For those using Lightroom... what are your settings

[Quasimodo]

I bought the colorchecker. The graycard is quite small. