Understanding the Goal:
The core principles behind a soft portrait are:
* Reduced Sharpness: Gently soften the details, minimizing harsh lines and blemishes.
* Smooth Skin: Create a smoother, more even skin tone.
* Highlight Recovery: Preserve detail in bright areas like the forehead and cheeks.
* Subtle Glow: A soft, warm overall look.
* Gentle Contrast: Reduce harsh shadows and highlights.
Steps to Create the Preset:
1. Choose a Starting Image: Select a portrait photo that is relatively well-exposed and representative of the types of portraits you'll be applying this preset to. This will help you fine-tune the settings accurately.
2. Basic Panel Adjustments:
* Exposure: Adjust to taste. You may need to slightly overexpose (+0.10 to +0.30) to brighten the subject and create a softer look. However, avoid clipping highlights.
* Contrast: Reduce the contrast. Lowering the contrast flattens the tonal range, contributing to the softness. Try a value of -20 to -40.
* Highlights: Pull highlights down to recover detail in bright areas. Start with -20 to -50. This helps prevent blown-out areas and softens the transition between light and shadow.
* Shadows: Open up the shadows. Increasing the shadows lifts the darker areas, further reducing contrast and revealing detail. Try +10 to +30.
* Whites: Adjust the whites to fine-tune the overall brightness. A slight decrease (-5 to -15) can sometimes help prevent overexposure.
* Blacks: Slightly raise the blacks. Increasing the black levels mutes them. Start with +5 to +15.
3. Tone Curve Panel:
* Point Curve: This is a powerful tool for fine-tuning contrast and creating a subtle "S" curve.
* Create a very slight "S" curve: Gently pull down the highlights and lift the shadows on the tone curve. This further reduces contrast in the highlights and shadows. The curve should be very shallow; avoid extreme curves.
* Alternatively, Flatten Curve: A very subtle flattening of the curve near both the highlights and shadows can create a very soft matte look. This will lessen the overall range from whites to blacks.
4. HSL/Color Panel:
* Luminance:
* Orange and Yellow: Increase the luminance of orange and yellow to brighten skin tones. Try +5 to +15 for each.
* Red: Increase Red slightly to enrich lip color +5 to +10
* Saturation:
* Orange: Decrease saturation of orange slightly to reduce color cast and further enhance skin smoothness. -5 to -15.
* Hue: Generally avoid major hue shifts, but subtle adjustments can refine skin tones. Moving orange towards red slightly can add warmth. -5 to +5.
5. Detail Panel: This is crucial for the "soft" look.
* Sharpening: Reduce the Amount of sharpening. A value of 0-25 is recommended for portraits.
* Radius: Keep the radius low (around 0.5-1.0) to avoid overly sharpening edges.
* Detail: Reduce the detail value (0-20) to further control sharpness.
* Masking: Increase masking (60-80 or higher) to target sharpening on edges, leaving smoother areas untouched (like skin). Hold ALT (Option on Mac) while adjusting the masking slider to visualize the areas being sharpened.
* Noise Reduction:
* Luminance Noise Reduction: Increase luminance noise reduction. This smooths out noise, contributing to the soft effect. Start with 15-30. Go higher if the image has significant noise, but be careful not to over-smooth and lose detail.
* Color Noise Reduction: A touch of color noise reduction (5-10) can clean up any color artifacts.
6. Effects Panel:
* Post-Crop Vignetting: A subtle vignette can draw the eye to the subject.
* Amount: A slight negative value (-5 to -15) will create a subtle darkening around the edges.
* Midpoint: Adjust the midpoint to control how far the vignette extends.
7. Camera Calibration Panel (Optional):
* Profile: Experiment with different camera profiles. Some profiles are naturally softer or more flattering for skin tones. The "Adobe Standard" profile is usually a good starting point.
8. Create the Preset:
* Click the "+" button in the Presets panel.
* Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait v1").
* Crucially, check ONLY the boxes for the settings you adjusted. This prevents the preset from overriding settings you might want to adjust on a per-image basis (like exposure or white balance). At a minimum, make sure to select:
* Exposure
* Contrast
* Highlights
* Shadows
* Whites
* Blacks
* Tone Curve
* HSL/Color
* Sharpening
* Noise Reduction
* Post-Crop Vignetting
* Camera Calibration (if you changed the profile)
* Click "Create."
Important Considerations and Tips:
* Experimentation is Key: These are starting points. Tweak the settings to suit your individual style and the specific characteristics of your photos.
* Don't Overdo It: Too much softening can result in a blurry or artificial look. Subtlety is key.
* Skin Tone: Pay close attention to skin tones. Monitor for unnatural color casts and adjust the HSL/Color panel accordingly.
* Sharpening Masking: Use masking in the sharpening panel to target sharpening only to edges, thus retaining skin smoothness.
* Practice: Apply the preset to a variety of portraits and make adjustments to the preset itself as needed to refine it. Consider creating variations of the preset for different lighting conditions.
* Lightroom Version: These instructions are tailored for Lightroom 4. Newer versions of Lightroom have slightly different panels and features, but the core principles remain the same.
By following these steps and experimenting with the settings, you can create a beautiful and effective "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 to give your portraits a flattering and professional look. Remember to adjust the settings based on the individual needs of each photo for the best results.