p.2 #1 · Let's see your standard lightroom presets for Sony alpha
DTFagus wrote:
Thank you all for the quick responses. I have to admit I thought this forum was a bit friendlier. Obviously I am no pro and I shoot only for fun and for my family. I actually did like the outcome of my preset. But now I have to reconsider the childhood memories for the last three years since they are all badly processed and look ugly...
Thank you for the c&c anyway, I am here to learn and so I will do.
Perhaps it helps if I rephrase my question:
You come home from a family holiday with 2000 raws with 400 you like to keep. 30 of them you like so much that you process them individually. What do you do with the other 370?
I was hoping for a preset you are usually happy with. I know it wont fit any situation. But it would be better than not processing the image at all.
Or is the simple answer "it is not possible, take the time or throw the pictures away" ?
Hoping this gets this thread in a more productive and friendlier direction...
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I don't think anyone in this thread has been intentionally rude to you. Several pointed out some marked issues with your preset-version photo and are trying to save you future headaches.
Regarding your question above, it pays to practice shooting with more intention. I don't come back with 2000 pictures after 2 weeks on the road, ever, because I'm taking the time to find the shot I want and (mostly) getting it right after taking 4-5 pictures of it. The more you develop your ability to get it right in the field, the easier coming home and culling/post processing becomes.
I will only archive the RAW files of the potential keepers. No point in saving the RAW files of trash photos. I don't waste time processing photos I'm not interesting in archiving forever. Life is too short and there are too many future photos to take!
If you have a set a photos that were all taken from roughly the same angle and all have roughly the same exposure, you can speed up processing by processing one of them to your liking and copying those edits and applying them in bulk to the remainder of similar images and then picking one or two of your favorites from that batch to archive. This is FAR better than leaning on a preset.
p.2 #3 · Let's see your standard lightroom presets for Sony alpha
My work flow is like this as an example from a recent shoot..
Firstly I don’t shoot to give the clients “x” number of shots. They receive all, full res, photos.
3.5 hours on location. Took roughly 300 photos. (More than usual, as the clients were well very well versed in posing and we knocked out multiple at each location.
Return home, load all photos (all raw) to Lightroom. Quickly skim through and 1 Star or 5 star all photos I dislike/like.
Recent shoot it was narrowed down to 155 photos.
I create and apply a single preset to all photos based off one main image.
I then go through all photos and tweak more, or completely change the photo (b+w, going crazy, etc)
I then run through one more time and drop photos to 3 stars if I don’t think they fit the bill or are too similar to a better 5 star photo. Down to 120 photos this time.
All and all. Was about 2 hours of processing. Not bad at all IMO.
p.2 #4 · Let's see your standard lightroom presets for Sony alpha
You could take a middle road, and learn some things too.
Why not shoot RAW on the primary card, and jpeg on the secondary card. Then you have the option to process the RAW images that have some unique attribute like composition, emotion that you really want to work with. For the rest, you have a set of images that use Sony's jpeg processing that are ready to be shared, and archived with no more work.
Try some of the different built in "Creative Styles" to see which you like for different situations. Then open the Jpeg and the RAW files side by side in your editor. Try and edit the RAW to match the jpeg. Once you have that, make final adjustments to the RAW to tune to exactly what you want. Save that as a preset.
p.2 #6 · Let's see your standard lightroom presets for Sony alpha
I am a bit more aggressive in applying a baseline preset in Adobe LR. I often have to tweak the exposure and/or white balance, I usually play with the black/white/highlight/shadow sliders, and I sometimes add vignetting, but this initial setup usually gets me close to the final image. I use it as a default import that is applied to all incoming photos automatically. The effects of this preset can easily be reset after the fact with a "Reset" preset or by rolling back the history of the applied settings. Anyway, here's what works for me, at least as a starting point:
Here is my RAW image straight from the camera:
Here is the same image after applying this baseline preset:
Starting with the Basic panel:
I use the Adobe Color profile
No changes in original white balance and exposure settings
Highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks are changed, as below
Clarity, dehaze, vibrance, and saturation are changed, as below
No changes to the Tone Curve (linear):
Detail (sharpening & noise reduction ) settings are applied, as below:
Lens Corrections are set, as below:
No changes to the effects section:
And small but important changes to the Calibration section, as below:
Here are my User Presets. Note the + symbol to the right of the "Baseline import (Sony)" preset, indicating that this preset is applied to all images on import. I can reset the images to their original state by applying my "Reset ALL Except WB & Exposure" preset.
I hope this helps! It works well for me, but LR settings are myriad and very much in the eye of the beholder.
p.2 #7 · Let's see your standard lightroom presets for Sony alpha
I don't have presets that I use. As a landscape photographer, the light and conditions change so much from moment to moment. There are a few settings that I find I drift towards, but for the most part it's easy enough for me to also tweak those to where I want them without spending much time.
I may on occasion, when the light and location is similar, copy settings from one image to another, and I think this may be a good way for you to process your images - especially as you may be shooting indoors with a bit more consistent light.
Keep in mind that even different lenses can have a marked effect on the image - see the latest Samyang 85mm review to see how much of a warm cast it adds.
I think as you get more familiar with lightroom and how you like processing your photos, you'll be able to quickly make the desired changes and won't necessarily need a preset.
And just for the record, of the three images posted, I love the one with the preset another user posted. Cute kids, and having them play piano is a great thing!
