# For those using Lightroom... what are your settings



## Pinchers of Peril (Dec 20, 2012)

First off, I realize this question is very general and there are many variables to it, but I was just looking for some general information. I currently shoot with a 5DIII and shoot in RAW then do all my post processing in Lightroom 4. My basic question is what parameters are you usually changing on your photos in lightroom. Specifically what are you usually doing with saturation and vibrance? I know this will vary tremendously depending on lighting and the subject shot, but I was just curious what most of you do for the average picture. I almost always have to mess with whitebalance and then usually up the saturation and vibrance about +5-+10. Sometimes I find myself oversaturating my pictures if I'm not careful and then I make a good shot look bad. Also what are you guys usually doing for contrast settings? Thanks


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## Renzokuken (Dec 20, 2012)

Lightroom renders Canon raw files very differently from how DPP does.

I always find myself messing with the Saturation and hue, and vibrance as well

To minimize the different between Lightroom and DPP outputs, they actually created a "Camera Calibration" module. Just got to develop and scroll all the way down, "Camera Standard" tries to emulate the Standard Picture Style Jpeg output of the DPP, so try messing around with that as well.


I always find "adobe standard" making photos slightly pinkish and dull

hope this helps


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## kbmelb (Dec 20, 2012)

It depends on the shot and what my intensions are but I usually adjust my saturations by color not globally. I usually bump the contrast slightly, contrary to popular belief, the 5D3 has a fair bit of DR so I like to throw a bit of it out (not always). I like to use the Clarity slider modestly to help with contrast also.


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## Pinchers of Peril (Dec 20, 2012)

Renzokuken said:


> Lightroom renders Canon raw files very differently from how DPP does.
> 
> I always find myself messing with the Saturation and hue, and vibrance as well
> 
> ...



Thanks for the quick response. I will definitely try the "Camera Standard" module to see how that looks. Yeah I've noticed the RAW files look very different if I open them in DPP. Usually I like the way DPP renders them better than lightroom does before I mess around with anything. I just wish DPP had localized brush adjustments then I would prob use that instead of lightroom.


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## jhaces (Dec 20, 2012)

Pinchers of Peril said:


> I almost always have to mess with whitebalance and then usually up the saturation and vibrance about +5-+10. Sometimes I find myself oversaturating my pictures if I'm not careful and then I make a good shot look bad. Also what are you guys usually doing for contrast settings? Thanks



The WB dropper is always a good starting point, then fine-tune as needed.
Work your way from the top from the options. Contrast is usually + around 20. Setting whites+/blacks-/shades-/highlights+ is important.

I usually go +vibrance (around 20) and -saturation (around 10, yeah, minus.) and clarity is important (please don't over-do it! pet peeve of mine) around 20. These settings of course vary WILDLY from picture to picture, but basically the + and - stay the same (that is, I mostly +whites, -shades, etc. )


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## scottkinfw (Dec 20, 2012)

A bit off topic, but be sure to calibrate the monitor regularly. Nothing worse than getting things "just right", send them off to print, and have them come back green or whatever.


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## Brendon (Dec 20, 2012)

I find that the "camera calibration" settings for my 5diii are best on neutral when shooting scenes with skin tones in them. You will have to add some contrast back into the scene after changing this but it's worth it.

I find that scenes with skin tones are the most difficult to adjust. Here is my work flow for wedding photos:

1) Get the skin exposure right with the exposure slider
2) Get the color temp, this is often the hardest one of the bunch!
3) Adjust the white and black sliders while holding down the cntrl key so that whites are pure white and blacks are pure black. This kind of stretches the DR a bit and adds contrast.
4) I will usually bump the vibrance up to 40-50 and the saturation to 10-15 to start. Doing this screws up the skin tones so I will go into the color saturation panel and use the dropper to click on the skin and draw down the saturation of just the skin tones. (I have a couple of presets for this and will tweak the presets for each wedding couple) This process adds the "pop" to the colors.
5) Add a little bit of contrast. You can do this with the slider but I find that adjusting the curve to an S curve is more natural. (just use the pre-programed curves) The amount of contrast is going to depend on the lighting and on your lens.
6) Tweak the white and black sliders again to get the final effect i'm looking for.
7) Tweak the noise reduction with the picture at 100%

Obviously I jump around these steps and use a little different settings based on lighting but for a "standard" picture this is basically it. Some might say that colors (particularly reds) become too saturated using these settings so you have to adjust for the scene but most people today are looking for the photos that "pop" rather than a very natural look.

