I. Understanding the Basics
* What are Lightroom Presets? Presets are saved sets of adjustments that can be applied to your photos with a single click. They save you time by automating common edits.
* Why Create Your Own? Generic presets can be a good starting point, but creating your own allows you to tailor edits to your specific style, gear, and shooting conditions.
* Lightroom's Develop Module: This is where you make the core adjustments that will be saved into your presets. Familiarize yourself with each panel.
II. Planning Your Presets
1. Define Your Aesthetic:
* Mood: Do you want warm and inviting, cool and moody, bright and airy, dark and dramatic, vintage, film-like, or something else entirely?
* Color Palette: Are you drawn to vibrant colors, muted tones, desaturated looks, or specific color grades (e.g., teal and orange)?
* Style References: Look at photographers you admire and analyze what elements contribute to their overall look. Note down the specific looks of your favorite photos.
2. Consider Your Subjects:
* Skin Tones: How do you want skin to look? Natural, smooth, warm, cool, or stylized? This is crucial!
* Age: Adjustments that work well on children might not suit older subjects, and vice versa.
* Lighting Conditions: Are you shooting mostly in natural light, studio light, or a mix? Presets optimized for one lighting scenario might not work well in another.
3. Organize Your Ideas: Create a list or mood board to keep track of your vision.
III. Creating the Preset in Lightroom
1. Choose a Test Image: Select a well-exposed portrait that's representative of the types of images you'll be using the preset on.
2. Start with Global Adjustments:
* Basic Panel:
* White Balance: Adjust to get accurate or intentional color casts (warmer/cooler).
* Exposure: Correct for overall brightness.
* Contrast: Add or reduce contrast to control the tonal range.
* Highlights: Recover detail in bright areas (skies, highlights on skin).
* Shadows: Bring up detail in dark areas (underexposed faces).
* Whites: Set the point where the brightest tones become pure white.
* Blacks: Set the point where the darkest tones become pure black.
* Presence (Texture, Clarity, Dehaze): Use sparingly.
* Texture: Enhances fine details without affecting overall sharpness (good for skin).
* Clarity: Adds punch to midtones, but can be harsh on skin (use with caution or masking).
* Dehaze: Reduces or adds atmospheric haze; can be used creatively for a matte look.
* Vibrance & Saturation: Adjust overall color intensity. Vibrance is generally preferred as it affects less saturated colors first, making it more natural.
3. Color Grading (HSL/Color Panel): This is where you'll make significant stylistic choices.
* Hue: Shifts colors along the color spectrum. Subtle adjustments can create interesting effects. Example: Shift reds slightly towards orange for warmer skin tones.
* Saturation: Adjusts the intensity of individual colors. Desaturating certain colors can create a moody or vintage look.
* Luminance: Adjusts the brightness of individual colors. Brightening skin tones (orange, red) can give a healthy glow. Darkening blues can create moody skies.
4. Tone Curve: Powerful for controlling contrast and color toning.
* Point Curve: Allows precise control over tonal ranges. The classic S-curve increases contrast. You can also create matte looks by lifting the black point.
* Channel Curves (Red, Green, Blue): Use these to create color casts and adjust the color balance in specific tonal ranges (highlights, midtones, shadows). Experiment with subtle adjustments.
5. Color Grading Panel (Split Toning): Adds color tints to highlights and shadows. Commonly used for teal and orange looks or vintage effects. Experiment with the Balance slider.
6. Detail Panel:
* Sharpening: Apply judiciously. Too much can create artifacts. Use the Masking slider to limit sharpening to areas of detail (e.g., eyes, hair), avoiding skin.
* Noise Reduction: Reduce noise, especially in high-ISO images. Too much can soften the image. Pay attention to both Luminance and Color noise reduction.
7. Lens Corrections:
* Enable Profile Corrections: Automatically corrects for lens distortions and vignetting based on the lens used. Almost always a good idea.
* Remove Chromatic Aberration: Removes color fringing.
8. Transform Panel (Optional): Correct perspective issues (e.g., tilted buildings). This is less relevant for portrait presets unless you frequently shoot portraits with perspective distortion.
9. Effects Panel:
* Grain: Adds a film-like texture. Use sparingly.
* Vignette: Darkens or lightens the edges of the image. Can be used to draw attention to the subject.
