Understanding the Goal
The key elements of a soft portrait are:
* Reduced Contrast: Less harsh shadows and highlights, creating a smoother tonal range.
* Gentle Highlights: Highlights are softened and perhaps lifted slightly.
* Subdued Shadows: Shadows are lightened to reveal more detail and reduce contrast.
* Soft Skin Tones: Smooth, natural-looking skin with a gentle glow.
* Slight Warmth: A touch of warmth can enhance the skin tones.
* Slight Blur/Haze (Optional): Creates a dreamy, ethereal feel.
* Sharpening Control: Use sharpening judiciously to maintain sharpness without harshness.
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Start with a Good Base Image:
* Choose a well-exposed portrait that's reasonably sharp. This gives you a good foundation to work with.
2. Basic Panel Adjustments:
* Exposure: Adjust this to achieve a good overall brightness. Usually, a slight increase (+0.10 to +0.50) is beneficial, but it depends on your original image.
* Contrast: Reduce this significantly. Try a value between -20 and -50. This is a crucial step for softening the overall look.
* Highlights: Lower the Highlights slider (-15 to -50). This helps to recover detail in bright areas like skin and clothing.
* Shadows: Increase the Shadows slider (+10 to +40). This lightens the shadows, reducing contrast and revealing detail.
* Whites: Slightly reduce or increase whites as needed. If blown out, lower the whites.
* Blacks: Increase the Blacks slider a little (+5 to +20). This can lift the overall blacks and add to the soft effect.
3. Tone Curve Adjustments:
* The Tone Curve is your best friend for fine-tuning contrast. In Lightroom 4, you can access the Tone Curve by clicking on the "Tone Curve" panel.
* Create a subtle "S" curve (or a "flattened S" curve):
* Lift the Shadows: Click and drag the bottom-left part of the curve *upward* a small amount. This further lifts the shadows.
* Slightly Lower the Highlights: Click and drag the top-right part of the curve *downward* a small amount. This softens the highlights.
* Adjust the Midtones: Add points to the curve in the midtones and adjust them to create a very gentle S-shape. Be careful not to overdo it; the curve should be subtle.
* Channel Tone Curves (Red, Green, Blue): Consider subtle adjustments to the individual color channels for color correction. A slight increase in the red channel in the shadows can add warmth, while a slight decrease in the blue channel in the highlights can create a more balanced look.
4. HSL/Color Panel Adjustments:
* Hue: Make subtle adjustments to hue, especially for skin tones. For example, slightly shifting orange hues towards red can make skin look warmer.
* Saturation: Reduce overall saturation *slightly* (-5 to -15). This prevents the portrait from looking too vibrant and contributes to the soft aesthetic. Focus especially on the Orange and Yellow saturations, as they affect skin tones significantly.
* Luminance: Adjust the luminance sliders to control the brightness of specific colors. Increasing the luminance of Oranges and Yellows can brighten skin. Lowering the luminance of reds, yellows, or oranges will darken these specific color ranges.
5. Split Toning (Optional):
* Split toning allows you to add a subtle color cast to the highlights and shadows.
* Highlights: Add a touch of a warm tone (e.g., orange or yellow) with a low saturation (around 5-15).
* Shadows: Add a touch of a cooler tone (e.g., blue or teal) with a low saturation (around 5-15).
* Balance: Adjust the balance slider to control which tones get more influence from the split toning effect.
6. Detail Panel Adjustments (Sharpening and Noise Reduction):
* Sharpening: Reduce the sharpening amount significantly (e.g., from the default 25 to 10-20). The goal is sharpness without harshness. Increase the Radius to 1.0 or 1.2 to soften the edges of the sharpening effect. Also, increase Masking to 30-60.
* Noise Reduction: Increase Luminance Noise Reduction to smooth out skin. Start with a value of 10-20 and adjust as needed. Add Color Noise Reduction also.
7. Effects Panel Adjustments (Optional - Use Sparingly):
* Vignetting: A *very subtle* negative vignette (-5 to -15) can draw the eye towards the subject.
* Grain: A small amount of grain (amount around 5-10, size around 25-30, roughness around 50-70) can add a film-like feel. Be very careful not to overdo it.
* Clarity: Set this to zero or a very low negative value (-5).
8. Camera Calibration (Optional):
* This panel allows for advanced color tweaking, but it can be complex. Experiment with the profile settings, but usually leaving this at the default is fine.
9. Saving the Preset:
* Once you're happy with your adjustments:
1. Click the "+" button in the Presets panel.
2. Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait - Warm," "Soft Portrait - B&W").
3. In the "Check All / Check None" area, click "Check All" to select all the current settings.
4. Uncheck any settings you *don't* want to include in the preset (e.g., Exposure if you want the preset to be adaptable to different exposure levels).
5. Click "Create."
Important Tips and Considerations
* Subtlety is Key: The best soft portrait presets are subtle. Overdoing any single adjustment can ruin the effect.
* Image-Specific Adjustments: No preset is perfect for every image. You'll likely need to tweak the settings slightly for each photo. Especially adjust the Exposure and White Balance.
* Skin Tone is Paramount: Pay close attention to skin tones. Use the HSL/Color panel to refine them. Experiment with the Orange and Yellow sliders.
* Experiment: Don't be afraid to play around with different settings to find what works best for your style.
* Before/After Comparison: Use the Before/After view (press "\" key) in Lightroom frequently to see the impact of your adjustments.
* Practice: The more you practice, the better you'll become at creating and applying soft portrait presets.
* White Balance: Be careful with the White Balance. A slightly warmer white balance is usually desired for portraits, but don't overdo it.
* Use Adjustment Brush for Eyes: If you want to enhance the eyes, create an adjustment brush with Clarity (+15) and Sharpening (+30) and paint over the irises.
By following these steps and experimenting with different settings, you can create beautiful and flattering "Soft Portrait" presets in Lightroom 4 (and later versions) that will enhance your portrait photography. Good luck!