Thank you for purchasing the Landscape Photography Lightroom Presets by The Photo Argus and SLR Lounge. The following is a brief guide on how to use the presets. Of course, feel free to skip this guide and jump right into testing and using the presets! We used descriptive, intuitive names, so you may not need much guidance to get started. You can always come back to this page if you have any questions, or contact us.
How To Use The Photo Argus Lightroom Landscape Photography Presets
Start by thinking about whether you captured the exposure correctly or not in the first place. Do you need to apply a major change to your exposure or white balance? Do it now before you start clicking on any presets because it will give you a better sense of the final result. Plus, the TPA presets do not change exposure or white balance. This means you can adjust your exposure or WB first, and then hit a preset without losing those adjustments.
Once you apply a TPA Lightroom preset, you should only need to apply minor fine-tuning to your exposure, white balance, or contrast, depending on the lighting conditions of the scene. Under extreme circumstances, you may want to increase or decrease the Dehaze slider, but be careful! Dehaze is a very powerful adjustment, and it affects not just contrast but also colors.
Depending on your camera and the original exposure, in some cases, you may need to adjust the dynamic range of the image entirely. For this task, we have provided a fine-tuned set of “Contrast & Dynamic Range” presets so that you can make any “look” match literally any lighting condition!
How To Customize/Update A Preset
If you find yourself frequently making one or two personalized adjustments to a particular preset, you can either update that preset or make a new, customized preset.
To update an existing preset in Lightroom Classic, click on it once to apply its settings, then make any fine-tuning adjustments you want. Next, right-click on the preset itself, and select “Update with Current Settings”. In the ‘Update Develop Preset” window that appears, select all of the settings you would like the preset to change. (We recommend checking all of the boxes EXCEPT Exposure, White Balance, Graduated/Radial filters, Lens Corrections, and the Transform settings.)
To create a brand-new preset in Lightroom Classic, click on the preset you would like to duplicate and customize, then make any fine-tuning adjustments you want. Next, click on the “plus” (+) icon in the upper right corner of the Presets tab, and select “Create Preset…” Next, once again you’ll select or un-select whichever settings you would like the preset to affect, or not affect, and then hit “Create”.
Vibrant Presets Pack | Color-Correct Presets
The first pack is the Vibrant Presets Pack, which comes with 8 scene-based presets and 17 quick fix presets, which we also refer to as “corrective” presets. Let’s go over how to use them below.
Scene Based Presets
The Vibrant Presets Pack comes with 8 scene-based presets for all of the different types of shooting conditions a landscape (or nature, wildlife, etc.) photographer might encounter. See what each one does below:
Sunny Day (Harsh Light) – This one does exactly what it says! Use it for any harsh light situations where the shadows and highlights are stark and contrasty, but not necessarily extremely dynamic or “HDR.”
Overcast (Flat Light) – It does what it says. Use this preset for both landscapes and any nature scenes where the exposure is well within the bounds of the histogram; this preset gently raises contrast while also doing a minimal amount of highlight and shadow recovery.
Fog & Mist (Flat Light) – Use this preset for even more muted, low-contrast, flat lighting conditions. Basically, whenever your histogram looks like a single bump. Either at the time of capture, or firstly in post-production, the exposure should be “ETTR”. (Exposed to the right)
Flare (Flat + HDR) – Use this preset for low-contrast flare lighting conditions where there is a relatively dynamic scene with deep shadows and bright highlights, but also, a significant loss of contrast that is often caused by flare.
Sunrise/Sunset (HDR Natural) – Use this preset for any scenario (sunset, sunrise, and daylight) where there are very deep shadows and very bright highlights. This preset is designed to significantly recover both, creating an HDR image from a single exposure, while also increasing contrast in the final tones.
Sunrise/Sunset (HDR Dramatic) – Use this preset for extremely dynamic light, or any scenario where you have stretched your camera’s exposure to its absolute limits for both highlights and shadows. NOTE: this preset uses slider adjustments that older camera sensors may not be able to handle, if they do not offer good enough image data in deep, dark shadows. This preset requires a “perfectly exposed” image in order to provide the best results! NOTE: both of the HDR presets compensate for a common green color cast that appears in the shadows of under-exposed images. If you always nail your exposures perfectly (good job!) and if you have a very new camera with a good sensor, you may want to “zero out” the Camera Calibration slider for Shadow Tint. See “How To Customize/Update A Preset” above.