FYI, I also use a 50d for weddings and the settings are totally different for it. The tones are rendered very differently between the two cameras. Most of the photos I take with the 50d end up as black and whites.


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## Seanlucky (Dec 20, 2012)

I'm pretty much always shooting with a 5D III, 5D II, or 1DS III and working the RAWs in Lightroom. As you said, things will vary quite a bit, but I guess I often go through very similar motions.

-Adjust Exposure, Blacks, Shadows, Highlights, Whites as needed. This is one thing I really can't lock down into a consistent setting.
-Increase contrast either through the slider, or the curves
-Bias towards reducing saturation and vibrance, only by small amounts. Sometimes I go the other way though.
-Tiny bit of clarity increase, I really don't like to overdo this one though.
-In the color sliders, I always tend to desaturate the reds and oranges just a little, especially if there's people in the shot (which 90% of my photos do have). I really find that Canon's tend to overdue these skin tones. I play around with all of these just a little bit, taking care not to overdo it.
-little bit of sharpening and noise reduction, often dig a subtle vignette

That being said, I quite often start with a VSCO film preset as I quite like them, and play with them from there as a starting point.


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## ChilledXpress (Dec 20, 2012)

Pickup a X‑Rite ColorChecker Passport and make profiles based on the Camera body, lens and lighting conditions. 

This is a good starting point... build profiles based on your needs. I think you answered your own question though, there will never be a "setting" that is universal. Only a good point from which you can evaluate and build on based on the situation.


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## crasher8 (Dec 20, 2012)

depends if it's a soft proof or for my printer/online. Different every time. One thing I have noticed is that the LR settings for the 135 f/2L are a huge difference compared to my other lenses.


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## TriGGy (Dec 20, 2012)

Also don't overlook monitor calibration like Spyder Pro. That will help alot for color consistency and exposure adjustments.


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## Pinchers of Peril (Dec 20, 2012)

Wow everybody thanks so much for all the info. I have not ever calibrated my monitor so that is definitely something I will look into.


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## bholliman (Dec 20, 2012)

TriGGy said:


> Also don't overlook monitor calibration like Spyder Pro. That will help alot for color consistency and exposure adjustments.



+1 Before I purchased a Spyder Pro, I was seeing a huge difference between how pictures looked on various PC's and printed. This is an excellent investment.

This is my workflow for landscape pictures, similar to some of the other posters above.
1. adjust overall brightness level
2. adjust color temperature
3. adjust blacks and whites (use ALT key on a PC and left click on the slider, move until totally black)
4. adjust shadows and highlights depending on the picture
5. apply s-curve for contrast
6. apply color specific saturation depending on the picture
7. apply vibrance (normally 5 to 10, but as much as 20 for back-lit or cloudy day pictures)
8. apply clarity (normally 2-5)
9. reduce saturation (0 to -5)
10. Apply noise reduction for high ISO pictures, either globally (5-15) or using the paintbrush tool if in specific areas of the picture
11. apply lens and CA correction for lenses that need it (24-105 at wider aperatures, 15-85)
12. straighten and crop as needed

I typically do less post processing for portraits. Normally, I do not add vibrance or clarity and adjust shadows and highlights less.


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## Shawn L (Dec 20, 2012)

What I end up doing is based on what's in the photos. For instance, I process files from a trip to the zoo different than photos from an ice show. Anyhow...

If I don't like the overall color or tone of the image, I'll play with WB and/or camera calibration. I'll note that "adobe standard" really blows out saturated reds. I find "camera standard" much better for that. For pictures with crowds, "portrait" calibration brings out flesh tones (though sometimes too much). The "landscape" setting makes greens and blues pop. By trying each of these, you can get some nice results for images you weren't initially fond of.

Then, I work my way from the top of the settings downward.

