[justanotherdude]

Hello all, I didn't see a dedicated Lightroom Thread so I figured I'd make one. Personally, I'm looking around and doing some research on creating my own custom presets.

I figured we as a collective could use this thread to talk about our editing and post-processing techniques, tips and things we've figured out that could be beneficial to everyone.

DISCLAIMER: By no means am I asking people to reveal their signature or trade secrets. This is just something to help the creative process.

[justanotherdude]

Since I started the thread, I figured I should make the first post. I've been working on creating my own presets to distribute/sell (depending on my confidence in them).

Here's the first one I've been working on. I'm calling it Dark and Decay (as of now) just because that seems to be my style as of late.

Description: Dark and Decay is the first in a series of presets coming soon by OABVSUL. It is best used with overcast conditions, without direct sunlight. Bright and over exposed photos will turn orange, while dark and underexposed photos will turn black. Photos with lots of colors will see an increase in reds and blues.

Disclaimer: By no means is this a be-all-end-all for your photo. All presets are meant to expedite your editing process and provide a base to continue your edit.

Coming Soon.

Please take a look and let me know what you think. I'm looking for constructive critiques, maybe things I can change that might help it be a bit more universal. I've added a slight fade while focusing on keeping the exposure and contrast neutral.

UPDATE: Got in touch with a Photographer friend of mine, and he suggested some fade be added to give it a more dramatic and matte look. I did that and I think it worked quite well. Also changed some of the tones.

UPDATE 2: Scrapped it and started over with all settings on zero.

Dark and Decay by Darrick Snyder, on Flickr


Dark and Decay II by Darrick Snyder, on Flickr

[Mik3ymomo]

Pics don't work for me

[suspenceful]

Yup, pics are gone.

[justanotherdude]

Originally Posted by Mik3ymomo

Pics don't work for me

Originally Posted by suspenceful

Yup, pics are gone.

Thanks, folks. Didn't realize it.

Photos fixed and up.

[m3_love]

Great idea on this thread, I'll be following up for updates and hopefully one day contribute to this thread as well.

[John Tanglewood]

That's a really cool touch, gives everything that dim, muted look.

I prefer more grit and pop, but that filter would be awesome for some muted scenes.

[justanotherdude]

So in addition to a set of free presets I'm publishing on my website this Sunday, I'll also be releasing in the coming weeks (maybe sooner because I'm impatient) a set of presets for purchase called Memories of Tokyo. Yeah, I know, I probably won't sell any but it can't hurt to try.

The photo below is an example of one of the presets titled Tokyo Love.

Tokyo Love by Darrick Snyder, on Flickr

[Pixel8ed]

It's impossible to judge the preset without seeing the original. Such as is your first example underexposed in the original? Or it is from the preset? The only way to tell if they will work in a particular work flow is seeing how they tune the image. While presets are never the end result itself, it is important to see the starting point to know where it is going.

I would make them fairly cheep if you want to sell them. There are literaly millions out there for free. To high of a price and they will just go look more and find the free ones.

[justanotherdude]

Originally Posted by Pixel8ed

It's impossible to judge the preset without seeing the original. Such as is your first example underexposed in the original? Or it is from the preset? The only way to tell if they will work in a particular work flow is seeing how they tune the image. While presets are never the end result itself, it is important to see the starting point to know where it is going.

I would make them fairly cheep if you want to sell them. There are literaly millions out there for free. To high of a price and they will just go look more and find the free ones.

That's what I've been battling with as far as pricing goes. AoV which I'm looking at offering to sell at takes 60% of earnings for each purchase, cheapest they sell is $10 and most expensive (and usual) is $30. However if I do Etsy, they take 3% and I can control the prices as well as what's available.

And true, here's some before and afters of a couple of other presets as I'm still working on the Before and After Groups.

[Mik3ymomo]

Yeah, I'm not feeling your business model. Way too much of this stuff for free and I can't distinguish your offerings from the free stuff or anything I can't easily do myself in about 10 seconds in the program.
Lightroom is just too easy to edit with in the first place. More power too you if you feel you have a market for it though.

