Lightroom Presets

Monday Presets – The "300" Look

January 14, 2008
40

Happy Monday everyone. I’m proud to report that I finished the Disney Marathon yesterday (all 26.2 miles of it!) and lived to tell the tale. Scott Kelby has a mini-report and photo up on his blog. Thanks to everyone who posted comments of encouragement and congratulations here. You guys are great!
Now to the Lightroom preset. As you probably saw from the title, this one is my take on the “300” look from the movie The 300. It’s very similar to what I did in Camera Raw on Photoshop User TV this week, but doing it in Lightroom is even better. I actually saw a great take on this preset from Mike Lao Photography. I had a few things that I wanted to add to it to take the effect in a different direction and that’s where this preset comes from. You’ll notice there are 2 presets in the zip file. One of them is for a harsher stronger look (good if you’re looking for that gritty effect). The other one is for a softer look (better for portraits that have women in them).

Click here to see a sample of the presets.
Click here to download Matt’s 300 Look Preset
Click here to see a video on how to install presets.

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40 comments

  2. umit ulgen 18 March, 2011 at 08:12 Reply

    Hi guys,

    I cannot see the video on how to install presets. Not sure why. I use imac. Any tips or other instructions on how to install them please?

    Thanks

    Umit

  6. Sara 25 June, 2009 at 19:37 Reply

    Hi Matt,
    I’m new to LR, and humbley thank you for all that you do with it and for us newbies!
    I am having a similar issue to a previous poster. I seem to sometimes be able to manually reorder my photos by highlighting and dragging to a new spot, and sometimes I can’t seem to move the image. I make sure to always have the “sort by” on User Order, but with some folders it just doesn’t work. I must be missing something really basic.. Any ideas?

    Many thanks in advance for your help, and thanks again for all you do.
    Cheers,
    Sara

  11. Ian Horne 6 March, 2008 at 09:11 Reply

    Thanks very much for that preset Matt. Been a regular visitor to your site and and avid watcher of your videos, thank god for IPODs! I’ve recently used this preset on a slight unusual subject. It was a family day out to a Thomas the Tank Engine (kids tv programme here in the UK) which my son loves to bits. There were steam engines in “character” and when I saw one of the drivers starting to fill the engine with water I saw the shot unfold. I knew how I wanted it to look but didn’t know how to do it, then I came across this preset 🙂

    http://www.pixalo.com/gallery/data/500/railway1.jpg

    All the best,

    Ian

  15. Lim 16 January, 2008 at 22:05 Reply

    This preset is amazing! I’ve used it some photos I took of the Forbidden City in Beijing and it looks so much better (in my books anyway)

  16. subha 16 January, 2008 at 19:46 Reply

    Hi Matt

    I’m sorry i’m posting to this video about something that doesnt relate – i couldnt figure out where to send a general comment/question…

    one problem i keep having with lightroom is that sometimes in cerain collection i’m unable to reorder my photos (or “sort” them) by “user order.” when i try to move the picture it just goes back to where it originally was. i have tried unstacking all the pictures as well as making sure that i unchecked “include items in subgroups.” is there some basic principle i’m not getting?? it is driving me crazy because i often have multiple pictures of the same thing in different parts of my shoot and i like to put them together so i they are easier to visualize…

    thanks!
    subha

  17. Sowey 15 January, 2008 at 19:02 Reply

    Reacting to the series/movie style resquest (Salech). Sure it’s cool to get that particular series/movies/commercial style/preset…LR is a great thing, but don’t forget what really does the trick…Lighting. Great lighting especially.

    But hey, since you want them really bad (plus, youknow exactly what you want !), what about taking +1hr of your time, trying different things, then saving it as a preset ? You’ll learn way more quickly, with a triumphant efficiency as a result.

  18. Darren 15 January, 2008 at 16:29 Reply

    Hi Matt,

    Congrats on the marathon. I’m only a 5K (Canadian) guy so you get great respect for 26.2 miles!.

    This preset is great, too, really cool effect. Now if I could only solve my LR printing issue it would look even better in print.

