How can I create a warm golden/reddish Indian wedding look in Lightroom?
Asked 3/28/2011
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2 answers
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I’m trying to edit wedding photos to get a warm golden/reddish look similar to many Indian wedding images. I’ve experimented with Lightroom presets and slider adjustments, but my results often look artificial, with harsh highlights, contrast, or uneven sharpness. What Lightroom tools or adjustments should I focus on to get a softer, soothing warm tone? If Lightroom alone is limiting, is this the kind of look that usually needs Photoshop as well?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
5
First off, while Lightroom is a fantastic program, it does have its limitations. Creating photos like the ones you linked might require some work in Photoshop to get the full effect. Photoshop supports reusable actions as well, which would make it possible for you to create an action that gives you this specific look, and reuse it over and over to create photos like this in a few seconds each. That said, here are some options with Lightroom:
- Drop the Vibrancy setting a bit, and increase Saturation a tad.
- The photos you linked seem to be saturated in some channels, while desaturated in others. They are not completely devoid of color, and they seem to have a spread of color, so I wouldn't use the split toning feature (which will literally reduce your photo to two color grades).
- Push exposure up a bit, or push the brightness setting up a bit.
- Most of the photos you linked look like they are close to being overexposed, but not actually overexposed. By increasing the exposure or brightness setting, you can get that high-key look.
- Manually tweak the saturation and lightness of individual color channels.
- Lightroom offers low level control over individual color ranges, such as reds, oranges, blues, violets, etc. you can selectively reduce the saturation in certain range, shift the color of one range towards another, etc. You should be able to achieve a wide variety of creative tone and color in your photos this way.
Originally by user124. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user124
15y ago
0
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Yes—this is a useful editing question, and Lightroom can get you part of the way there. Based on the answers, start by aiming for a warm color grade rather than a heavy preset look.
In Lightroom, try:
- lowering vibrance slightly
- increasing saturation a little
- adjusting color selectively rather than pushing all colors equally
- experimenting with split toning in the Develop module for warm highlights/shadows
The referenced look appears to keep some colors rich while muting others, so broad global adjustments can easily look fake. That’s why presets may be giving you uneven or overprocessed results.
Also, Lightroom may have limits for this exact style. If you want a very polished, repeatable effect, Photoshop may be better for finishing the look and creating reusable actions.
So the practical approach is:
- Do a natural base edit in Lightroom.
- Add gentle warm toning with careful saturation/vibrance control.
- Use split toning if it helps, but don’t overdo it.
- If you still can’t match the look, finish in Photoshop.
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