[justanotherdude]

Originally Posted by Mik3ymomo

Yeah, I'm not feeling your business model. Way too much of this stuff for free and I can't distinguish your offerings from the free stuff or anything I can't easily do myself in about 10 seconds in the program.
Lightroom is just too easy to edit with in the first place. More power too you if you feel you have a market for it though.

Not so much that I have the market, more or less that I'm just kind of trying to create exposure which is why I'm just putting the presets that I've been using out for basically free.

It depends on how into it I get. For as much free stuff out there, there's quite a few creators that make six figures from making presets. Possibility is out there.

[justanotherdude]

What are y'all's most used Lightroom Adjustment? I'm thinking mine is probably the shadows and the saturations.

[Pixel8ed]

Not sure I have one. It will vary depending on the shoot. Studio vs location have entirely different characteristics. It's pretty easy to handle the contrast ratio on the studio. On location it cam be a bit harder. And you can never tell what challenges you will have to correct for when you shoot at a clients location.

[justanotherdude]

Originally Posted by Pixel8ed

Not sure I have one. It will vary depending on the shoot. Studio vs location have entirely different characteristics. It's pretty easy to handle the contrast ratio on the studio. On location it cam be a bit harder. And you can never tell what challenges you will have to correct for when you shoot at a clients location.

That's true, I didn't think of that.

I've never done studio shoots, all of my shoots have always been on location. I've messed around using studio lighting before but never did anything other than practices.

[TurboSid]

Interesting thread.

I use lightroom mostly for quick corrections and take photos into photoshop for anything above and beyond.

[justanotherdude]

Originally Posted by TurboSid

Interesting thread.

I use lightroom mostly for quick corrections and take photos into photoshop for anything above and beyond.

I've thought about investing in Photoshop but have been hesitant. I never usually go past lightroom.

[TurboSid]

Lightroom and Photoshop creative cloud membership is only $10/m

Always auto-updates to latest version.

[Pixel8ed]

Pretty much the only thing I do in Photoshop any more is Assembling the magazines and video. I will even color grade the video in Lightroom first.

Agreed with TurboSid. At $10 a month for both with constant updates you simply cant go wrong. $120 a year is a firesale bargain compared to what it used to cost. It is cheaper than the updates used to be.

[TurboSid]

Originally Posted by Pixel8ed

Pretty much the only thing I do in Photoshop any more is Assembling the magazines and video. I will even color grade the video in Lightroom first.

Agreed with TurboSid. At $10 a month for both with constant updates you simply cant go wrong. $120 a year is a firesale bargain compared to what it used to cost. It is cheaper than the updates used to be.

Any reason why you don't just do the full CC subscription and do your videos in premiere?

I do video production so I've never even considered photoshop for video editing but I assumed its not something most people use. I did recently need to create a quick slideshow on a client's pc that only had Photoshop on it but it was a lot more tedious to get the result I wanted than if I had Premiere.

[Pixel8ed]

Originally Posted by TurboSid

Any reason why you don't just do the full CC subscription and do your videos in premiere?

I do video production so I've never even considered photoshop for video editing but I assumed its not something most people use. I did recently need to create a quick slideshow on a client's pc that only had Photoshop on it but it was a lot more tedious to get the result I wanted than if I had Premiere.

I don't do much video. I just have it as an option for clients. Most video work I do is short ones for the magazine. Photoshop does everything I need. It may not be as fast to work in. But it is something I already have. And with a bit of experimenting I can pull off whatever I need to do. Which is mostly basic stuff.

[TurboSid]

Originally Posted by Pixel8ed

I don't do much video. I just have it as an option for clients. Most video work I do is short ones for the magazine. Photoshop does everything I need. It may not be as fast to work in. But it is something I already have. And with a bit of experimenting I can pull off whatever I need to do. Which is mostly basic stuff.

Makes sense