4.18.2023

Trying out the new "Polished Portrait" preset in Lightroom Classic. Samples.

 


These two images are from the same image file. I opened the image in the developer screen of LRC and cropped it square. I saved the bottom image as it was when first opened. No changes made to the raw file. The top image had a "one click" change made to it. I selected the "Polished Portrait" preset from the preset menu. 

Lightroom automatically made 17 masked layers and applied corrections to all 17 layers without any intervention from me. I'm impressed with the changes and while I might make other decisions this preset will be one of the first I'll try on many of my portraits going forward. 

Seems interesting to me.

Studio News: Just as I was about to toss all my lights, stands and modifiers into the garbage and pull back from day to day work several clients called to book up multiple days in late April and throughout May. I thought I might accommodate them. I guess I will. After all, I have to save up money from somewhere to finance that "much needed" Q2 Monochrom. 

A thought came to me as I was struggling to lift some weight on a machine at the gym. Can a person who must shoot only with a black and white-only camera then process images on a color monitor.?While monitors can be carefully calibrated there is always some chance that color casts will "enter the picture." How does one accurately work on a monochrome image with a tri-color monitor? Is it really possible? Does the set color temperature subtly influence the way one looks at images? Actually curious.

Hope everyone is happy and well. 

6 comments:

Frank Grygier said...

Black and White are colors. Calibrate your monitor and all will be good.

Jon Maxim said...

Re B&W: I agree with Frank. I calibrate my monitors and I don't find any colour casts.

Re "Polished Portrait" preset: Yikes! I think I don't like what it did to your portrait which I think looks much more natural in the original.

1) Eyebrows appear way too bushy and almost comical. Hard to believe the model looked that way originally.
2) The skin tone has been yellowed. Of course I don't know how the model actually look but the original was far more convincing.
3) I'm not sure quite what it did, but the preset has parted her lips wider. Surely we do not want the original expression to be changed?
4) not quite sure, but I think the hair has lost some definition.

Have fun working with all those layers. Sounds like a lot of work.

Kirk, Photographer/Writer said...

That you know of.....

Derek S said...

Good question Kirk. For the past decade I have converted most of my work to B+W (using Silver Efex, Photoshop, Lightroom) and have calibrated (quarterly) the several screens I have had during that time with the same X-rite i1 Display Pro. I haven't had any issues.

I will give Polished Portrait a shot on some old files and compare with my master files. It could be a good starting point as you say.

TMJ said...

As far as I know, currently there aren't any purely B&W monitors. X-ray viewing monitors should have a DICOM GSDF profile, but all are essentially colour monitors being used that way.

Back in the day when I first had my Apple 'shoebox' computer, Apple did a very nice, very expensive, A4 rotatable grayscale monitor.

Gary said...

I've been reading about the new AI features in Lightroom. Of course it had to happen. Slippery slope. Soon, the idea of reality in photographs will be a quaint relic of the past and all new photographs will be above average (to paraphrase Garrison Keillor).