For the 1DX, I find that Shadows at +50 to 75 -- especially for bright outdoor scenes -- helps bring out detail.

I'll drop vibrance back a bit for high ISO, low light images. Otherwise, colors tend to feel muddy.

In order to "fill the histogram" (when that's appropriate to do), I've found that "exposure" often blows things out too much for my taste (ruining the darks). So I often use "white" and "highlights." When those don't work, I'll open the tone curve and drag the upper right edge of the curve toward the left until the histogram is filled. This often produces much nicer results while preserving overall tonality.

Your mileage may vary .

Shawn L.


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## munkymorgy (Dec 20, 2012)

I did not think it would be common to use Vibrance and Saturation at the same time. Vibrance is just saturation but set to only effect Red, Green and Blue. Giving you a saturation control when skin tones are present. It lets you adjust saturation without altering skin tones or at least that what it said in the Lightroom Adventure.


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## Kernuak (Dec 20, 2012)

For the majority of shots, I leave the vibrance and saturation alone, concentrating on recovering any blown highlights/shadows where needed. For some evening shots, where the white balance adjustment doesn't get the colours I saw, I occasionally selectively increase the saturation slightly in the highlights. Beyond that, I pretty much just do the lens corrections (but not for all shots) and any CA correction that is still needed. Lately, I have also been adjusting the tone curve in LR instead of PS.


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## Viggo (Dec 20, 2012)

ChilledXpress said:


> Pickup a X‑Rite ColorChecker Passport and make profiles based on the Camera body, lens and lighting conditions.
> 
> This is a good starting point... build profiles based on your needs. I think you answered your own question though, there will never be a "setting" that is universal. Only a good point from which you can evaluate and build on based on the situation.



I used to LOVE the CC passport, however with the 5d3 and 1dX the reds ALWAYS have way too much blue, and in daylight the WB is always way too warm. Any idea why? It's crazy annoying.. I can clearly see it makes the colors way more accurate, but not all and I never had this issue with the 5d2...


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## mirekti (Dec 22, 2012)

I noticed that too. I chAnged white balance to B2 and pics look much better for me.


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## Quasimodo (Dec 22, 2012)

Brendon said:


> I find that the "camera calibration" settings for my 5diii are best on neutral when shooting scenes with skin tones in them. You will have to add some contrast back into the scene after changing this but it's worth it.
> 
> I find that scenes with skin tones are the most difficult to adjust. Here is my work flow for wedding photos:
> 
> ...



Would you mind showing a couple of pictures where you have done this?


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## ChilledXpress (Dec 22, 2012)

Viggo said:


> ChilledXpress said:
> 
> 
> > Pickup a X‑Rite ColorChecker Passport and make profiles based on the Camera body, lens and lighting conditions.
> ...



Once you buld the profile you can edit and save tweaks... also the WB is has to be set seperately. The profile only adjust the color profiles not the WB. Basicaly you are making profiles like Canon's Neutral, Portrait, Faithful, etc... even with the color checker its only a good starting point. The two middle rows of the passport have WB panels for cooler to warmer... The top row is for portraits, the bottom one for landscapes.

First shoot the colorchecker, then pick the WB suitable for your needs, then build the profile... check profile, tweak and resave. This should be done for every camera body+lens+lighting combo. It can be a pain but it has saved my ass on many event shoots where the lighting has been less than perfect and PP would be difficult to say the least. I usually make profiles for lighting situs with the worst being mixed light... tunsten, flourecent and flash is the biggest offender lighting wise.


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## NotABunny (Dec 22, 2012)

For portraits mostly, I start from this (on RAWs):
* Tone curve: Linear.
* Blacks: -40.
* Shadows: 10.
* Sharpness: 50.
* Luminance noise reduction: 20.
* Lens correction: by profile.
* Vignette: -5.

I don't touch saturation and vibrance, but I do export photos in aRGB and see them on a hardware-calibrated aRGB display (which shows strong colors when the light is good).


