Understanding the Goal:
A "Soft Portrait" look typically involves:
* Softened skin: Reduces harsh lines and blemishes.
* Smooth tones: Gradual transitions between highlights and shadows.
* Slightly muted colors: Creates a more gentle and less aggressive feel.
* Slight warmth: Adds a touch of pleasantness to skin tones.
* Controlled Contrast: Reduces harsh contrast to create a more flattering look.
Steps to Create the Preset in Lightroom 4:
1. Start with a Sample Portrait: Choose a well-lit portrait image. It should be a fairly average photo of the type you'll be applying this preset to. This will help you fine-tune the settings to a useful baseline.
2. Basic Panel Adjustments: This is where you lay the foundation for the soft look.
* Temperature: Slightly increase the temperature (e.g., +3 to +10). This adds warmth to the skin. Watch your whites!
* Tint: Adjust the tint slightly towards green if needed to balance skin tones (often 0 to +3). Too much magenta can look artificial.
* Exposure: Adjust exposure for proper brightness. Don't push it too far, aim for a good starting point.
* Contrast: Lower the contrast significantly (e.g., -20 to -40). This is a crucial step for softening the image.
* Highlights: Reduce highlights (e.g., -20 to -50). This recovers detail in bright areas and softens highlights.
* Shadows: Increase shadows slightly (e.g., +10 to +30). This helps to open up the shadows and reduce contrast.
* Whites: Adjust slightly to control overall brightness, typically reducing a bit (e.g., -5 to -15).
* Blacks: Adjust slightly to set the darkest point of the image, usually increasing to flatten a bit (e.g., +5 to +15)
3. Tone Curve Panel: Use the Tone Curve to further refine the contrast and tonal range. The goal is to create a subtle "S" curve.
* Point Curve: Click on the Point Curve tab (if not already selected).
* Create a Subtle S-Curve:
* Click to add a point on the curve in the upper-right quadrant (highlights). Slightly pull it down.
* Click to add a point on the curve in the lower-left quadrant (shadows). Slightly pull it up. The overall result should be a very gentle "S" shape. Avoid extreme adjustments! The flatter the tone curve the less contrast the image will have.
4. HSL/Color Panel: Refine the colors, especially skin tones.
* Hue: Adjust the hue of oranges and reds slightly. Often, moving oranges a bit towards yellow and reds slightly towards orange can improve skin tones. Make these adjustments VERY subtle.
* Saturation: Reduce the saturation of oranges and reds slightly (e.g., -5 to -15). This helps prevent skin tones from looking overly vibrant. Also, you may reduce the saturation of yellows, greens and blues a little.
* Luminance: Increase the luminance of oranges and reds slightly (e.g., +5 to +15). This brightens skin tones.
5. Detail Panel: Apply sharpening and noise reduction. This is key to the "soft" part.
* Sharpening: Reduce the amount of sharpening. A lower sharpening value will help to create a softer look. Experiment with the Radius setting for the best results.
* Amount: Reduce significantly (e.g., 0-40).
* Radius: Generally leave this around 1.0, but you can experiment.
* Detail: Raise the detail slider slightly.
* Masking: Adjust this so that sharpening only affects the edges of the details, and not the smooth skin.
* Noise Reduction: Apply moderate noise reduction, particularly luminance noise reduction.
* Luminance: Increase moderately (e.g., +10 to +30). Too much will make the image look plastic.
* Color: Slightly increase color noise reduction (e.g., +5 to +15).
6. Effects Panel: Add a subtle vignette if desired.
* Amount: Add a very subtle negative vignette (e.g., -5 to -15). This darkens the edges of the image slightly, drawing attention to the subject.
* Midpoint: Adjust the midpoint to control the size of the vignette.
* Roundness: Usually best to keep this close to 0 or -5
7. Calibration Panel (Optional): These are often left untouched.
* Experiment with these if you're familiar with them. Subtle tweaks to the Red, Green, and Blue primary sliders can subtly influence the color and tone.
8. Create the Preset:
* Go to the "Presets" panel on the left side of Lightroom.
* Click the "+" button at the top of the panel (or right-click anywhere in the panel and choose "New Preset...").
* In the "New Develop Preset" dialog:
* Preset Name: Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait," "Gentle Portrait," "Flattering Portrait").
* Folder: Choose a folder to save the preset in (e.g., "User Presets," or create a new folder called "Portraits").
* Check Boxes: Select the settings that you want to include in the preset. It's generally best to select:
* Exposure
* Contrast
* Highlights
* Shadows
* Whites
* Blacks
* Temperature
* Tint
* Tone Curve
* HSL / Color
* Sharpening
* Noise Reduction
* Vignetting
* Uncheck anything you want to leave untouched by the preset (e.g., if you always want to adjust cropping independently). Lens Corrections and Transform should generally be unchecked.
* Click "Create."
9. Test and Refine:
* Apply the preset to several different portrait images.
* Pay attention to how the preset affects different skin tones and lighting conditions.
* Adjust the Preset: If the results are not consistent, go back to your sample image, modify the settings, and then update the preset (right-click on the preset and choose "Update with Current Settings").
Important Considerations:
* Lighting: The effectiveness of this preset will depend on the lighting of your original photo. Heavily backlit or poorly lit photos may require additional adjustments.
* Skin Tone: Skin tones vary, so the HSL/Color adjustments may need to be tweaked for individual images.
* Over-Processing: Avoid over-processing! The goal is a subtle and natural-looking result. Don't push the sliders too far.
* Customization: This is just a starting point. Feel free to experiment with other settings to create a soft portrait look that suits your personal style.
Tips for Refining Your Preset:
* Use Adjustment Brushes: For even more control, consider using the Adjustment Brush tool to selectively soften skin or brighten eyes *after* applying the preset.
* Graduated Filters: Gradients can be used to reduce the highlights in the background, adding emphasis to the subject.
* Before/After Comparison: Use Lightroom's Before/After views frequently to compare the original image to the processed version and ensure that you are moving in the right direction.
By following these steps and experimenting with the settings, you can create a versatile "Soft Portrait" preset that will help you achieve a flattering and professional look for your portrait photography. Remember to test and refine the preset until you are happy with the results.