10. Calibration Panel (Camera Calibration): Advanced color adjustments that can significantly impact the overall look. Experiment with the Shadow Tint, Red Primary, Green Primary, and Blue Primary sliders.
IV. Saving the Preset
1. Click the "+" icon in the Presets panel.
2. Choose "Create Preset."
3. Name the Preset: Use a descriptive name that reflects the style and intended use (e.g., "Warm Skin Tones - Natural Light," "Moody B&W - Studio").
4. Choose a Group: Organize your presets into logical groups (e.g., "Portraits," "Black and White," "Outdoor"). Create new groups for your custom presets.
5. Select the Settings to Include: This is crucial! Uncheck any settings that are specific to the image you used to create the preset. For example:
* Exposure: Leave this unchecked unless you intentionally want the preset to always increase or decrease exposure by a certain amount (which is usually not a good idea).
* Spot Removal: Never include this.
* Crop: Never include this.
* Graduated Filters or Radial Filters: Don't include this.
Typically, you'll want to include:
* White Balance
* Tone
* Presence
* HSL / Color
* Color Grading
* Detail (Sharpening, Noise Reduction)
* Lens Corrections
* Transform
* Effects
* Calibration
6. Click "Create."
V. Testing and Refining
1. Apply the Preset to Different Images: Try it on a variety of portraits with different lighting, skin tones, and compositions.
2. Make Adjustments: Most presets will need some tweaking to work perfectly on every image. Common adjustments include:
* Exposure: Almost always needs adjustment.
* White Balance: May need slight adjustment depending on the lighting.
* Highlights/Shadows: Fine-tune for optimal detail.
* Skin Tone: May need minor adjustments using HSL/Color sliders.
3. Iterate: Don't be afraid to go back and modify the preset based on your testing. Update the existing preset (right-click on the preset and choose "Update with Current Settings") or create a new version.
4. Skin Tones, the key: Apply the preset. Then, zoom in on the subject's face and adjust the Orange and Red color channel settings within the HSL/Color panel. Usually a slight change in luminance and/or saturation will balance the skin tones.
VI. Tips for Creative Portrait Presets
* Experiment with unusual color combinations: Try complementary color schemes (blue/orange, red/green) or analogous color schemes (yellow/orange/red).
* Create a matte look: Lift the black point on the Tone Curve and reduce contrast.
* Emulate film stocks: Research the color profiles and grain patterns of different film stocks and try to recreate them in Lightroom.
* Use split toning for subtle color washes: Add a subtle color tint to the highlights and shadows.
* Experiment with the Calibration panel: This can create unique and unexpected color effects.
* Stack presets: Combine multiple presets to create complex looks. Apply a base preset and then layer another preset with more subtle adjustments on top.
VII. Advanced Techniques
* Targeted Adjustments with Brushes & Gradients: While presets don't save local adjustments, you can *conceptually* design them around how you intend to use brushes/gradients. For example, a preset that slightly darkens blues in anticipation of using a graduated filter to darken the sky.
* Virtual Copies: Use virtual copies to apply different presets to the same image and compare the results.
* Keywords: Add keywords to your presets to make them easier to find.
VIII. Things to Avoid
* Over-editing: Subtlety is often key. Over-processed images can look artificial.
* Using the Same Preset on Everything: Presets are a starting point, not a magic bullet. Always make adjustments to suit the specific image.
* Ignoring Skin Tones: Pay close attention to how your preset affects skin tones. Make sure they look natural and healthy (unless you're intentionally going for a stylized look).
* Including Image-Specific Adjustments: As mentioned before, make sure you only save adjustments that are meant to be applied to all images.
IX. Examples of Preset Styles
* Warm & Golden: Increases warmth, adds golden tones, and smooths skin.
* Cool & Moody: Decreases temperature, adds cool tones, and increases contrast.
* Bright & Airy: Increases exposure, decreases contrast, and adds a soft glow.
* Vintage/Film-Like: Adds grain, desaturates colors, and creates a matte look.
* Black & White: Converts the image to black and white, adjusts contrast and tones, and adds grain (optional).
Conclusion:
Creating custom Lightroom presets is a rewarding process that allows you to express your creativity and develop a unique photographic style. Start with a clear vision, experiment with different settings, and refine your presets over time. With practice, you'll be able to create presets that consistently deliver the look you want for your portrait photography. Remember to keep skin tones natural (unless stylized), and test your presets on a variety of images. Good luck!