Applying presets to portraits

I recently had a quick shoot to on the shore of lake Windermere originally the shoot was to demostraight the use of flashguns but the overcast day was giving such a soft ambient light I decided to take advantage of that. I used a ND filter to allow a very narrow DOF I wanted to have the background out of focus yet keep the detail within the subject.

I wanted to edit these images in a way I have not tried before, by using the preset to add to the subject matter, this is a method I have noticed a lot of photographers I follow on photoshop use. A lot of the preset are actually designed to replicate old film styles, this method of editing could be seen as a throw back to how photographer selected film for a shoot just applied after the shoot not before


I wanted to keep the style of my subject while showing off the environment he was in, to do this I started with shooting with a narrow DOF this would lead the eye to the subject emphasising the detail within his beard and clothing. To emphasis this while editing I was looking of a preset to show the most detail with the blacks and shadows. as well as bumping up the clarity.

To show off the environment I wanted the tones to reflect the area and the day, the wasted out tones give its a classic with the dull highlights reflecting the overcast feeling of the day. I also cropped some images to focus on details of the environment, buy removing the subjects face it requires you to look else where in this case you notice the rhythmic waves juxtaposed with the liner wood pier.

The preset that I used for these Images is onOne Grunge with grain and Dark Edges, I did alter the tones to make them work with the images as well as remove the dark edge. I like the feel of these images but in exporting it has shifted the colours slightly and its not due to the colour profiles. This series has a very editorial feel and look and its a strong way to ensure the Images have a constant look. I will be researching into old film characteristics as this is a powerful tool to add meaning to an image be it to guide the viewer to a feeling or just to emphasise what is already there.