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## digital paradise (Dec 22, 2012)

Brendon said:


> I find that the "camera calibration" settings for my 5diii are best on neutral when shooting scenes with skin tones in them. You will have to add some contrast back into the scene after changing this but it's worth it.
> 
> I find that scenes with skin tones are the most difficult to adjust. Here is my work flow for wedding photos:
> 
> ...



I used to hate Adobe colours but they have come a long way in the last few years especially (as mentioned) adding camera profiles. When I compare DPP set to faithful and LR to faithful on my screen I find they are pretty close. Adobe is still a little stronger on the yellow but much improved.

For skin tones I use a simple preset. I first make sure I'm on faithful adjust exposure (if needed) and my preset is 

Clarity - 10
Vibrance +10
Saturation - 10

I then adjust black do get back that contrast/punch lost in my preset and make slight adjustments on the basic panel as required. Now you do lose a little sharpness but it really smooths out the skin tones and hides minor defects. Depending on how much editing you have to do you can do a little selective sharpening around the eyes, etc but for mass edits it is impractical unless you want to spend all that time. I will do it if really necessary but I find the output sharpening using LR does a pretty good job at the end.

I have seen some work amazing work by people. Not sure what PP software they use but they get the skin tones so natural and creamy looking. I'll try to find a link if can. I'm still trying to figure that one out. 

I am interested in step 4 of your process. I might play with that after my process to add a little more punch to my images if I can get the skin tones back to where they were.

Thanks for the info!


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## digital paradise (Dec 22, 2012)

Can you explain which brush you are using to desaturate the skin tones only? Thanks in advance.


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## digital paradise (Dec 22, 2012)

This is one I was really impressed with.

http://meninenuotrauka.lt/lt/wedding/2011/olga_igor/


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## Viggo (Dec 22, 2012)

ChilledXpress said:


> Viggo said:
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> > ChilledXpress said:
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Actually it's quite essential to use the built in greycard to get a perfect WB BEFORE you shoot the CC. The manual also states that the WB can't be set afterwards. You can correctly warm or cool it, but it still has to be correct when on location. The problem is that the greycard gives me way too warm WB, and when I apply the profile and compare (yes my screen is calibrated, and monitored every 5 minutes) it gives colors that doesn't match the real life colors, and it ALWAYS did with the 5d2, in fact, I can shoot with my girlfriends 5d2 now and get correct wb and colors.


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## rpt (Dec 22, 2012)

digital paradise said:


> This is one I was really impressed with.
> 
> http://meninenuotrauka.lt/lt/wedding/2011/olga_igor/


I loved the pics. Wedding plus candid snaps! Best of both worlds.

BTW, what was the groom planning? Groom in the room? Isn't the groom not to see the bride _*before *_the wedding?


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## digital paradise (Dec 22, 2012)

Viggo said:


> ChilledXpress said:
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I purchased the passport but don't use it. I find the blues over-saturated. I was testing it on my wife's hand. Here sweater was teal but it came out blue. So did several blue articles on the table. Too blue. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.


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## Quasimodo (Dec 22, 2012)

Viggo said:


> ChilledXpress said:
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> > Viggo said:
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I bought the colorchecker. The graycard is quite small. Does this matter (if something else with different colors accodentally slips into the frame) ?


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## Viggo (Dec 22, 2012)

Quasimodo said:


> I bought the colorchecker. The graycard is quite small. Does this matter (if something else with different colors accodentally slips into the frame) ?



I've tried that a lot myself, appreantly (at least with the 1dx) you only need to fill the spot-metering circle with the grey area. However, I always try to include as much as I can without shadowing the greycard. Kind of hard with 24mm to get a lot in the frame. But it made very little difference with the 5d2, it always came out right.

And yeah, I too get the blues (lol) to blue...


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## Quasimodo (Dec 22, 2012)

Viggo said:


> Quasimodo said:
> 
> 
> > I bought the colorchecker. The graycard is quite small. Does this matter (if something else with different colors accodentally slips into the frame) ?
> ...



Thanks


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## lexonio (Dec 22, 2012)

Sorry for somewhat hi-jacking the thread, I tried the "Camera Standard" setting and I relly liked it. Is there a way to enable it by default?


