Understanding the Goal: What Makes a "Soft Portrait"?
* Reduced Clarity and Texture: Smoothes skin and minimizes fine details.
* Gentle Highlights: Avoids harsh brightness and creates a glow.
* Soft Shadows: Reduces contrast and adds a sense of airiness.
* Warm Tones: Often associated with a flattering, healthy skin tone.
* Slightly Lifted Blacks: Adds a subtle "dreamy" or "vintage" feel.
Step-by-Step Guide in Lightroom 4
1. Import Your Image: Select a portrait you want to work with. Choose one that's well-exposed and naturally lit. This provides a good baseline.
2. Basic Adjustments (Develop Module):
* Exposure: Adjust *Exposure* until the image is properly bright. Usually a small bump up is needed (+0.10 to +0.50). Evaluate the histogram. Avoid clipping highlights or shadows.
* Contrast: Lower *Contrast* to soften the overall look. Try -15 to -30 as a starting point.
* Highlights: Decrease *Highlights*. This is crucial for softening skin and preventing blown-out areas. Start with -25 to -50.
* Shadows: Increase *Shadows*. This lifts the darker areas and reduces contrast further. Start with +15 to +30.
* Whites: Adjust *Whites* carefully. Slightly decreasing them (-5 to -15) can help reign in highlights. Be cautious; too much can make the image look dull.
* Blacks: Slightly increase *Blacks* (+5 to +15) to lift the blacks and give a softer, slightly hazy look. This is a key element for that "dreamy" feel.
3. Tone Curve:
* Use the *Point Curve* (rather than the parametric curve) for more control.
* Create a subtle "S-curve" but much less pronounced than a typical one.
* Lower-Left Point: Slightly lift the very bottom-left point (the black point) up a tiny bit. This lifts the shadows. (e.g., Input 0, Output 5)
* Middle Point: Add a point in the middle and anchor it.
* Upper-Right Point: Pull the upper-right point (the white point) down a little bit. This tames the highlights. (e.g., Input 255, Output 250)
* The goal is a VERY subtle S-curve.
4. HSL/Color Adjustments:
* Luminance: This is the *brightness* of each color.
* *Orange:* Increase *Orange Luminance* to brighten skin tones (+5 to +15). This is often the most important adjustment in this section.
* *Yellow:* Increasing *Yellow Luminance* can also help (especially if there's yellow light in the scene) (+5 to +10).
* *Red:* Slightly increasing *Red Luminance* can add a healthy glow (+3 to +8).
* Saturation:
* *Orange:* Decrease *Orange Saturation* slightly if the skin looks too saturated (+-5 to -10).
* *Red:* Decrease *Red Saturation* slightly to prevent overly rosy cheeks (-3 to -8).
* *Consider also adjusting blue and green hues, especially if the overall image has to strong a colour tone. *
* Hue: Hue is the actual *color* itself (e.g., shifting red towards orange).
* Generally, you don't need to make drastic hue changes here. Subtle adjustments are key.
* If the skin has a strong yellow cast, nudge *Orange Hue* slightly towards red.
* If the skin has a strong red cast, nudge *Orange Hue* slightly towards yellow.
5. Split Toning (Optional):
* This is for adding subtle color casts.
* Highlights: Add a very subtle warm tone (yellow or orange). Try *Hue* around 40 and *Saturation* around 3-5. Very subtle!
* Shadows: Add a very subtle cool tone (blue or purple). Try *Hue* around 240 and *Saturation* around 3-5. Again, very subtle!
* Adjust *Balance* towards the Highlights (+10 to +20) to favor the warm tones.
6. Detail:
* Sharpening: *Reduce* sharpening. A slightly softer image contributes to the soft portrait look. Try setting *Amount* to 0-25, and increase *Masking* so sharpening only applies to edges and fine details, not skin.
* Noise Reduction: *Increase* *Luminance* noise reduction to smooth skin. Start with a value of 10-20. Too much will make the image look artificial.
7. Lens Corrections (Highly Recommended):
* In the *Lens Corrections* panel, check "Remove Chromatic Aberration" and "Enable Profile Corrections". This will correct lens distortions and fringing.
8. Effects:
* Grain: Adding a small amount of grain can create a film-like texture and add interest. Try *Amount* of 5-15, *Size* around 25, and *Roughness* around 50.
* Vignetting: A very subtle negative vignetting can draw focus to the subject. Try *Amount* of -5 to -15.
9. Calibration:
* This is a more advanced adjustment. It's worth experimenting with, but generally not essential for a basic soft portrait preset. Adjust the *Red*, *Green*, and *Blue Primary* hues and saturations to fine-tune the overall color.
10. Save Your Preset:
* Click the "+" button in the *Presets* panel.
* Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait - Warm," "Dreamy Portrait").
* Crucially: In the "Check" menu, *uncheck* "Process Version." This ensures your preset works with older Lightroom versions if needed (although you're in Lightroom 4, it's good practice).
* Make sure ALL the settings you just adjusted are checked. *Uncheck* anything you *didn't* adjust, so it doesn't affect future images. Common things to uncheck are *White Balance* and *Transform*.
* Click "Create."
Important Considerations and Tips
* White Balance: Don't include White Balance in your preset! White balance is highly image-specific. You'll want to adjust this separately for each photo. If your image has an inaccurate white balance to begin with, adjust it *before* applying your soft portrait adjustments.
* Image-Specific Tweaks: A preset is a starting point. You'll almost always need to fine-tune it for each individual image. Factors like lighting, skin tone, and camera settings all affect the results.
* Skin Tone: Pay close attention to skin tone. Use the HSL/Color panel to fine-tune the orange and red tones for a natural, healthy look. Avoid making skin look too yellow, orange, or red.
* Over-Processing: It's easy to go overboard with soft portrait effects. Strive for a subtle, natural-looking result. Less is often more.
* Test on Different Images: After creating your preset, test it on a variety of portraits with different lighting and skin tones to see how it performs. Make adjustments as needed to create a versatile preset.
* Experiment! The best way to find a soft portrait look that you love is to experiment with the various settings and see what works best for your style.
Example Preset Settings (Starting Point - Adapt as Needed)
These values are *starting points*. You'll likely need to adjust them:
* Basic:
* Exposure: +0.20
* Contrast: -20
* Highlights: -40
* Shadows: +25
* Whites: -10
* Blacks: +10
* Clarity: -5
* Vibrance: +5
* Saturation: +0
* Tone Curve: Subtle S-Curve (lift blacks slightly, tame highlights slightly)
* HSL/Color:
* Orange Luminance: +10
* Orange Saturation: -5
* Red Luminance: +5
* Red Saturation: -3
* Detail:
* Sharpening Amount: 15
* Sharpening Masking: 50
* Luminance Noise Reduction: 15
* Split Toning:
* Highlights Hue: 40, Saturation: 4
* Shadows Hue: 240, Saturation: 4
* Balance: +15
* Effects:
* Grain: Amount 8, Size 25, Roughness 50
* Vignetting: -10
By following these steps and experimenting with different settings, you can create a beautiful "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 that will help you achieve a dreamy and flattering look for your portrait photography. Remember to save your work as a preset so you can easily apply these settings to future images! Good luck!