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Presets.... Should I use them?
3 min read
With the introduction of Adobe Lightroom and the Develop Module preset, Adobe unleashed a myriad of potential options for your images. Now I will not get into proper use of presets (what is "too much" etc., as that is almost more of a debate than if you should use Canon or Nikon. On that note, its all about experimentation. Will one preset work for 1000's of images? The answer is usually "sort of" based on some being terrible and some being great with the majority ending up post processed as just OK? This can be solved by limiting what your preset does to the images then still taking the time per image to tweak them to make all the results that much better.
Presets will save you piles of time, they will give you great effects that take a long time to pull off with just lighting (if they can be done conventionally at all), but they also will transform your photography into being very dependent on the post process vs. ending with a complete result in the camera. It is up to you to make that determination in your own career if that is acceptable or not.
Personally I love presets, add-ins, plugins, etc. They are all tools in my photo toolbox. Some are expensive and others are free. The beauty of most presets is they are not only free but you can easily tweak and update settings from a crude starting point or just look at presets you really like and then try to replicate them based on your own eye and needs for your specific photography.
I have been collecting plugins for over a year now, I basically have a folder on my machine I toss them in as I find them on the net and then experiment with them as I am looking for a new look or looking to refresh older images on days like today when its cold and raining. I took these and posted them on my site for download, most as I know them are published as free or open source, if they are not and you think I need to give you credit for it, please just shoot me a note and happily will, many sites out there offer plugins, most are very complicated or ad driven, I just wanted a place I could send my friends to that is easy to use. I am trying to post a sample image with each one but it will be some time before I can accomplish that, for the time being enjoy and allow these plugins to force you to broaden your horizons when it comes to post processing in Lightroom.
Free, Searchable Lightroom Preset Library for all to use and use to create your own presets.
If you would like to add your preset to this library please just email me and I will get it posted up with your credits, description and link to your site.
If you built one of these presets, please let me know and I can update the information.
I can take credit for only a few of these the rest should have proper links to their creators as far as I know them. Sadly most of these are not able to be tracked down but that does not remove their helpfulness when using Lightroom.
info@mylightroompresets.com
The Presets can be accessed via any of the following links:
www.mylightroompresets.com
www.lightroompresets.info
Presets will save you piles of time, they will give you great effects that take a long time to pull off with just lighting (if they can be done conventionally at all), but they also will transform your photography into being very dependent on the post process vs. ending with a complete result in the camera. It is up to you to make that determination in your own career if that is acceptable or not.
Personally I love presets, add-ins, plugins, etc. They are all tools in my photo toolbox. Some are expensive and others are free. The beauty of most presets is they are not only free but you can easily tweak and update settings from a crude starting point or just look at presets you really like and then try to replicate them based on your own eye and needs for your specific photography.
I have been collecting plugins for over a year now, I basically have a folder on my machine I toss them in as I find them on the net and then experiment with them as I am looking for a new look or looking to refresh older images on days like today when its cold and raining. I took these and posted them on my site for download, most as I know them are published as free or open source, if they are not and you think I need to give you credit for it, please just shoot me a note and happily will, many sites out there offer plugins, most are very complicated or ad driven, I just wanted a place I could send my friends to that is easy to use. I am trying to post a sample image with each one but it will be some time before I can accomplish that, for the time being enjoy and allow these plugins to force you to broaden your horizons when it comes to post processing in Lightroom.
Free, Searchable Lightroom Preset Library for all to use and use to create your own presets.
If you would like to add your preset to this library please just email me and I will get it posted up with your credits, description and link to your site.
If you built one of these presets, please let me know and I can update the information.
I can take credit for only a few of these the rest should have proper links to their creators as far as I know them. Sadly most of these are not able to be tracked down but that does not remove their helpfulness when using Lightroom.
info@mylightroompresets.com
The Presets can be accessed via any of the following links:
www.mylightroompresets.com
www.lightroompresets.info
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Glamour Photography, It’s all about Tone and Rapport…
by Brent Burzycki
I began my career in the glamour photo marketplace about four years ago and since then I have learned much, dispelled many more rumors than truths and also learned that in the end there is only one really happy person if you do your job correctly.