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## Viggo (Dec 22, 2012)

lexonio said:


> Sorry for somewhat hi-jacking the thread, I tried the "Camera Standard" setting and I relly liked it. Is there a way to enable it by default?



Yes, set all settings the way you want the default to be, in down on the right until you see "sync" and "reset" and hold THE ALT-key and it will change to "Set Default".


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## lexonio (Dec 22, 2012)

Will do, thanks. I have no idea why haven't I seen this before, to my eye this setting is much more accurate when used with 5DIII files.


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## Brendon (Dec 31, 2012)

digital paradise said:


> Brendon said:
> 
> 
> > I find that the "camera calibration" settings for my 5diii are best on neutral when shooting scenes with skin tones in them. You will have to add some contrast back into the scene after changing this but it's worth it.
> ...



Quasimodo and Digital Paradise - I apologize for not getting back more quickly to your questions, here is an example of the technique...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/braraigh/8323601145/#in/set-72157632377172935

Beware that these settings work best in consistent lighting situations like cloudy days. If you get color temperature differences (indoor shots) you won't be able to use the high levels of vibrance because it will bring out the purples and particularly greens from mixed lighting. I drop the vibrance down 8-10 for indoor situations.


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## RMC33 (Dec 31, 2012)

I have a few general settings for various situations but they get used for things I want to quick and dirty. My 5DII/III and 7D have profiles I have built over time. I have settings I built for using a flash, various lighting types, macro work, different effects (I built instagram filters since everyone and their bride loves them) etc. One thing all my LR presets include is Lens Correction and CA. All in all you kind of learn them as you go and need them for specific situations and desired effects. 

I also follow up with some work in PS on most images as well for various filters and effects that LR can not do.


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## Brendon (Dec 31, 2012)

digital paradise said:


> Can you explain which brush you are using to desaturate the skin tones only? Thanks in advance.



I don't use a brush although you could. It would take way too long when editing a large batch of photos. I use the HSL panel and click the little dot to the left of to panel title...either Saturation or Luminescence. If you hover over it you get "Adjust Saturation/Luminescence/Hue by dragging in the photo". Click this then the skin tone and then push the mouse up or down. This is a global adjustment. This is also a handy trick for increasing the brightness of skin if it's in a shadow. 

Again, these are global changes to the picture so you always have to be on the lookout for instances when something else in the photo is adversely affected.


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## Saunders12 (Jan 29, 2013)

hey for these i use instagram. and not having so much knowledge about other softwares.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jan 29, 2013)

digital paradise said:


> Can you explain which brush you are using to desaturate the skin tones only? Thanks in advance.


You do not need a brush. Vibrance does not affect skin tones, so desaturate the entire image and boost vibrance to achieve the effect. 
As far as settings, each shoot is different. Its much easier to process one typical image and then use the sync function to copy the settings to a highlighted group of images that were taken under similar conditions. There are usually only a few different lighting situations in a shoot, so you can process hundreds of images in a few seconds.


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## digital paradise (Jan 30, 2013)

Brendon said:


> digital paradise said:
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> > Brendon said:
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You don't need to apologize - I do! I can't believe I let this one dropped under the radar for so long. I don't know what I was thinking. Old and easily distracted I guess. How rude of me and thanks for replying so long ago.


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## digital paradise (Jan 30, 2013)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> digital paradise said:
> 
> 
> > Can you explain which brush you are using to desaturate the skin tones only? Thanks in advance.
> ...



Sorry for late Thanks. I had a wedding for Jan 26 and was cancelled early Jan. Got distracted and time to revisit.


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## Pinchers of Peril (Mar 11, 2013)

Viggo said:


> lexonio said:
> 
> 
> > Sorry for somewhat hi-jacking the thread, I tried the "Camera Standard" setting and I relly liked it. Is there a way to enable it by default?
> ...



Thank you so much for this tip. This has saved me a ton of time in post processing. "Camera Standard" is awesome for processing the 5DIII images.


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## wayno (Mar 11, 2013)

I almost always reduce saturation to some degree. Reds I often red to reduce saturation additionally as Canon reds seem to jump out particularly.


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## bycostello (Mar 12, 2013)

i mess with curves and contrast and saturation... how much depends which camera i've been using...


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