Understanding the Goal:
The aim is to create a preset that:
* Softens skin: Reduces blemishes and wrinkles without making the image look artificial.
* Reduces harsh highlights: Prevents blown-out areas and maintains detail.
* Slightly brightens the image: Adds a touch of luminosity.
* Adds a subtle glow: Creates a dreamy, gentle aesthetic.
* Maintains overall sharpness: While softening skin, you don't want to lose detail in the eyes and other important areas.
Key Lightroom Settings to Adjust:
* Exposure: Slightly increase for overall brightness.
* Contrast: Reduce to flatten the tonal range.
* Highlights: Significantly decrease to recover detail in bright areas.
* Shadows: Increase to reveal detail in darker areas.
* Whites: Adjust to fine-tune the brightest parts of the image.
* Blacks: Adjust to fine-tune the darkest parts of the image.
* Clarity: Decrease to soften the image. Be careful not to overdo it.
* Vibrance/Saturation: Slightly increase for more vibrant, natural colors.
* Tone Curve: Create a subtle S-curve for a gentler contrast boost.
* Sharpening: Reduce the amount and increase the Radius, and possibly adjust the Masking. We want some sharpening, just less than default.
* Noise Reduction: Apply a touch of luminance noise reduction to smooth skin.
* Hue/Saturation/Luminance (HSL): Fine-tune skin tones and colors.
* Camera Calibration: Experiment with profiles.
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Preset:
1. Import an Image: Select a portrait image that you want to use as your base. This image should be representative of the types of portraits you typically work with.
2. Basic Adjustments: Start with the basics in the "Basic" panel.
* Exposure: Increase by a small amount, usually between +0.20 and +0.50 stops. Adjust to suit the lighting in your image.
* Contrast: Decrease to around -20 to -40. This flattens the tonal range, creating a softer look.
* Highlights: Reduce significantly, often to around -50 to -80. This brings back detail in blown-out areas.
* Shadows: Increase moderately, around +20 to +40. This brightens the shadows, revealing more detail.
* Whites: Adjust to taste, usually between -10 and +10.
* Blacks: Adjust to taste, usually between -10 and +10.
* Clarity: Decrease to around -15 to -30. This is crucial for softening the skin. Be careful not to go too far, as it can make the image look blurry.
* Vibrance: Increase by a small amount, around +5 to +15, to enhance the colors without making them look oversaturated.
3. Tone Curve:
* Go to the "Tone Curve" panel.
* Select the "Point Curve" option.
* Create a subtle S-curve by lifting the shadows slightly and lowering the highlights slightly. This adds a gentler contrast boost than the "Contrast" slider. Avoid extreme curves.
4. HSL/Color:
* Go to the "HSL / Color" panel.
* Luminance:
* Increase the luminance of the orange and yellow channels slightly (e.g., +5 to +15) to brighten skin tones.
* Decrease the luminance of the blue channel slightly (e.g., -5 to -15) to darken the sky if applicable.
* Saturation:
* Slightly desaturate the orange and yellow channels if skin tones look too saturated.
* Experiment with other color channels to fine-tune the overall look.
5. Detail (Sharpening and Noise Reduction):
* Go to the "Detail" panel.
* Sharpening:
* Amount: Reduce from the default (e.g., from 40 to 25).
* Radius: Increase slightly (e.g., from 1.0 to 1.2). This will affect the area of the sharpening.
* Detail: Leave as is or slightly reduce
* Masking: Increase significantly (e.g., from 0 to 60-80). This protects smooth areas (like skin) from sharpening and only sharpens edges. Hold down the `Alt` key (Windows) or `Option` key (Mac) while adjusting the Masking slider to visualize the areas being masked.
* Noise Reduction:
* Luminance: Apply a small amount of luminance noise reduction (e.g., +5 to +15) to smooth out skin.
6. Effects (Optional):
* Go to the "Effects" panel.
* Vignetting: Add a very subtle vignette (e.g., Amount -5 to -15) to draw attention to the subject.
* Grain: Consider adding a very subtle amount of grain (e.g., Amount +5 to +10) for a film-like look, but only if it suits the style you're going for.
7. Camera Calibration (Optional):
* Go to the "Camera Calibration" panel.
* Experiment with different camera profiles to see if they enhance the look you're going for. Try "Camera Portrait" or "Camera Standard." Adjust the "Red Hue," "Green Hue," and "Blue Hue" sliders subtly to fine-tune the color cast.
8. Create the Preset:
* Once you are happy with your adjustments, go to the "Presets" panel (usually on the left side of the Lightroom interface).
* Click the "+" icon to create a new preset.
* Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait," "Dreamy Portrait," etc.).
* In the "New Develop Preset" dialog box, choose which settings you want to include in the preset. It's generally a good idea to include all of the settings you adjusted.
* Click "Create."
Important Considerations:
* Every Image is Different: No preset works perfectly on every image. You'll likely need to make slight adjustments to the exposure, white balance, and other settings depending on the specific image.
* Skin Tone Accuracy: Pay close attention to skin tones. Make sure they look natural and healthy. Use the HSL panel to fine-tune the orange and yellow channels.
* Subtlety is Key: The best soft portrait presets are subtle and enhance the natural beauty of the subject without looking overly processed.
* Experimentation: Don't be afraid to experiment with different settings and find what works best for your style.
* Focus: Ensure the eyes remain sharp. If necessary, use the Adjustment Brush to selectively sharpen the eyes after applying the preset. Brush and selectively sharpen around the eyes if needed.
Example Settings (Starting Point):
These are just starting points. Adjust to taste and image-specific needs.
* Exposure: +0.30
* Contrast: -30
* Highlights: -70
* Shadows: +30
* Whites: -10
* Blacks: +5
* Clarity: -20
* Vibrance: +10
* Tone Curve: Subtle S-Curve
* Sharpening Amount: 25
* Sharpening Radius: 1.2
* Sharpening Detail: 25
* Sharpening Masking: 70
* Luminance Noise Reduction: +10
* Orange Luminance: +10
* Yellow Luminance: +5
By following these steps and experimenting with different settings, you can create a beautiful and effective "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 that will enhance your portrait photography. Remember to fine-tune the preset for each individual image to achieve the best results. Good luck!