I. Understanding the Goal: What Makes a Portrait "Soft"?
Before we dive into the settings, let's understand what contributes to a "soft" portrait aesthetic:
* Reduced Contrast: Less harsh shadows and highlights create a gentler appearance.
* Slightly Lower Sharpness: A slightly softened image can smooth skin and reduce the appearance of blemishes.
* Subtle Highlights and Shadows: Controlled highlights and shadows prevent clipping and harsh edges.
* Warm Tones: Warm tones often convey a sense of comfort and health.
* Gentle Color Grading: Muted or complementary colors can enhance the overall soft feel.
II. Lightroom Settings Breakdown: Step-by-Step Guide
Here's a step-by-step guide to creating your "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4, explained with rationale:
1. Basic Panel Adjustments:
* Exposure: Adjust to achieve a good overall brightness. You'll likely need to brighten the image slightly. (+0.2 to +0.5 EV might be a good starting point).
* Contrast: Reduce contrast significantly. This is key to softening the image. (-15 to -30).
* Highlights: Lower highlights to recover details in bright areas. (-20 to -40). This prevents "blown out" areas.
* Shadows: Slightly increase shadows to bring out detail in darker areas. (+10 to +20).
* Whites: Adjust Whites to fine tune overall brightness and punch (usually a slight reduction is needed -5 to -10).
* Blacks: Reduce Blacks slightly to avoid harsh dark areas. (-5 to -15).
* Clarity: Reduce Clarity. This is another essential setting for softening. (-10 to -25). Be careful not to overdo it, as too much reduction can make the image look muddy.
* Vibrance: Increase Vibrance slightly to enhance the colors without oversaturating them. (+5 to +15).
* Saturation: Adjust Saturation as needed. Sometimes a very slight decrease can help. (-5 to 0).
2. Tone Curve Panel:
* Point Curve (or Region Tone Curve if you're familiar with it): A very subtle "S" curve can add a touch of depth without being harsh.
* Raise the bottom left point slightly to lift the shadows further (creates a matte effect if extreme).
* Lower the top right point slightly to reduce the highlights.
* Create a gentle curve, adding two more points to maintain the overall balance. Avoid a steep S-curve. The goal is subtlety.
3. HSL / Color Panel:
* Hue:
* Adjust skin tones: Slightly shift oranges towards yellow to make skin warmer. (Orange: +5 to +10).
* If needed, adjust reds slightly to a more pleasing tone.
* Saturation:
* Reduce saturation in reds and oranges slightly to prevent overly vibrant skin tones. (Red: -5 to -10, Orange: -5 to -10).
* Adjust other color saturations as needed based on the specific image.
* Luminance:
* Increase luminance in oranges to brighten skin tones. (Orange: +5 to +15).
* Adjust other color luminances as needed.
4. Detail Panel:
* Sharpening:
* Reduce sharpening Amount significantly. (20-40). This will soften the image.
* Increase Masking to protect areas of fine detail like eyes from softening too much.(Around 50-70)
* Reduce Radius (0.5-1.0) to reduce sharpening artifacts.
* Noise Reduction:
* Increase Luminance Noise Reduction slightly to smooth out any grain. (+5 to +15).
5. Effects Panel:
* Vignette:
* A very subtle vignette (Amount: -5 to -15) can draw the eye to the subject. Adjust Midpoint and Roundness to taste. Be very subtle!
* Grain: Avoid adding grain for a "soft" portrait look.
6. Camera Calibration (Optional - Subjective):
* Experiment with the Camera Calibration profile to find one that suits your camera and style. Profiles like "Camera Portrait" or "Camera Standard" can be good starting points.
* Adjust the Red, Green, and Blue primary hues and saturations slightly to fine-tune the overall color balance. Subtle adjustments here can have a surprisingly large impact.
III. Saving Your Preset
1. Reset: Before saving the preset, make sure you're working with a single image that you've adjusted to your liking. This ensures the preset's values are based on a good starting point.
2. New Preset:
* In the left panel, click the "+" button next to "Presets."
* Choose "Create Preset."
* Name: Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait," "Gentle Portrait").
* Group: Choose a preset group or create a new one.
* Check Boxes: This is CRUCIAL. Carefully select the settings you want to include in the preset. Generally, you'll want to include:
* Basic Tone: Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Clarity, Vibrance, Saturation
* Tone Curve: Point Curve or Region Tone Curve
* HSL / Color: Hue, Saturation, Luminance
* Detail: Sharpening, Noise Reduction
* Effects: Post Crop Vignetting
* Camera Calibration: Profile, Shadows Tint (use with caution, can easily be overdone)
* Do NOT include: White Balance, Transform, Spot Removal, or anything specifically related to cropping or lens corrections, as these are generally specific to each individual image.
* Create: Click "Create" to save your preset.
IV. Important Considerations & Tips:
* Image-Specific Adjustments: This preset is a starting point. You'll always need to make adjustments on a per-image basis, especially for exposure and white balance.
* Skin Tone Accuracy: Pay close attention to skin tones. Use the HSL panel to refine them until they look natural and pleasing.
* Subtlety is Key: Avoid extreme settings. The goal is a soft, flattering look, not a heavily processed one.
* Experimentation: Don't be afraid to experiment and tweak the settings to find what works best for your style and the images you typically work with.
* Before/After: Regularly compare the before and after to ensure you're achieving the desired effect.
* Batch Processing: Once you're happy with your preset, you can use it to quickly apply the same adjustments to multiple images.
* White Balance: White balance is highly scene-dependent. It's generally best to adjust white balance *before* applying the preset, or exclude white balance from the preset and adjust it individually for each photo.
Troubleshooting:
* Orange Skin: Too much saturation or hue adjustment in the orange range can result in unnaturally orange skin. Reduce orange saturation and/or shift the orange hue slightly towards yellow.
* Muddy Colors: Too much Clarity reduction can make colors look muddy. Reduce clarity reduction or increase vibrance/saturation slightly.
* Image Too Soft: Not enough sharpening or too much Clarity reduction. Increase sharpening masking or reduce Clarity reduction.
* Harsh Highlights: Highlights are still clipped (completely white with no detail). Reduce Highlights further, and consider using the Recovery slider in older versions of Lightroom.
By following these steps and paying attention to the details, you can create a beautiful "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 that will enhance your portrait photography. Remember to always tailor the preset to the specific needs of each image for the best results.