Crush: The New Lighting-Based Preset System From SLR Lounge and DVLOP

Crush: The New Lighting-Based Preset System From SLR Lounge and DVLOP

Presets these days come in at a dime a dozen, that is unless you are looking for something that is more than a simple set of slider movements and a curves adjustment. In that case, SLR Lounge and DVLOP have what you are looking for. 

To start, what makes the Crush presets unique is their integration with DVLOP. I have previously gone into more detail, but essentially, every preset pack comes with a custom camera profile. This profile is fine-tuned for every supported camera. What it does is brings all the colors for your camera into a standard baseline. From there, the preset is applied to give you your style.

This is important because with other types of presets, you couldn't always get the look you were after, as each camera handles colors a little differently. There is also a handful more features and benefits to these custom profiles, so it is worth taking a closer look under the hood if you are interested in the details. 

Now, for the added twist that comes with the SLR Lounge system that built off the DVLOP foundation. What SLR Lounge has done is created a set of presets that specifically work with different types of lighting conditions in order to give you the best results possible. So, no more applying the preset and then having to fine-tune things due to the darker shadow of mid-day sun or images being washed out from that backlight flare. Now, you simply apply the preset that is associated with the lighting condition of your image, and the work is done for you. 

There is also a set of tools that are available in their Retouching Tool Kit to help you tackle some of the tedious parts of editing, from things to skin smoothing, dodging and burning, to scene and landscape enhancements. They even have a cool feature called "Dark mode," which is a fun tool that can add some drama to almost any image. 

 

If this Crush style is not your cup of tea, make sure to check out their other options, such as the Modern or Pastel packs. While these other packs give your images a different look and feel, they still supply the same benefits as  Crush. You still get the DVLOP foundation as well as the lighting-based presets. And the Retouching Tool Kit will also work with any of the styles. 

Jason Vinson's picture

Jason Vinson is a wedding and portrait photographer for Vinson Images based out of Bentonville, Arkansas. Ranked one of the Top 100 Wedding photographers in the World, he has a passion for educating and sharing his craft.

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