    Are you able to shed some light on all the printing issues with LR? There seems to be a mismatch with some print drivers and profiles. I saw a similar issue with CS3 that was addressed by Adobe. Any help to resolve would be appreciated.

  20. Joe O'C 15 January, 2008 at 11:50 Reply

    Matt,

    Congrats on the Marathon. They are an effort. I keep wanting to cross photography with marathon running, get photos of the crowd and all that stuff.
    Anyway, enjoy the rest. BTW, have you caught the fever?

    Joe

  21. mattk 15 January, 2008 at 11:03 Reply

    Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all of congrats. I’m recuperating nicely. A little sore still but it’s going away and in a few days I’m sure everything will be back to normal.

    I’ve been keeping a list of all the questions to answer here on the site so keep an eye out.

    See ya!
    Matt K

  22. John Butler 15 January, 2008 at 10:26 Reply

    Way to go on the Marathon. That is a real accomplishment. Also thanks for all your tips and courses. Presets are a great touch. I use them and experiment with them and get some very nice results.

  28. Dennis Dwyer 14 January, 2008 at 18:33 Reply

    Matt,

    Congrats on completing the Disney Marathon. It is a notable feat that not many folks can take bragging rights on.

    I’ve got a comment/question not necessarily related to today’s post but perhaps you may salt it away for a future item. What are the implications of using a single instance of Lightroom on a computer that is accessed by multiple users? I have a single computer in my home that my wife and I both use (we each have separate users logins set up). I was think of perhaps putting the lightroom catalog and the base photo folders in the public directory but I’m not sure that would work. Could you possibly comment on this for the entire group sometime?

    Dennis

  29. David Akesson 14 January, 2008 at 18:04 Reply

    Thanks heaps for this. I was talked into getting Lightroom by some folk who said it had changed their whole workflow process speed. Since coming across your site I can now see why as the presets are really fabulous and the speed is great.

    Have you ever tried to get the effect of Pirates of the Carribean – World’s End. I’ve been trying to do it as an action in photoshop but I don’t think I’m smart enough. It’s grey blue feel would be as awesome as 300.
    DavidA

  30. Andy 14 January, 2008 at 17:39 Reply

    Congrats on the marathon Matt. Doing one with your brother is doubly great. That was a nice finish time as well, I am really happy for you.

  31. Peter Marcaurelle 14 January, 2008 at 17:19 Reply

    Congratulations Matt,

    Buy Scott and RC a couple of Donuts to hold them over until the next race 🙂

    It’s great what you can do with only Lightroom to get some neat effects.

    I used a similar effect on images that I took at the Ghost town, Bodie California.

    If you increase the recovery on your preset to 100 and the tone curve to medium contrast, the preset works real well with older buildings like you see in Bodie.

  35. Amanda D 14 January, 2008 at 14:42 Reply

    Congrats on the marathon! I ran in Houston yesterday and I can’t even imagine doing it in the FL heat! I’m so sore today too. Hope you feel bette soon.

  36. William Chinn 14 January, 2008 at 14:00 Reply

    Congrats on the 5:16 marathon. This is an accomplishment you will always remember. Good time also for your first; I thought the 10 minute mile guesstimate was a bit optimistic. Hope your legs come back to life in a few days.

  38. Christian Berberat 14 January, 2008 at 13:40 Reply

    hi Matt
    Great for your marathon !!!

    Thanks for all the work you do for us about LR, very helpful !!!!

    Some thing is bugging me, it’s the best way to convert to B&W.
    (it’s not today subject but…)
    We could do it by clicking the grayscale button but I’v been reading it’s not that great because it brings a lot of noise.

    The other way is to desaturate evrything as Martin Eveing says http://lightroom-news.com/2007/08/24/tips-for-better-black-and-white-conversions/

    What would be your advice about that ??

    Thanks again

    Christian

  39. Thom Dombrowski 14 January, 2008 at 13:28 Reply

    Wow that is awesome that you did the marathon.. Then that photo of you in the preset sample, showing us your emotions of finishing.. LOL.. sorry just being a goof.

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