Saturday, June 23, 2012
Saucy Saturday: Tokyo Bell
Processed with Ginger Brighter from the Professional Portraits Lightroom preset package.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Cool It
Processed with the “Cool It” preset from my Professional Portrait Package for Adobe Lightroom.
Special thanks to the lovely model, Tokyo Belle for posing for me. :)
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Tutorial Tuesday: How to Use Adjustment Effects in Lightroom
As I’ve been working on the Lightroom preset packages in my shop, I thought it might be a good idea to explain how to use the features that come bundled in them - develop and adjustment presets.
Even if you aren’t using the presets from my shop, this information should be useful since Lightroom comes preloaded with some default presets that you can play with, and there are many available on the web.
Installing Presets and Adjustment Brushes
Navigate to the directory where the Lightroom resources are stored:
- Mac:
Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom - Vista/Win 7:
Users/[username]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Lightroom - Win XP:
Documents and Settings/[username]/Application Data/Adobe/Lightroom
You will see folders named “Develop Presets” and Local Adjustment Presets”. Simply copy the preset or brush (adjustment) files into the corresponding folders and restart Lightroom.
Selecting a Preset
Selecting a preset is easy. You can hover over the name of the presets to see a preview, and when you see one that you like, simply click it, and it will be applied to your image.
You can also make adjustments to the preset settings after it’s applied if you find that it is slightly too bright or not quite bright enough.
Adding an Adjustment as a Brush
Adjustment layers are amazing. You can paint only certain parts of a photo (e.g. to brighten hair or whiten teeth), or you can paint an entire photo to mix and match overlays on top of your presets.
Adjustments can also be applied to the original photo without selecting a preset.
To apply an adjustment with the brush, click the brush icon from your tools panel, and when it expands, select the effect you want to use from the drop down list.
To adjust the intensity at which a brush is applied, leave the Flow slider set to 100%, and adjust the Density slider to the level that you want to apply the adjustment (e.g. 50%).
To make sure you cover the entire photo without missing any spots, you can check the “Show Selected Mask Overlay” check box to see your brush strokes highlighted in red as a mask on the photo.
Another neat thing about applying an adjustment, is that after you have painted it on, you can select a different one from the drop down and Lightroom will update the effect that was applied to the photo.
You can also click “New” and paint multiple adjustment layers onto your photo.
Adding an Adjustment as a Gradient
Applying an adjustment as a gradient is similar to applying it as a brush. The main difference is that instead of painting it on, you will drag guidelines across the picture. As you do this, you will see the graduated effect applied to the photo.
To access the gradient adjustment panel, click on the gradient icon and when the panel expands, select the effect you want to use from the drop down. You will have access to the same adjustment effects as in the Brushes panel.
As with adding brushes to an adjustment layer, you can also apply multiple graduated layers to your photo. This lets you do some pretty fun things, like fading one adjustment into another one across your photo.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Taupe + Softly Golden (25%)
Processed with Taupe + Softly Golden (25%) from the Professional Portraits Preset Package.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Professional Portrait Lightroom Preset Package On Sale Now
I’m so excited to announce that after months of hard work, I have my first product package available in my Lightroom Preset Shop! This is a package of professional quality presets and adjustment effects that I’ve been fine tuning for my portrait work.
In total, the new Professional Portrait Package contains 21 presets and 3 adjustment effects. They can all be mixed and matched to create various effects for your photos. The link to the page has a gallery showcasing 17 of the many combinations, in addition to the photo sample shown above. I have also put together some very detailed instructions showing how to use the presets and adjustment effects together.
I’m offering this package at only $29 right now. Professional quality packages offering this many options together in one set usually cost much more than this. Scoop them up now while they are available at this great price!
