1. Start with a Good Base Image:
* Choose a portrait with good lighting to begin with. The less work you have to do to correct basic exposure and white balance, the better your soft portrait will be.
* Open your image in Lightroom 4's Develop module.
2. Basic Adjustments (Optional, but Recommended):
* White Balance: Adjust the Temp and Tint sliders to achieve accurate skin tones. Slightly warmer tones often work well for portraits.
* Exposure: Ensure your subject is properly exposed. Adjust the Exposure slider to get a good overall brightness. Err on the side of slightly overexposed rather than underexposed to help soften the image.
* Contrast: Lower the contrast slightly. A less contrasty image will lend itself better to the soft effect.
3. The Core Softening Adjustments:
* Highlights & Shadows:
* Highlights: Reduce the Highlights slider. This helps recover detail in bright areas and prevents blown-out highlights, contributing to the softness. Start with -20 to -40 and adjust as needed.
* Shadows: Increase the Shadows slider. This brightens the darker areas, reducing harsh shadows and adding to the overall softness. Start with +20 to +40 and adjust as needed.
* Clarity: This is a crucial slider. Reduce the Clarity. This smooths out skin and softens details. Start with -15 to -30. Going too far will make the image look unnaturally soft and blurry, so be careful.
* Sharpness:
* In the Detail panel, reduce the Sharpening amount. A setting of 0 is a good starting point.
* Increase the Masking slider in the Detail panel. This protects smooth areas (like skin) from sharpening, focusing sharpening on edges and fine details. A setting of around 50-80 is a good starting point. This helps to maintain some detail in the eyes and hair while softening the skin.
* Reduce the Radius slider in the Detail panel to a smaller value, for example, 0.8 or 0.9. This prevents halos around edges, contributing to a softer look.
* Noise Reduction:
* In the Detail panel, increase the Luminance Noise Reduction slider. This smooths out noise, especially in shadows. Start with +10 to +20. Be careful not to overdo it, as it can lead to a loss of detail and a plasticky look.
* Tone Curve:
* Adjust the Tone Curve to create a gentle S-curve. This will slightly increase contrast while preserving highlight and shadow detail. Click the point curve icon at the lower right to make specific adjustments.
4. Color Adjustments (Subtle and Optional):
* HSL/Color Panel:
* Saturation: Consider slightly decreasing the saturation in the orange and yellow channels (skin tones) to prevent them from becoming too intense.
* Luminance: Increase the luminance of the orange and yellow channels to brighten the skin tones.
* Hue: You can make slight adjustments to the hue of the orange channel to fine-tune the skin tones. Shifting slightly towards red can add warmth.
5. Saving the Preset:
1. Once you're happy with your adjustments, click the "+" button in the Presets panel on the left-hand side of the Develop module.
2. Name your preset something descriptive like "Soft Portrait - v1" or "Dreamy Portrait."
3. In the "New Develop Preset" window, carefully select which settings you want to include in the preset.
* Generally, you'll want to include:
* Basic Tone (Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks)
* Tone Curve
* Detail (Sharpening, Noise Reduction)
* HSL / Color
* You *shouldn't* include:
* White Balance (unless you *specifically* want the preset to always apply a certain white balance – this is less common for portraits as white balance is often specific to each image).
* Transform (unless you specifically want the preset to always apply certain lens corrections).
* Crop
4. Click "Create."
Tips and Considerations:
* Subtlety is Key: The best soft portrait presets are subtle. Overdoing the softening can lead to unnatural-looking results.
* Experiment: The best settings will vary depending on the image. Don't be afraid to experiment and tweak the sliders to find what works best for you.
* Facial Recognition (Lightroom 5+): If you're using a later version of Lightroom, the facial recognition feature makes skin smoothing even easier. However, Lightroom 4 doesn't have this, so you have to rely solely on Clarity and Noise Reduction.
* Local Adjustments (Adjustment Brush or Graduated Filter): For more refined control, use the Adjustment Brush to selectively apply softening only to the skin, leaving the eyes and other important details sharp.
* Opacity: Consider adding an "Opacity" slider using the VSCO Keys app (if you have it). This allows you to easily adjust the overall intensity of the preset.
Example Slider Settings (Starting Point - Adjust to taste!):
* Exposure: +0.10 to +0.30 (Adjust as needed)
* Contrast: -10 to -20
* Highlights: -30 to -50
* Shadows: +20 to +40
* Clarity: -15 to -30
* Sharpening Amount: 0
* Sharpening Radius: 0.8
* Sharpening Detail: 25
* Sharpening Masking: 50-80
* Luminance Noise Reduction: +10 to +20
* Orange Saturation: -5 to -10
* Orange Luminance: +5 to +10
By following these steps and experimenting with different settings, you can create a "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 that produces beautiful, dreamy portraits. Remember to always assess the image and tweak the preset accordingly to achieve the best results.