Blue Hour (Flat Light) – This preset works best for images that are captured during “blue hour”, where lighting is flat or soft, yet may still have significant dynamic range as well. Also, it handles the extreme color cast that happens during blue hour, creating a unique look that allows you to either embrace the strong blue hues or achieve neutral colors, depending on how you set your White Balance. (Recommended White Balance Setting: 5500-7500K)
Moonlight (Flat Light) – This preset is perfect for general astro-landscape photography. It accommodates relatively flat lighting, and ISOs that are higher than most normal landscape photography. (High ISO exposures generally start with reduced dynamic range and saturation, compared to an ISO ~100 image.) Recommended White Balance settings: 3500-4500K
B&W Jagged Mountains B&W – This preset is perfect for all types of landscape and outdoor photography images, from flat lighting to highly dynamic exposures. It creates dramatic, contrasty black & white images that still have relatively natural tones that are common in classic B&W landscape photographs. This preset also works perfectly with the Dynamic Range Control tools, for adjustments based on your image’s scene/histogram.
Quick Fix Presets (Corrective Presets)
- Dynamic Range Adjustments – Use these to adjust the dynamic range of the image. “Stack” these on top of your other presets to change the dynamic range of any of the presets.
- Contrast Adjustments – Use these two presets to switch between having maximum “pop” in your images, or a neutral, flatter look, all without significantly changing the dynamic range itself.
- Lens Profile Adjustments – These presets are self-explanatory; use them to turn on/off the Adobe Lens Profile Adjustments. NOTE: many modern (mirrorless camera) lenses have correction profiles built-in. In some cases, you may only be able to turn these profiles on or off in-camera. In other cases, you may be able to control them from within Lightroom. This all depends on the make and model of both the camera and lens.
- Sharpening Adjustments – These presets are also self-explanatory. If you have a camera sensor without an AA (anti-aliasing) filter, and/or a very sharp lens, you may want to use the sharpening presets that are more subtle; alternately, lower-megapixel sensors and/or softer lenses may require the highest level of sharpening.
- Noise Reduction – This preset does what it says! Use it for high ISO images, or for any significantly under-exposed images that exhibit severe nose.
- Reset All – Does what it says!
- Flatten – If you use external HDR software, we have found that it actually helps to apply simple, subtle adjustments to “stretch” the dynamic range of your raw image files just before opening them in the external software. (Photomatix, etc.)
Stylization Preset Pack
Magentascapes – Magenta & Purple Toning
This preset will give your landscape, travel, and virtually any type of wanderlust imagery a truly dramatic, “epic light” result. It works best on sunrise/sunset imagery but can enhance images from other times of day, too.
The three presets provided with this look allow you to fine-tune your imagery based on the original exposure and the final stylistic vision you have.
Coffeescapes – Warm Toning
These presets are perfect for your outdoor adventure photos where you want a classic warm vibe. Other colors are muted, contrast is slightly muted while highlights and shadows are recovered in moderation.
These presets are perfect for neutral or “cold” winter scenes where a classic teal look is desired. Warm tones and other colors are reduced, and both color mixing and color grading are used to fine-tune the perfect “Winter Wonderland” look.
Bluescapes – Blue Toning
These presets create overall vibrant, clear, crisp images, with an emphasis on deep blue skies and an overall color scheme that complements any sort of exotic destination.
Greenscapes – Green Toning
Use these presets for images that you wish to have strong green tones. It enhances existing greens, corrects the issues that many cameras have with yellow-green colors that don’t look green enough, and adds subtle overall color grading to make the final look very cohesive.
Use these preset for any image that you want to have enhanced greens. It also creates a vibrant, tropical look overall, with enhanced blues.
Bright & Airy Toning
These presets create a bright, warm, high-key look that suits almost any lighting condition. Contrast is muted, while dynamic range is well-controlled.
DarkScapes – Moody Toning
These presets create a dark, dreamy, rich look that is well-suited to any type of location or light that you want to render in a low-key, soft style.
Contrast / Dynamic Range Control
Use your contrast and dynamic range control to add dynamic range to any style above.
- Contrast / Dynamic Range Control -2 (flat)
- Contrast / Dynamic Range Control -1
- Contrast / Dynamic Range Control 0
- Contrast / Dynamic Range Control +1
- Contrast / Dynamic Range Control +2 (HDR)