the color grading, tones, contrast, and overall mood. Websites like Pinterest, Instagram, and Behance are great sources.
* Identify Key Elements: What recurring characteristics do you notice in the portraits you like? Are they:
* Warm or Cool toned?
* High or Low Contrast?
* Desaturated or Vibrant?
* Soft and Dreamy or Sharp and Defined?
* Matte or Glossy?
* Vintage or Modern?
* Write it Down: Create a brief description of the style you want to achieve. For example: "Warm, cinematic portrait with slightly muted greens, golden skin tones, and subtle vignetting."
* Consider Different Skin Tones: Keep in mind that presets don't always work perfectly on every skin tone. You might need to create variations optimized for light, medium, and dark skin tones.
2. Start with a Base Image
* Choose a Representative Photo: Select a portrait that's well-exposed and well-composed. Ideally, it should be a RAW file, as it contains more information than a JPEG, allowing for greater flexibility in editing.
* Basic Adjustments First: Before diving into creative effects, make sure your base image has a good foundation:
* Exposure: Adjust the overall brightness.
* White Balance: Correct any color casts (too warm/yellow or too cool/blue).
* Contrast: Add or reduce contrast as needed.
* Highlights & Shadows: Recover details in overexposed highlights and underexposed shadows.
* Clarity: Add or reduce clarity for sharpness and texture. Be careful not to overdo it, especially on skin.
* Noise Reduction: Apply a small amount of noise reduction, especially if shooting at high ISO.
* Lens Corrections: Enable profile corrections to fix distortion and vignetting caused by your lens.
3. Creative Adjustments in the Develop Module (The Fun Part!)
* Tone Curve: This is your secret weapon for controlling contrast and tone.
* S-Curve: A classic S-curve adds contrast, making highlights brighter and shadows darker. Experiment with different S-curve shapes. A subtle S-curve is often a good starting point.
* Matte Look: Flatten the curve in the shadows to create a matte effect.
* Film Look: Adjust individual RGB channels to create color shifts in the shadows and highlights. For example, lifting the blue channel in the shadows can mimic a film look.
* HSL/Color: Adjust individual hues, saturation, and luminance of colors.
* Skin Tones: Tweak orange, red, and yellow hues/saturation/luminance to enhance or alter skin tones. Lowering the saturation of yellows can often create a more natural look. Increasing the luminance of orange and yellow can brighten skin.
* Color Grading: Use this section to create a specific mood. For example, shifting blues towards teal or greens towards yellow can dramatically change the atmosphere.
* Desaturate: Lower the overall saturation for a vintage or muted look.
* Color Grading (Split Toning): Add color tints to the highlights, midtones, and shadows. This is a powerful tool for creating a unique aesthetic.
* Golden Hour: Add a warm yellow/orange tint to the highlights and a subtle cool blue/purple tint to the shadows.
* Cinematic Look: Experiment with teal and orange tones, often adding teal to the shadows and orange to the highlights.
* Detail:
* Sharpening: Add sharpening, but be careful not to oversharpen, which can create artifacts. Use masking to apply sharpening only to areas that need it (e.g., eyes, eyelashes, lips).
* Noise Reduction: Adjust noise reduction if needed, especially after sharpening.
* Effects:
* Grain: Add a subtle grain effect to mimic film.
* Vignetting: Add a subtle vignette to draw attention to the subject.
* Calibration: This panel allows you to adjust the overall color interpretation of your camera. It's subtle but can be useful for fine-tuning the look of your images.
4. Iteration and Refinement
* Test on Different Images: Apply your preset to several different portraits taken in various lighting conditions and with different skin tones.
* Adjust as Needed: Fine-tune the preset based on how it looks on different images. Pay attention to:
* Skin Tones: Are the skin tones natural and flattering across different subjects?
* Clipping: Are you losing details in the highlights or shadows?
* Color Casts: Is there an unwanted color cast?
* Document Your Process: Keep notes on what adjustments you made and why. This will help you understand how the different settings affect the final image and allow you to create more consistent presets in the future.
5. Save Your Preset
* Develop Module > Presets panel > Click the "+" icon > Create Preset...
* Name Your Preset: Give it a descriptive name that reflects its style (e.g., "Warm Cinematic Portrait," "Vintage Matte," "High Contrast B&W").
* Select Settings to Include: Carefully choose which settings to include in the preset. You generally want to include settings that define the *look* of the preset (tone curve, color grading, HSL adjustments). Consider *not* including:
* Exposure: Exposure will vary from photo to photo.
* White Balance: White balance will vary depending on the lighting conditions.
* Lens Corrections: These are camera/lens specific and may not be applicable to all images.
* Transformations: These are image-specific.
* Create a Preset Group (Optional): Organize your presets into groups (e.g., "Portrait Styles," "Black & White," "Landscape").
Tips for Creating Great Portrait Presets:
* Subtlety is Key: Avoid over-the-top adjustments. A good preset should enhance the image, not overwhelm it.
* Focus on Skin Tones: Prioritize creating flattering and natural-looking skin tones.
* Test, Test, Test: The more you test your presets on different images, the better you'll understand their strengths and weaknesses.
* Learn from Others: Analyze existing presets (free or paid) to understand how they work.
* Experiment! Don't be afraid to try new things and break the rules.
* Create Variations: Develop several versions of a preset with subtle differences (e.g., a light version, a strong version, a version for bright light, a version for soft light).
* Consider Purchasing Professional Presets as a Starting Point: Many high-quality presets are available for purchase. These can be a great starting point for learning and customizing your own presets.
By following these steps and experimenting, you can create custom Lightroom Develop Presets that will help you achieve your unique photographic style and streamline your portrait editing workflow. Good luck!