Presets – Summer Haze
Summer is in full swing, SPF 45 and lemonade are flowing, and that inspired my latest preset. Actually, summer has been in full swing here in Tampa, FL for about 6 weeks but hey, I love the heat so it’s all good for me. This week’s preset is named Summer Haze. I was working on some photos and I was trying to get across that summery, warm, hazy feeling and this is what came out of it. The preset adjusts the white balance, Vibrance, Saturation, and Split Toning sliders. I even tossed in a bit of a Tone Curve adjustment on it in the Shadows since the other settings seemed to muddy the photo up a bit, and I thought it needed some more blacks to bring back the contrast. It works great on fun-styled photos outdoors and even makes a pretty nifty wedding effect.
I hope you enjoy. Speaking of summer, I’m bailing out of work a couple hours early today to head to Busch Gardens. They have this “Summer Nights” things going on and it’s a lot more bearable later in the day. Hmmmmm… Summer Nights. Sounds like a good name for a preset 🙂 Enjoy!
Click here to see a sample of the preset.
Click here to download Matt’s Summer Haze Preset
Click here to see a video on how to install presets.
Great post. I was checking continuously this blog and I’m impressed! Very useful information specifically the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was seeking this particular information for a long time. Thank you and good luck.
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an really long comment
but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again.
Anyways, just wanted to say great blog!
tryed to watch it on video its not working
I finally got a chance to use this preset and I love it: my use of summer haze
Hi Matt,
Love your presets – been using them for a while and I think they are great.
I am not sure if you are still taking suggestions but one that I would love to see for Lightroom is a Muted Color Preset as seen here:
http://flickr.com/groups/photoshopsupport/discuss/72157594475266866/
This link shows how to do it in Photoshop – maybe there is a way we can achieve this look in Lightroom as well?
Thanks again and keep up the good work.
-Nick
Matt, Love the presets. I’m an old film guy (no pun intended) and wonder if you have a Velvia preset up your sleeve?
Man! I just finished packaging a wedding that this would have been perfect for. What to do… do I redo it or just wait for the next one???
Hi Matt. Thanks for the Preset. I am a photographer in Miami, Fort Lauderdale area, and I love having your presets saved in my Lightroom. Great job
Paulo Jordao
Like many I also appreciate your work to bring us some of the best presets for Lightroom. It’s not that I’m lazy or anything like that but as a Lightroom novice there’s just so much to learn and Lightroom is so jam packed with good stuff I wonder how I will ever learn it all. We are all very fortunate to have someone available like you that has such a passion for this product and you’re more than willing to share. I know it’s probably beginning to sound like a broken record but thanks for all you do for those of us who read your blog daily. What do you think will happen with the Slideshow module? It is lacking a little bit. I think I would prefer something I could export photos out of Lightroom to to create a DVD based slideshow I can run on any DVD player anywhere. Any hints or advice on something like that?
Regards,
Dennis D.
Thanks for the presets, Matt. This is one of the things I really like about LR—the ability to easily share things like presets, templates, etc. I, also, look forward to reading your blog with your no-nonsense approach. Keep up the great work!
John T.
Hey guys. Here’s a few answers.
Steve: I think I have a video called Creative Printing that should help. Here’s the link:
http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/2007/video-creative-printing/
Essentially, use the layout options on the right hand side to make your print look the way you want. You can use the Page Setup button to change the size of the page if you want. Then go on the left side to the templates and click the Add button to save it.
Mark: Yep, I used to use a Dell. It is far from a sponsorship. Apple has no idea who we even are let alone sponsor us 🙂 Basically, I needed a laptop that ran both Windows and Mac. I still do lots of Elements training (Windows only for the most part) but I have to be up to speed on programs like Aperture to be able to fairly compare it to what I use. If Aperture made a better program I’d use it and I’d have to be able to tell the viewers that or I’d lose credibility. So… I got tired of lugging around 2 laptops all the time and got a Mac Book Pro that I set up to dual boot Windows and Mac. Vista came out and I actually liked it (I know, I’m one of the few it seems) for a while. But after working on the mac side often enough I grew to like it even more. It just seemed easier to navigate around and get the job done. So… that’s the long answer to a short question. Nobody asked me to switch or paid me anything. After using both for a while I just found the mac OS to be more user friendly so I stuck with it. As for the Detroit thing, I have no idea. I’ll let our seminar guys know you’re asking though.
Matt – Mostly, I try never to adjust the main tonal settings (exposure, recovery, white balance, blacks). I usually assume you’ve developed your photo first and then are applying effects to it. That said, it doesn’t always happen that way (like this week), but it’s a good bet that I leave those main settings alone in my presets.
Thanks everyone.
Matt K
Thanks for the presets! I have a question for you. Sometimes you say to adjust the image before applying the preset. But some presets wipeout all the prior adjustments that have been made, and some presets add to the adjustment that have been made. How can one tell if a preset is going to add to the previous adjustments or wipeout all the work already done to the image?
-Matt
Hi Matt,
I really enjoy this blog, so thanks for all of your hard work.
I have a question that comes out of left field a bit, but I’ve been wondering nonetheless:
At the beginning of Photoshop User TV, you used to use a PC. I don’t remember when you switched to a Mac, but I actually enjoyed that there was a mix of platforms among the Photoshop Guys.
Can you please enlighten me on why you switched? Ease of use? using mac at home? some kind of sponsorship?
I’m not looking to start any kind of Mac vs. PC thing here in the comments, as there’s plenty of that already all over the web, I’m just curious why you yourself switched.
Thanks, and I hope to meet you one day when you do a work shop in Detroit, which is a city that is curiously omitted from every single event ever produced by NAPP. 😉
Thanks,
Mark
Matt
I would like to see something on how to create print template presets I would like to set up my own but not sure how to go about it any help would be great. I have went through all your lightroom tutorials and have yet to find anything.
Thanks… Steve
Matt
Matt, you’ve helped me a lot since I found your website. Thanks. Between your presets and some of my own, I’ve shorten my workflow. As a wedding photographer, I’m still trying to figure out where the line is with what I should do in Lightroom and what I should do in PS. Any suggestions on a workflow or guidance in integrating the two?
Thanks.. Ken
Thanks, Matt! Perfect timing as I get the kids out of the pool from taking photos. You’re right, it’s been summer for awhile now and it’s awesome! Thanks for all you do! 🙂
COol Matt thanks. I have to run bow but look forward to playing with them. Being a preset geek I always like seeing what goodies you come up with.
Summer is great, and presets give us more time to enjoy it. Keep up the good work… Gavin
Thanks! This is perfect timing for the first official day of summer coming up soon : ) Keep up the (incredibly inspiring) good work!