profiPhotos News

Now that the colder winter weather is here it’s time to look at some snow presets. Having just returned from a photo shoot in the great white north, I’ve come up with a couple of new Focus Beauty presets that will work well on your favorite winter scenes.

As is often the case with winter scenes there is an abundance of snow and an overall lack of color. In order to bring some sparkle back into these winter landscapes, I came up with some Lightroom presets that bring definition and color into your shots. What follows are a number of shots that show these two new presets in action.

The Presets in Action

Depending on the type of weather you’ve encountered on your shoot you can choose which base preset to apply. I first wanted to produce a generic snow preset that can be used to bring some definition back into your snow scenes. As was the case in my latest shoot, I often had to deal with overcast conditions. This meant I could optionally use a preset that was posted here from last month. The following two shots compare the new “Snowscape Snap” with the previously posted “Overcast - Soup to Snap” preset. (click on the small image to see a larger version)

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

Now that you’ve seen the difference between these two Enhancer presets, I’ll leave it to you to decide which one works better with your shot. Below, I’m going to introduce the second new Focus Beauty preset called “Focus> Warm/Cold Landscape (Center)“. It works best when the horizon line is somewhere in the middle of the photo. For those that can’t wait for your Christmas gift, you can easily move the horizontal gradient in the preset up or down to match your photo.

Original Photo (RAW)	with Snowscape Snap and Warm/Cold Landscape preset (this is a new Focus Beauty preset)

Original Photo (RAW)	with Snowscape Snap and Warm/Cold Landscape preset (this is a new Focus Beauty preset)

Original Photo (RAW)	with Overcast - Soup to Snap and Warm/Cold Landscape preset (this is a new Focus Beauty preset)

The Lightroom 2 Presets

• The “Snowscape Snap” preset is a new addition to the Focus Beauty collection. It brings some definition back into your snow scenes. If a stronger effect (with more contrast) is desired, use the preset below.
• The “Overcast - Soup to Snap” preset can be used to compensate the dull, dreary look of photos taken on an overcast day. It can brighten up even the most dull photo.
• The “Focus> Warm/Cold Landscape (Center)” preset is a new addition to the Focus Beauty collection. It applies a warming effect to the upper part of the photo while rendering a bluish tinge to the bottom third of the photo. As usual, I didn’t make the effect too pronounced, but if that’s what you’re after - crank up the saturation.

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

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 Winterscape Presets Collection
	Collection:	Winterscape Presets
	Version:	1.0
	Updated:	8. December 2008
	Size:	2.46 KB
	Downloaded:	9,114 times.

Related Articles