Let us start with the only person that will ever truly be happy with your work, that is your model. One of my rules when I shoot glamour is that if I cannot make the model happy with the images we shoot then I have failed as a photographer. My job as a glamour photography is to make an image that shows that model in their best most sensual or sexy light possible. You can accomplish this in many ways and those ways are based on how you implement and plan your shoot, what your subject matter is or simply what the client you are shooting for actually requires.
With those criteria in place it comes down to using your skills as a photographer and as a human being. Let’s be frank about it – you as a glamour photographer are asking your model to be incredibly intimate with the camera, and to play into a mood and feeling that they might not be fully comfortable doing with their significant other let alone a complete stranger as you could easily be in most shoot scenarios. This is where your rapport with the model becomes so very important, and without it you will never get the results you are looking for in your shoot.
Rapport is a very interesting topic I can talk for hours about so I will try to just summarize my thoughts and feel free to contact me if you have points you would like to add. My attitude when shooting any living human subject is that I treat them as I would want to be treated. That said it is very important to note that there are very important guidelines to not cross, one of them being touching. The rule for most photographers is that there is no touching of the model allowed without explicit consent of the model. I have this rule for a simple reason, for most people touch is equal to trust and trust needs to be earned and you cannot earn trust when you have only known a person for less than a short interview at the beginning of a shoot. The flip side of this is making the mistake of breaking a models trust; this could easily ruin your career as a glamour photographer. You will find it is truly amazing how the internet can ruin you forever when your model leaves the shoot, hops onto Facebook and Twitter and tells all her model friends that you are a creepy untrustworthy photographer. Thank you for playing, your career is done.
Lighting is important, proper technical photo skills are important, but in the end when it comes to glamour the mood of the image is most important. Photos tell stories, mood evokes emotion and emotion will equal the viewer looking at your photo longer. Mood is created by achieving trust between the model and the photographer, having proper rapport with the model to achieve that mood that is desired and simply to be open and honest with the model about the shoot and the content of the shoot. If you follow those simple rules you will find your photography grow and your reputation in the industry to grow along with it.
by Brent Burzycki
I began my career in the glamour photo marketplace about four years ago and since then I have learned much, dispelled many more rumors than truths and also learned that in the end there is only one really happy person if you do your job correctly.
Let us start with the only person that will ever truly be happy with your work, that is your model. One of my rules when I shoot glamour is that if I cannot make the model happy with the images we shoot then I have failed as a photographer. My job as a glamour photography is to make an image that shows that model in their best most sensual or sexy light possible. You can accomplish this in many ways and those ways are based on how you implement and plan your shoot, what your subject matter is or simply what the client you are shooting for actually requires.
With those criteria in place it comes down to using your skills as a photographer and as a human being. Let’s be frank about it – you as a glamour photographer are asking your model to be incredibly intimate with the camera, and to play into a mood and feeling that they might not be fully comfortable doing with their significant other let alone a complete stranger as you could easily be in most shoot scenarios. This is where your rapport with the model becomes so very important, and without it you will never get the results you are looking for in your shoot.
Rapport is a very interesting topic I can talk for hours about so I will try to just summarize my thoughts and feel free to contact me if you have points you would like to add. My attitude when shooting any living human subject is that I treat them as I would want to be treated. That said it is very important to note that there are very important guidelines to not cross, one of them being touching. The rule for most photographers is that there is no touching of the model allowed without explicit consent of the model. I have this rule for a simple reason, for most people touch is equal to trust and trust needs to be earned and you cannot earn trust when you have only known a person for less than a short interview at the beginning of a shoot. The flip side of this is making the mistake of breaking a models trust; this could easily ruin your career as a glamour photographer. You will find it is truly amazing how the internet can ruin you forever when your model leaves the shoot, hops onto Facebook and Twitter and tells all her model friends that you are a creepy untrustworthy photographer. Thank you for playing, your career is done.
Lighting is important, proper technical photo skills are important, but in the end when it comes to glamour the mood of the image is most important. Photos tell stories, mood evokes emotion and emotion will equal the viewer looking at your photo longer. Mood is created by achieving trust between the model and the photographer, having proper rapport with the model to achieve that mood that is desired and simply to be open and honest with the model about the shoot and the content of the shoot. If you follow those simple rules you will find your photography grow and your reputation in the industry to grow along with it.
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