Lightroom Presets for Landscape Photography: my thoughts
For a long time, I hesitated to release my Lightroom presets to my audience. But this is a period of changes for me, so in this blog post I’ll tell you my opinion about this topic and give you some guidelines about their use.
When we start editing a photo, we venture in a process, spending hours to find that thing that makes our shot powerful. It’s not about changing the reality, but, as I often say, we shape the information we have in the RAW files to get the best of our photo, accentuating what it’s making our shot impactful. This process can be challenging, because some pictures come out just perfectly from the memory card, we already have an idea of what we want. Sometimes we look for THAT very small adjustment that changes everything but we don’t realize what it is. So we end up in a tricky time.
Well, the Lightroom Presets can be helpful in the editing process. In this post, we’ll explore the pros and cons of using Lightroom presets in landscape photography and I’ll share tips to make the most of them, including my own Misty Mountains Presets.
What are the Lightroom presets?
Lightroom presets are pre-configured adjustments that can be applied to your photos with one click. These settings include adjustments to exposure, contrast, white balance, saturation, masks, color grading and more. Everybody can create a preset, just by pressing a button (+) on the Presets panel in Lightroom. You just need to edit your RAW file and then save the adjustments you’ve done.
Often photographers save the settings and use presets to have a setup, a starting point for their workflow and maintain a consistent editing style for a specific series of photos.
An example of a before/after with a Lightroom preset (Dark Day - Light from the right) from my Misty Mountains Preset collection.
The Benefits of Using Lightroom Presets in Landscape Photography
1. Speed and Efficiency
Editing a lot of landscape photos with the same light, mood, style can be time consuming. Lightroom presets simplify this by allowing you to apply a cohesive look to all your images in seconds. For example, you can use landscape photography presets to quickly recover highlights and shadows in a shot.
2. Setting up a workflow
For nature and landscape photographers but not only, presets help to visualize new directions for their images. This can spark creative ideas and reduces time thinking about how to start, especially when facing challenging photos.
3. A Shortcut for Beginners
If you’re new to editing in Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop, presets provide a practical starting point. By applying presets and observing how they alter an image, beginners can learn the fundamentals of photo editing and develop their own techniques over time.
4. Customizable Options
Of course after loading a preset, you can adjust masks and all the other settings according to your picture’s needs. This flexibility is particularly important in landscape photography, where lighting and colors conditions can vary dramatically from shot to shot.
5. Enhanced Creativity
Presets can inspire you to explore different styles and creative approaches. For instance, forest photography presets might emphasize green tones and misty mood, while specific landscape photography presets might highlight the blues or the dramatic tonalities of a mountain scenery. Experimenting with presets can open up new creative possibilities.
An example of a before/after with a Lightroom preset (For Cloudy and Dark Peaks) from my Misty Mountains Preset collection.
The Downsides of Relying on Lightroom Presets
1. Not One-Size-Fits-All
Every photo is unique, and presets don’t always work perfectly out of the box. A preset designed for a bright, sunny landscape might not suit a dramatic sunset in the mountains. Customizing presets is often necessary to achieve the best results.
2. Overdependence on Presets
While presets are a great tool, relying too heavily on them can limit your growth as an editor. To truly master Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop, you need to understand the nuances of manual adjustments and color grading.
3. A preset is NOT the end
Presets are just a starting point. At least for me. I pay a lot of attention to the details and I need the precision and flexibility of the masks in Adobe Photoshop to adjust some details in my shots. Besides, as every shot is different, with different subjects and composition, also the masks in Adobe Lightroom are not perfect for every photo. That’s why a presets must be considered as a global setup before the specific adjustments for a specific picture.
4. Risk of Generic Edits
Widely-used presets can lead to images that look overly similar to others. It’s essential to maintain a unique style that stands out.
5. Variable Results
Even the best presets may yield inconsistent results depending on factors like white balance, lighting, exposure, or composition. What works for one photo might require significant adjustments for another.
My Perspective on Lightroom Presets and the Misty Mountains Collection
For a long time, I hesitated to release my Lightroom presets to my audience. I believed that every photo is different, with unique lighting, contrasts, and compositions, and worried that presets might not do justice to that individuality. I also rarely used presets and created my own. A one-size-fits-all approach didn’t seem effective for capturing the individuality of each image.
However, a lot of people have emailed me, asking if I could create a preset collection. So I decided to make them happy and try if this could work for me.
I created a kit of presets with the purpose of developing something usable for a wide range of weather conditions. For instance, even if I was attracted by the idea of a silver, dark and moody style landscape photography presets, I tried to create a cold white balance in almost no preset. I wanted to avoid some users getting fluorescent blue shots in some of their already cold shots.
So, at the end, I released the Misty Mountains Lightroom Presets, 13 (lucky number!) styles inspired by my beloved landscapes and mood in the Italian Dolomites, where my landscape photography started 10 years ago.
My recommendation for using the Misty Mountains Presets is to treat them as a foundation, a setup to kickstart your editing process. These presets are designed to bring out the dramatic tones and moody atmospheres of mountain landscapes, but I always encourage users to customize them and spread their creative wings.
Building an intuitive workflow is key, and I’ll discuss this concept further in a future blog post. For now, the Misty Mountains Presets are here to help you find inspiration while preserving your unique photographic voice. You can find them here below and in my Shop.
Besides, in the documentation of the preset, I included a link to a series of video tutorials explaining the use of each preset, how to adjust them and some examples.
Tips for Maximizing Lightroom Presets
Choose the Right Presets for Landscape Photography: Look for presets designed specifically for nature or landscape images. These presets are tailored to enhance the colors, textures, and moods commonly found in outdoor photography.
Experiment with Adjustments: Use presets as a starting point, then refine them to match the specific needs of each photo. Adjust settings like contrast, clarity, or saturation to perfect your edits.
Organize Your Preset Library: With so many Lightroom presets available, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Organize your library into categories, such as landscape photography presets, black-and-white presets, or nature photography presets, for quick access.
Learn Manual Editing Techniques: While presets are a time-saver, learning to edit manually in Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop ensures you have full creative control. This knowledge also helps you create your own custom presets.
Stay Unique: Avoid overusing popular presets to ensure your work stands out. Customize presets to reflect your personal style and vision.
An example of a before/after with a Lightroom preset (Piz Boè) from my Misty Mountains Preset collection.
Conclusion: Are Lightroom Presets Worth It?
For landscape photographers, Lightroom presets are a valuable tool that can enhance efficiency, consistency, and creativity. Whether you’re capturing sweeping mountain vistas or intimate forest scenes, presets designed for nature and landscape photography can help you achieve stunning results. However, to truly elevate your work, it’s important to use presets thoughtfully and in conjunction with a strong understanding of editing techniques.
By balancing the use of presets with manual adjustments, you can create images that are not only visually striking but also uniquely yours. Whether you’re an amateur exploring Adobe Lightroom for the first time or a professional fine-tuning your workflow, presets are an asset that can transform your approach to landscape photography.
