How can I create soft, backlit portraits with warm skin tones in Lightroom or Photoshop?
Asked 10/18/2018
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I’m trying to recreate a portrait look with soft contrast, warm skin tones, bright/blown highlights, and an airy feel. I mostly edit in Lightroom and have tried crushing blacks, raising contrast and vibrance, shifting midtones warmer, and using split toning/HSL, but it keeps looking overdone or like something is missing.
What shooting conditions and editing approach help create this look in Lightroom or Photoshop?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
2
Looking closely at the images, the first thing I notice are the following points;
- The images seem staged as in stock photography.
- Beside the first image which is lit from the side, the rest seem to be backlit.
- The natural light coming through is very soft; perhaps a cloudy overcast day.
- All images seem exposed for the shadows which is what seems to be producing the low contrast soft look with the blow-out highlights.
- The subjects also seem to be exposed with reflected light, maybe a reflector or a wall
All the above will definitely produce the results you have attached straight from the camera and I believe that’s what has taken place with regards to these images.
However, if you wanted to attempt to achieve something similar in Lightroom, you can try something as follows;
- Contrast – Slide to the Left – create softness
- Dehaze – Slide to the Right – Increase definition
- Highlights – Slide to the Right – Blowout the Highlights
- Shadows – Slide to the Right – Create further softness whilst increase exposure in the subjects
- Black – Slide to the Left – again, will add to the overall softness
- White – Slide to the Right – increase ambient white
- Saturation – Yellow Decrease // Orange Increase – To me, there seems to be low levels of Yellow in the subjects and a slight increase in Orange.
Please note, these adjustments will work better to enhance any image that is already close to what you wish the end product to look like. If you have an image that is front-lit with a dark background, you will find it very difficult to create a natural looking back-lit effect.
Originally by user34085. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user34085
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A lot of this look is created in-camera, not just in post. From the examples described, the key elements are:
- soft natural light, often from an overcast day
- mostly backlighting or side lighting
- exposing for the subject/shadows, which gives a low-contrast look and lets highlights go bright
- some fill from a reflector or a nearby wall
- staged, controlled portrait setup
In editing, aim for subtle adjustments rather than heavy color shifts:
- keep contrast fairly low for a soft look
- lift shadows and avoid crushing blacks too much
- allow highlights to stay bright for that airy feel
- warm the image slightly, especially midtones/skin tones
- use HSL/split toning gently, because overdoing red/green/blue shifts quickly looks unnatural
So the recipe is: soft backlight + correct subject exposure + gentle warm grading. If your light is harsh or front-lit, Lightroom alone usually won’t fully recreate this look.
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