Understanding the "Soft Portrait" Look
The core elements of a soft portrait look are:
* Reduced Contrast: This flattens the tonal range, making highlights and shadows less harsh.
* Gentle Highlights: Preventing blown-out highlights contributes to a softer, more flattering feel.
* Smooth Skin: Minimizing texture and imperfections on the skin is key.
* Subtle Color Palette: Often, soft portraits lean towards warmer or cooler tones, but generally avoid overly saturated or vibrant colors.
* Sharpness (Controlled): Sharpness is reduced overall, but strategic sharpening can bring focus to the eyes.
Steps to Create the Preset in Lightroom 4
1. Open a Portrait Photo: Select a portrait photo you want to use as your base. This will allow you to immediately see the effect of your adjustments.
2. Basic Panel Adjustments: This is the foundation of your preset.
* Exposure: Adjust to the correct exposure for the image. A slightly brighter exposure can contribute to the soft look, but avoid overexposure.
* Contrast: Reduce this significantly. Start by sliding the Contrast slider to the left. A value between -20 and -40 is a good starting point.
* Highlights: Lower the Highlights. Drag the slider to the left to recover detail in bright areas. Try a value between -30 and -60.
* Shadows: Lift the Shadows. This will open up the darker areas of the image. Start with a value between +20 and +40.
* Whites: Slightly adjust the Whites slider to fine-tune the brightness of the brightest areas, avoiding clipping. (Often, a slight reduction here is helpful, like -5 to -15).
* Blacks: Adjust the Blacks slider to control the depth of the shadows. Lifting it a little (e.g., +5 to +15) can soften the image further.
* Clarity: Reduce Clarity. This is a crucial step for softening the image. Start with a value between -15 and -30. Experiment with negative values up to -50 for a very dreamy look, but be careful not to overdo it.
* Vibrance/Saturation: Slightly decrease the Saturation and Vibrance. A very subtle reduction (e.g., -5 to -10 for both) can help create a more muted, classic feel. Adjust this based on your photo's existing colors.
3. Tone Curve Adjustments: This gives you finer control over the contrast and tonal range.
* Point Curve: In the Tone Curve panel, use the Point Curve.
* Slight "S" Curve (Subtle): A subtle S-curve will add a touch of contrast while still maintaining softness. Drag the center point of the curve slightly upwards and then pull gently downward on the lower-left portion of the curve and gently upward on the upper-right portion to create a very shallow "S." Avoid making it too aggressive.
* Flatten the Curve (Alternative): Instead of an S-curve, you can also flatten the curve slightly by dragging the top and bottom points slightly inward. This reduces overall contrast.
4. HSL/Color Adjustments:
* Skin Tones: Focus on adjusting the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance of the orange and red channels.
* Orange Hue: Slightly shift orange hue towards red (e.g., +5 to +10) for warmer skin tones.
* Orange Saturation: Reduce the Orange Saturation to desaturate the skin slightly.
* Orange Luminance: Increase the Orange Luminance to brighten the skin.
* Make similar (but subtle) adjustments to Reds. Slightly reduce Red saturation.
* Other Colors: Adjust other colors as needed to complement the overall mood. You might want to desaturate blues and greens for a more muted look.
5. Detail Panel Adjustments (Sharpening and Noise Reduction):
* Sharpening: Reduce sharpening dramatically. Reduce the Amount slider in the Sharpening section. Values between 0-30 are common. Consider setting the Radius to 0.5. Use the Masking slider to only sharpen edges and avoid sharpening noise. Hold down the Alt/Option key while dragging the Masking slider to visualize the mask.
* Noise Reduction: Increase the Luminance Noise Reduction. This is important for smoothing skin. Start with a value between 10 and 30, and adjust to your taste. Increasing Color Noise Reduction can also help. Be careful not to overdo it, as too much noise reduction can make the image look plastic.
6. Effects Panel Adjustments (Optional):
* Grain: Adding a very small amount of grain (Amount: 5-10) can sometimes enhance the soft, film-like look.
* Vignetting: A subtle vignette (negative value) can draw attention to the subject. Be very subtle (Amount -5 to -15).
7. Calibration Panel (Optional):
* Experiment with the Camera Calibration panel. Subtle adjustments to the Red, Green, and Blue Primary Hue and Saturation can subtly shift the overall color tone of the image. This is an advanced adjustment; only adjust slightly.
8. Save as a Preset:
* Once you're happy with your adjustments, go to the Presets panel.
* Click the "+" icon to create a new preset.
* Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait v1").
* Crucially: In the "New Develop Preset" dialog box, choose which settings to include in your preset. Make sure the boxes next to the settings you adjusted are checked. Important: Unless you specifically adjusted them, leave the "White Balance" and "Lens Corrections" unchecked. These settings are often very specific to individual photos and lenses.
* Click "Create."
Tips and Considerations:
* Start Subtle: It's always better to start with subtle adjustments and then increase them gradually.
* Experiment: The best settings will depend on the specific photo and your personal preferences. Don't be afraid to experiment with different values.
* Adjust Per Photo: Remember that presets are just starting points. You'll almost always need to make further adjustments to the settings on a per-photo basis to get the best results.
* Focus on the Eyes: Even with a soft portrait, the eyes should remain sharp and in focus. You can achieve this by using the adjustment brush to add a small amount of sharpness and contrast to the eyes.
* Brush Refinements: Use the Adjustment Brush to refine the skin smoothing in specific areas. You can apply negative clarity, reduced sharpness, and increased noise reduction to soften skin further.
* Consider Skin Tone: Skin tones are crucial. If the preset is making skin look unnatural (too orange, too red, too yellow), adjust the HSL panel settings specifically for the orange and red channels.
* Backup Your Presets: Back up your Lightroom catalog regularly to avoid losing your presets.
Example Starting Points (Recognize these are just examples):
These are *starting* points. Adjust them to suit *your* images.
* Basic Panel:
* Exposure: As needed
* Contrast: -30
* Highlights: -50
* Shadows: +30
* Whites: -10
* Blacks: +10
* Clarity: -25
* Vibrance: -5
* Saturation: -5
* Detail Panel:
* Sharpening Amount: 20
* Sharpening Radius: 0.5
* Sharpening Detail: 25
* Sharpening Masking: 60
* Luminance Noise Reduction: 15
* Color Noise Reduction: 10
* Tone Curve: (Small S Curve) - Experiment!
Remember to fine-tune these settings to match your specific photo and desired style. Good luck!