Editing portraits is about more than adjusting sliders—it's understanding how subtle choices shape your final image. Getting comfortable with Lightroom can make your portraits look more intentional and polished.
Coming to you from James Reader, this practical video demonstrates his full workflow for editing natural light portraits using Adobe Lightroom. Reader emphasizes that editing isn't a one-size-fits-all process, and he provides thoughtful insights into his approach, starting from the shoot itself. For example, Reader specifically chose soft, diffused lighting conditions and shot at f/1.4 to achieve a dreamy, environmental portrait. He highlights the importance of envisioning the final image even before clicking the shutter, making choices about lighting, composition, and even lens selection deliberately to simplify the editing process later. These decisions set the foundation, significantly streamlining post-production steps, resulting in a cleaner, more professional-looking edit.
One standout aspect Reader covers is the effective use of Lightroom's camera profiles. Rather than sticking to Adobe’s default settings, he illustrates how selecting either "Camera Standard" or "Camera Faithful" dramatically changes the baseline look of an image. "Camera Standard" produces richer, more saturated tones, while "Camera Faithful" creates a softer, less contrasted base ideal for portraits. For the featured image—a portrait shot inside a greenhouse—Reader opted for the softer profile to complement the gentle, natural look he wanted. He then addresses common portrait challenges, like unwanted color casts. By subtly shifting the tint slider toward magenta and tweaking the calibration sliders, Reader neutralizes green reflections from the surrounding foliage, restoring natural skin tones effectively without extensive retouching.
The video further explains how Reader manages contrast and color balance. Instead of relying solely on basic exposure adjustments, he carefully manipulates Lightroom’s tone curve to add selective contrast. He demonstrates a subtle "S" curve, lifting the blacks slightly for a faded, cinematic effect while gently reducing highlights to create softer, more balanced skin tones. Reader clearly walks through each step, making complex adjustments feel manageable. Additionally, he fine-tunes color saturation and luminance, strategically reducing greens and yellows to make the subject stand out clearly against the background. Reader's thoughtful approach to color theory is particularly valuable, as he simplifies color choices to just two complementary hues, ensuring a cohesive final image.
Reader also provides clear reasoning behind his preferred use of Lightroom's Vibrance slider over the Saturation slider, especially for portraits. He notes that Vibrance gently enhances less intense colors without oversaturating skin tones, whereas saturation impacts all colors equally and can quickly look unnatural. By raising Vibrance slightly while slightly lowering saturation, he preserves natural-looking skin tones and a pleasing overall balance.
Reader wraps up by addressing minor details that significantly impact the final look, such as adding subtle grain and vignetting. These finishing touches aren't merely decorative—they enhance the focus on the subject, giving portraits a more polished, professional feel. Reader also demonstrates selective sharpening techniques, masking the sharpening effect only to the subject, preventing distracting sharpness in the background. He briefly touches on basic skin retouching as well. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Reader.
If you would like to continue learning about the art of portraiture, be sure to check out our range of tutorials on the subject in the Fstoppers store.
