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Did you ever notice that most Lightroom develop presets drastically alter your photo? What is that? Is it so that you can see the change in the tiny preview window? I’ll admit, I’ve produced some of these as well, but this week I’m going to focus on some presets that produce very subtle effects.

In my little neck of the woods, we have an over abundance of overcast days. Rather than complaining about it, I decided to develop a couple of presets that are designed to deal with those dull, dreary days.

What follows are a number of shots that show these two presets in action. They can be stacked one upon the other to give full control over the end result. Since the effects are so subtle, I’d suggest that you click on the smaller image to see a larger view.

The Presets in Action

Original Photo (RAW)	with Overcast - Soup to Snap preset	with Focus> Isolation Warming preset (this is a new Focus Beauty preset)

Original Photo (RAW)	with Overcast - Soup to Snap preset	with Focus> Isolation Warming preset (this is a new Focus Beauty preset)

Original Photo (RAW)	with Overcast - Soup to Snap preset	with Focus> Isolation Warming preset (this is a new Focus Beauty preset)

Original Photo (JPG)	with Overcast - Soup to Snap preset	with Focus> Isolation Warming preset (this is a new Focus Beauty preset)

Using the Presets

Since neither preset makes any adjustment to your exposure level, it is best to change your exposure before applying the preset. This way you can best evaluate if the given effect suits your photo. Naturally, these presets were designed to bring some new life into photos shot on an overcast day, but you might be surprised - they will add some punch to many of your shots. I’ve tested these two presets on a wide range of shots and can honestly say they made most of the shots look better.

If you already downloaded the complete Focus Beauty collection, you can additionally stack one of the Enhancer presets on top of these two.

The Lightroom 2 Presets

The “Focus> Isolation Warming (Center)” preset is a new addition to the Focus Beauty collection. It applies a slight warming effect to the lower part of the photo while rendering a slight darkening effect in other sections of the photo.

The “Overcast - Soup to Snap” preset can be used to compensate the dull, dreary look of photos taken on an overcast day. Used in conjunction with the above preset can brighten up even the most dull photo.

Installing the Presets

• Installing Presets in Lightroom 2 - this video is for those people that haven’t done this before. It also gives you some tips for preset folder management and backing up your presets.

Your Comments Please

Why not take a moment and tell us what you think about this week’s post. Your feedback will help me determine if and how often I produce these free presets.

	Download the Overcast Presets Collection
	Collection:	Overcast Presets
	Version:	1.0
	Updated:	20. November 2008
	Size:	1.88 KB
	Downloaded:	9,190 times.

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