Understanding the Goals
* Reduced Sharpness: Soften skin details and reduce harsh lines.
* Subtle Glow/Bloom: Adds a dreamy, ethereal quality.
* Flattering Tones: Smoothing out skin tones, reducing harsh shadows, and lifting dark areas.
* Soft Contrast: Avoiding overly harsh contrast for a more pleasing look.
Steps to Create the Preset:
1. Import and Select a Portrait Image:
* Open Lightroom 4 and import a portrait image you want to use as a test subject. Choose an image with good lighting to start.
* Select the image and go to the "Develop" module.
2. Basic Panel Adjustments:
* White Balance: Adjust to achieve pleasing skin tones. Experiment with the temperature and tint sliders. A slightly warmer temperature is often flattering (a small increase to around +5 to +15 on the temperature slider).
* Exposure: Adjust to achieve a good overall brightness. A slight increase might be necessary if the image is underexposed.
* Contrast: Reduce contrast slightly (e.g., -10 to -20). This helps to soften the image.
* Highlights: Reduce the highlights (e.g., -20 to -40). This helps recover detail in bright areas and reduces harshness.
* Shadows: Increase the shadows (e.g., +20 to +40). This lifts the darker areas and reduces contrast.
* Whites: Adjust whites subtly. You might increase them a little to brighten the overall image, but be careful not to clip the highlights.
* Blacks: Adjust blacks subtly. A slight reduction can add depth without harshness.
* Clarity: This is crucial. Reduce the Clarity slider significantly (e.g., -20 to -40 or even more, depending on the image). This softens the image and reduces detail. Be careful not to overdo it, as it can make the image look muddy.
* Vibrance: Slightly increase Vibrance (e.g., +5 to +15). This adds gentle color without over-saturating the image, especially skin tones.
* Saturation: Keep the saturation relatively neutral or slightly increase it (e.g., 0 to +5). Avoid over-saturating the skin.
3. Tone Curve Adjustments:
* Go to the "Tone Curve" panel.
* Use the "Point Curve" (rather than the Region Curve) for more precise control.
* Create a gentle S-curve. This adds a bit of contrast while maintaining the soft look.
* Slightly lift the bottom left point (blacks) to reduce harsh shadows.
* Slightly pull down the top right point (highlights) to reduce bright areas.
* Anchor a point near the center of the curve to prevent unwanted changes in the midtones.
4. HSL/Color Panel Adjustments:
* Navigate to the "HSL/Color" panel.
* Luminance: This is important for skin tones.
* Increase the Luminance of Orange and Yellow to brighten skin tones (e.g., +5 to +15 each). Be subtle. Overdoing it will make skin look unnatural.
* You might decrease the Luminance of Blues and Greens slightly to add depth and reduce distractions in the background.
* Saturation:
* Subtly decrease the saturation of Orange and Yellow to prevent overly orange skin tones (e.g. -5 to -10 each). Only adjust if needed.
* Hue: Only adjust if needed. Be careful as adjusting hue can easily make skin tones appear unnatural.
5. Detail Panel Adjustments:
* Navigate to the "Detail" panel.
* Sharpening: This is crucial for a soft portrait look.
* Reduce the Amount to a very low value (e.g., 0-20). You might even set it to zero. The goal is to soften, not sharpen, the image.
* Increase the "Radius" slightly (e.g., 1.0 to 1.3). A larger radius softens the overall image more gently than simply reducing sharpness.
* Increase the "Detail" slider to retain some detail.
* Increase the Masking slider significantly (e.g., 60-90). This protects smooth areas like skin from sharpening and focuses sharpening on edges and details that you might want to retain (e.g., eyes, hair). Hold the ALT key (Option key on Mac) while dragging the Masking slider to visualize the masked areas (white = sharpened, black = unsharpened).
* Noise Reduction:
* If your image has noise, especially in the shadows, apply some Luminance Noise Reduction (e.g., 5-20). Start low and increase as needed.
* Increase Color Noise Reduction slightly (e.g., 10-20) to reduce color artifacts.
6. Effects Panel Adjustments:
* Navigate to the "Effects" panel.
* Post-Crop Vignetting: Optional, but can add a nice touch.
* Choose "Highlight Priority" or "Color Priority" for a subtle and less intrusive vignetting.
* Reduce the "Amount" slider to darken the edges of the image slightly. A small amount is usually sufficient (e.g., -5 to -20).
* Grain: Adding a small amount of grain (e.g., Amount 5-15) can sometimes enhance the film-like quality and hide imperfections. Experiment to see if you like the effect.
7. Camera Calibration Panel (Optional):
* Advanced users might want to experiment with the Camera Calibration panel. Subtle adjustments here can fine-tune color and tone.
* Avoid drastic changes in this panel, as it can easily lead to unnatural results.
* Experiment with the "Profile" setting (e.g., Adobe Standard, Camera Standard, Camera Portrait) to see if one provides a better starting point for your desired look.
* You might slightly adjust the Hue and Saturation sliders for the different color channels, but be very subtle.
8. Create the Preset:
* Once you are satisfied with your adjustments, click the "+" button in the "Presets" panel on the left side of the Develop module.
* Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait," "Dreamy Portrait," etc.).
* In the "New Develop Preset" dialog box, carefully select the settings you want to include in the preset. Crucially, select the checkboxes for all the settings you adjusted (Basic Tone, Tone Curve, HSL, Detail, Effects, Camera Calibration, etc.). If you only want the preset to affect certain adjustments (e.g., only Clarity and Sharpening), then only select those checkboxes. This is important to avoid unexpected changes when applying the preset to other images.
* Click "Create."
Important Considerations and Tips:
* Iterative Process: This is an iterative process. You'll likely need to tweak the settings as you experiment with different images.
* Image-Specific Adjustments: A preset is a starting point, not a magic bullet. You'll still need to make adjustments on a per-image basis to fine-tune the look.
* Skin Tone Monitoring: Pay close attention to skin tones. Use the histogram to monitor for clipping in the highlights or shadows of the skin.
* Overdoing It: It's easy to overdo the softening effect. Err on the side of subtlety. You can always add more softening later if needed.
* Eyes: While you're softening skin, make sure the eyes remain sharp and defined. You can often achieve this by using the Adjustment Brush to selectively sharpen the eyes after applying the preset.
* Lightroom Versions: While this guide is for Lightroom 4, the general principles apply to newer versions. The interface might be slightly different, but the core adjustments are the same.
Example Starting Point (Adjust Based on Your Image):
* Exposure: +0.3
* Contrast: -15
* Highlights: -30
* Shadows: +30
* Whites: +5
* Blacks: -5
* Clarity: -30
* Vibrance: +10
* Sharpening Amount: 0
* Sharpening Radius: 1.2
* Sharpening Detail: 25
* Sharpening Masking: 75
* Luminance Noise Reduction: 10
* Color Noise Reduction: 15
* HSL Orange Luminance: +10
* HSL Yellow Luminance: +10
By following these steps and experimenting with the settings, you can create a beautiful and flattering "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 that will help you achieve a consistent and professional look for your portrait photography. Remember to practice and refine the preset to suit your personal style and the characteristics of your images.