STEP BY STEP / Perfecting Lightroom’s profiles

1 Open the browser

Import the image into Lightroom then head to the Develop module. The Profile Browser can be found at the top of the Basic panel on the right of the interface. Click the grid icon to open the browser then hover over the different profiles to see how they affect the image.

3 Tweak the tones

Work your way down the Basic panel sliders to tweak the tones. We set Exposure +0.65, Contrast +6, Highlights -14, Shadows +8, Whites +42, Blacks -2, Vibrance +33, Saturation +16. You can hold Alt while adjusting many of these tonal sliders for a helpful greyscale view.

5 Sample colours

Set Range Mask: Color in the tool settings, then grab the eyedropper tool, hold Shift and click the skin a few times to sample colours. Next hold Alt and drag the Amount slider to 20 to confine the effect to the skin. If you need to erase parts, use the tool’s brush option.

2 Select a profile

We’ve chosen the Vintage04 profile for our portrait here. Double-click the profile to select it and collapse the browser. Next experiment with the Profile Amount slider. This allows us to control the intensity of the tonal effect. We increased it slightly to 120.

4 Soften the skin

Grab the Graduated Filter tool. We’ll use it to soften the subject’s skin. Dial in -50 Clarity in the tool options on the right, then click-and-drag outwards on the right side so that the tonal adjustment affects the whole of the face. Check ‘Show Selected Mask Overlay’ at the bottom.

6 Add a vignette

Get the Adjustment Brush, load it with positive Saturation, Exposure, Contrast and Clarity then paint over the irises to enhance them. Grab the Radial Filter, dial in a negative Exposure, then drag a circle to just darken the edges of the frame.