Understanding the Goal:
A soft portrait aims to:
* Soften Skin: Reduce harsh textures and blemishes.
* Lower Contrast: Create a gentler, less aggressive image.
* Add a Dreamy Feel: Introduce a subtle glow and ethereal quality.
* Enhance Highlights (Subtly): Bring out light in the eyes and create a gentle sparkle.
Steps in Lightroom 4:
1. Import and Select an Image:
* Import a portrait you want to work with. This will be your "test subject."
* Select the image and go to the Develop module.
2. Basic Panel Adjustments:
* Exposure: Adjust to achieve a good overall brightness. Slightly overexposing (a little to the right on the histogram) can contribute to softness. Adjust carefully; too much overexposure will blow out highlights. A value of +0.2 to +0.5 is a good starting point.
* Contrast: Reduce contrast significantly. This flattens the image and makes the skin appear smoother. Try a negative value, like -30 to -50.
* Highlights: Reduce Highlights further. This prevents clipped highlights and recovers detail in bright areas. Try -30 to -60.
* Shadows: Increase Shadows slightly. This opens up the darker areas and makes the image more balanced. Try +15 to +30.
* Whites: Adjust Whites very carefully. Slight adjustments can make the image brighter without clipping highlights. Usually a slight increase. Try +5 to +15.
* Blacks: Adjust Blacks carefully, usually a small increase. This prevents overly dark areas from becoming muddy. Try +5 to +15. Increasing Blacks can sometimes contribute to a less harsh feel.
3. Tone Curve Adjustments:
* Go to the Tone Curve panel.
* Use the Point Curve (the one with the graph).
* Create a subtle S-curve, but inverted. Instead of pulling the highlight point *up* and the shadow point *down*, do the opposite, but very subtly. Pull the highlight point *down* slightly and the shadow point *up* slightly. This creates a very gentle flattening of the contrast. Be extremely subtle! Overdoing it will make the image look washed out.
* Alternatively, you can use the Channel Point Curve. Experiment with making VERY subtle adjustments to each color channel (Red, Green, Blue) to slightly warm or cool the image, or introduce a very subtle color shift.
4. HSL / Color Adjustments:
* Go to the HSL / Color panel.
* Luminance:
* Increase the Luminance of Oranges and Yellows slightly. This brightens skin tones. (+10 to +25)
* Adjust other colors as needed to enhance the overall look.
* Saturation:
* Desaturate Oranges slightly to soften the skin tones further. (-5 to -15)
* Desaturate Yellows slightly if they are too bright or distracting. (-5 to -10)
* Adjust other colors carefully. For example, you might want to boost the Saturation of Blues in the sky or Greens in the foliage.
* Hue:
* Subtle shifts in Hue can also affect skin tones. A very slight shift in the Orange hue towards red can give a warmer look.
5. Detail Panel Adjustments:
* Go to the Detail panel.
* Sharpening: Reduce the amount of sharpening. Over-sharpening defeats the purpose of a soft portrait.
* Amount: Reduce the Amount setting. Try starting around 20-30.
* Radius: Keep the Radius low (around 1.0).
* Detail: Reduce the Detail setting. This smooths skin texture. Try starting around 20-30.
* Masking: Increase Masking. This prevents sharpening in areas that don't need it, like smooth skin. Try around 60-80. Hold the ALT/Option key while adjusting Masking to see the mask. White areas are sharpened, black areas are not.
* Noise Reduction: Increase Luminance Noise Reduction. This smooths out grainy areas and further softens the image.
* Luminance: Adjust the Luminance slider carefully. Start with 10-20 and increase it until you see the noise disappear, but not so much that the image looks plastic.
* Detail: Increasing the Detail can bring back some of the texture.
* Color: Leave Color noise reduction as default.
6. Effects Panel Adjustments (Optional, but Recommended):
* Go to the Effects panel.
* Post Crop Vignetting: Consider adding a subtle, light vignetting (positive value) to draw the eye towards the center of the image and brighten the face. Choose Highlight Priority for the style. A value of +10 to +20 is a good starting point. This adds a subtle glow around the subject.
* Grain: Adding a *tiny* amount of grain can sometimes give a more film-like, organic feel. If you do, keep the amount very low (around 5-10).
7. Calibration Panel (Optional):
* Go to the Camera Calibration panel.
* Experiment with the Red, Green, and Blue primary hues. Small adjustments here can subtly affect skin tone and overall color balance. Move them slightly to the left or right to find a pleasing result. This is more advanced and requires a good understanding of color.
8. Save the Preset:
* On the left-hand side of the Develop module, click the "+" symbol next to Presets.
* Give your preset a descriptive name, like "Soft Portrait - Dreamy."
* In the "New Develop Preset" dialog box, carefully select which settings you want to include in the preset. You typically want to include *most* of the settings you adjusted (Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Tone Curve, HSL adjustments, Sharpening, Noise Reduction, Vignetting).
* Important: *Don't* include White Balance, Lens Corrections, or Transform settings in a generic portrait preset. These are usually image-specific. You might want to make separate presets for those if they are needed.
* Click Create.
Tips and Considerations:
* Start Subtle: Make small adjustments and observe their effect. It's easier to add more than to take away.
* Experiment: Don't be afraid to experiment with different settings to see what works best for your style and the specific image.
* Test on Different Images: Apply the preset to several different portraits to see how it performs. You may need to tweak the preset slightly for different lighting conditions and skin tones.
* Facial Recognition (Lightroom 5 and later): Lightroom 5 and later versions have facial recognition, which allows you to selectively apply adjustments to faces. Lightroom 4 lacks this feature, so you have to be more careful with global adjustments.
* Graduated Filters and Adjustment Brush: For more precise control, use the Graduated Filter tool to apply adjustments to specific areas (like the sky or background) and the Adjustment Brush to selectively smooth skin or dodge/burn.
* Consider the Subject's Skin Tone: Adjustments need to be tailored to the subject's skin tone. What works well for fair skin might not work as well for darker skin.
Example Settings (Starting Point):
These are just *starting points*. You'll need to adjust them based on your image.
* Exposure: +0.3
* Contrast: -40
* Highlights: -50
* Shadows: +25
* Whites: +10
* Blacks: +10
* Tone Curve: Very Subtle inverted S-Curve.
* HSL:
* Orange Luminance: +15
* Yellow Luminance: +10
* Orange Saturation: -10
* Yellow Saturation: -5
* Detail:
* Amount: 25
* Radius: 1.0
* Detail: 30
* Masking: 70
* Luminance Noise Reduction: 15
* Effects:
* Vignette: +15 (Highlight Priority)
By following these steps and experimenting with the settings, you can create a custom "soft portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 that gives your images a beautiful, ethereal look. Remember that the key is subtlety and tailoring the adjustments to each individual photograph.