Understanding the Goal:
A soft portrait focuses on:
* Smooth Skin: Reducing harsh textures and blemishes.
* Soft Light: Gentle highlights and shadows, avoiding hard contrast.
* Warm Tones: Adding a touch of warmth for a flattering skin tone.
* Slightly Dreamy Effect: Reducing clarity and sharpness for a softer feel.
Step-by-Step Guide:
1. Start with a Good Image: Choose a portrait image that is well-exposed and reasonably sharp.
2. Basic Adjustments (Develop Module): Make these adjustments in the "Basic" panel.
* Exposure: Adjust to ensure the overall brightness is good. Don't overexpose the highlights (watch the histogram).
* Contrast: Reduce the contrast. Start by lowering it to -20 or -30. This helps even out skin tones and softens shadows.
* Highlights: Reduce the highlights slightly. Try -10 to -20. This brings back detail in the brightest areas of the face.
* Shadows: Increase the shadows slightly. Try +10 to +20. This opens up the darker areas and reduces harsh shadows.
* Whites: Adjust the whites carefully. You might want to increase them slightly to maintain a bright, healthy look, but avoid clipping (whites turning pure white with no detail). +5 to +10 might be good.
* Blacks: Slightly raise the blacks. Try +5 to +10. This lifts the shadows and contributes to the soft, airy feel.
* Temperature: Increase the temperature slightly. Try +3 to +7. This adds warmth to the skin tones. Adjust to taste. Avoid going too far and making the skin look orange.
* Tint: Adjust the tint to correct any color casts. If the skin looks too green, add some magenta. If it looks too magenta, add some green. Usually, only a very small adjustment is needed.
* Clarity: This is crucial for the soft effect. Reduce Clarity significantly. Start with -20 to -40. Experiment until you achieve the desired softness. Be careful not to overdo it, as too much negative clarity can make the image look blurry.
* Vibrance: Increase the Vibrance slightly. Try +5 to +15. This adds subtle color without making the image look oversaturated. Vibrance affects the less saturated colors, so it's a good choice for portraits.
* Saturation: Use saturation carefully. You may want to reduce it slightly (-5 to -10) if the colors look too intense after increasing vibrance, or you may increase it a bit (+5 to +10) if the photo seems washed out. Observe the skin tones and how the colors impact the overall mood.
3. Tone Curve:
* Point Curve (optional, but recommended): Create a subtle "S" curve to add back some gentle contrast. In the "Tone Curve" panel, click on the region control icon and click on the center of the curve to add a point. Then add another point in the shadows and another in the highlights. Gently drag the highlights point up a little and the shadows point down a little. This creates a very subtle "S" shape. Avoid making the curve too steep, as it will add harsh contrast.
* You can also try a linear curve, which lightens the shadows and darkens the highlights a bit.
4. HSL/Color/B&W: Fine-tune skin tones in the HSL/Color panel.
* Hue:
* Adjust the Hue of Orange and Yellow to fine-tune skin tones. Shift Orange slightly towards Red to make skin look warmer, or slightly towards Yellow to make it cooler. Be subtle, as large shifts can look unnatural.
* Saturation:
* Reduce the saturation of Orange slightly to desaturate skin a little.
* Increase the saturation of Red and Yellow slightly to enhance lip color and hair tones.
* Luminance:
* Increase the Luminance of Orange and Yellow to brighten skin tones.
5. Detail: Control sharpness and noise reduction.
* Sharpening: Reduce the Sharpening Amount to soften the image further. Start by lowering it to around 20-30. Increase the Radius slightly (0.7 - 1.0). Increase detail a bit (40-60). Hold Alt/Option while adjusting Masking. Mask until only the sharpest details are being sharpened and noise isn't being amplified.
* Noise Reduction:
* Luminance: Increase Luminance Noise Reduction to smooth out skin and reduce noise. Start with 10-20. Don't overdo it, as too much noise reduction can make the image look plastic.
* Color: Apply a slight Color Noise Reduction (5-10) to eliminate color artifacts.
6. Effects:
* Vignetting (Optional): Add a very subtle vignette (Amount: -5 to -15, Midpoint: 50-60) to draw the viewer's eye towards the subject. Make sure the Feather is high (80-90) for a smooth transition.
* Grain (Optional): Adding a very small amount of grain can sometimes add a nice texture, especially if you've used a lot of noise reduction. Experiment with Amount (2-5), Size (25-30), and Roughness (50-60).
7. Camera Calibration (Optional):
* In the Camera Calibration panel, experiment with the "Profile" dropdown. Some profiles (like "Camera Portrait" or "Camera Standard" for Canon/Nikon cameras) might give a better starting point for skin tones. Adjust the Red, Green, and Blue Primary Hue and Saturation sliders for subtle color adjustments.
8. Save the Preset:
* Click the "+" button in the "Presets" panel.
* Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait").
* In the "Check" area, click "Check None" to uncheck everything.
* Then, manually check only the settings you want to include in your preset. Crucially, uncheck "Process Version" This ensures your preset works with any images, regardless of the version of Lightroom they were created in. Be careful not to include any settings that are specific to the original image (e.g., Exposure, White Balance if it was perfectly set). Typically, you'll want to include settings from:
* Basic Panel (especially Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Clarity, Vibrance, Saturation, Temperature, Tint)
* Tone Curve Panel
* HSL/Color/B&W Panel
* Detail Panel (Sharpening and Noise Reduction)
* Effects Panel (Vignetting)
* Camera Calibration (if you made significant changes here)
* Click "Create."
Tips and Considerations:
* Iterative Process: Creating a good preset is an iterative process. Apply the preset to several different images and fine-tune it based on the results.
* Image-Specific Adjustments: Remember that a preset is a starting point. You'll almost always need to make additional adjustments to each image to achieve the best results.
* Skin Tone Monitoring: Pay very close attention to skin tones. Use the Color Checker Passport if you have one, or rely on your visual judgment. Aim for natural-looking, healthy skin.
* Over-Processing: Be careful not to over-process the image. Avoid excessive smoothing or unrealistic colors. Subtlety is key.
* Process Version: Lightroom's process version changes over time, and earlier process versions sometimes lead to issues with presets using the newer versions. Using the current process version might result in your preset not working on other computers (for example, if you are using Lightroom Classic's latest process version and someone opens the preset in an older version of Lightroom).
By following these steps and experimenting with the settings, you can create a beautiful "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 that will help you achieve a flattering and dreamy look in your portrait photography. Remember to save it and refine it as needed for different lighting conditions and subjects.