I’ve manually tweaked a lot of photos in Adobe Lightroom 2, and as a result, I’ve come up with some go-to settings that generally work well for my style, or at least give me a great starting point.

There’s nothing secret that’s going on in my photos, and there’s certainly nothing you couldn’t do yourself, if you’ve got the desire and the artistic vision. You just have to know what you want and play around with processing until you get it there. That being said, there’s an old saying: Garbage in, garbage out. If the photos aren’t good to start with, no preset is going to help.

If you like the look of my black and white photos (examples: 1, 2, 3), download my custom Lightroom Preset: Grayscale, Punchy. It’s free, and it should help you gain a little more insight into all the adjustments that contribute to the end result. Don’t be afraid to tweak things a bit, maybe you’ll like a different level of contrast, a different tone curve, or more/less vignetting. Experiment, enjoy, and don’t forget to share your feedback and your results!

Download preset: Grayscale, Punchy

Not sure what to do with this file…? Don’t worry, I wrote-up some quick instructions and even recorded a screencast to help you install Lightroom presets in this post.

Shot with Canon 5D, 300mm f/4L IS + 1.4x extender
@ 420mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/400s

This shot was taken not long after Seeking solace in the big apple, and it’s pretty similar, although easily my favorite of the two. What makes this one stronger for me is the connection between the women as they’re gossiping, talking business, complaining about the men in their lives (your guess is as good as mine). For me, it’s interesting the idea of an entire city of people having one huge place to just go relax, talk, listen to music, nap – whatever. It’s a very important part of the city, and there’s just something magical about Central Park.

Once again, processing on this image was pretty minimal. I started out with my custom Lightroom preset, Portrait – Dreamy, and finished up with some slight adjustments to saturation (-) and contrast (+). This weekend I’ll put up another preset or two for download, so keep an eye out for that.

Shot with Canon 5D, 300mm f/4L IS + 1.4x extender
@ 420mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/400s

There’s not much in the way of a story behind this one. I was relaxing in Central Park, people-watching, and I said to myself, “Now those are two cool dudes…”

Part of me says there’s nothing terribly special about the composition or idea of this shot, but I keep looking at it nonetheless. I just think there’s something really interesting about these guys. Maybe it’s the stark contrast between no-hair and whoa-hair. Or the sunglasses. Or maybe it’s the jacket that looks a bit too small. Whatever it is about this photograph, I hope you find it as interesting as I do.

Little processing was done in Lightroom, starting with my custom preset Grayscale, Punchy. From there, I made adjustments to contrast (-), sharpening (-), clarity (+), and exposure (-). That’s it.

Now stop reading my blog, would ‘ya. It’s Christmas! So have a Merry one, be safe, and enjoy the company of your loved ones today.