How We Produced It: Creating a Dramatic Wedding Environmental Portrait

Pye Jirsa

Overview

In our last article, we demonstrated how we shoot this gorgeous environmental portrait of a bride and groom during their first dance at Pelican Hill. This is a grand shot that incorporates the gorgeous rotunda and the striking skyline. In this Lightroom 4 Preset System tutorial, we will show how we can quickly and easily make this beautiful image more dramatic by using the presets in Lightroom 4.

Original and Final Image

Original Image
pelican-hill-wedding-before

Final Image
pelican-hill-wedding-after

Watch the Video Tutorial on How We Produced It

Lightroom 4 Preset System Mixology

00 MY MIXOLOGY – 10 SOFT PORTRAITS > 11 SP Standard Color
01 BASE ADJUST – 30 CONTRAST > 33 Light Contrast Boost
01 BASE ADJUST – 70 VIGNETTING > 73 Light Vignette

Use the 12 Sky | Cloud | Ocean adjustment brush for the sky to add a more dramatic look. Then, use 12 General | All Purpose adjustment brush on the Rotunda to enhance the detail.

To see how we post-produced it in more detail, please watch the video.

To see how we shot the image, please visit our previous article on How We Shot an Environmental Scene with a Hidden Light Source.

The Lightroom 4 Preset System

The SLR Lounge Lightroom 4 Preset System is designed to enable users to achieve virtually any look and effect within 3-5 simple clicks. From basic color correction, vintage fades, black & white effects, tilt-shift effects, faux HDR, retouching, detail enhancing, and so much more. The sky is the limit with what has been dubbed the most powerful and intuitive preset system available. Click the link above to learn more/purchase.

You can also purchase the LR4 Preset System as part of the Lightroom 4 Workshop Collection.

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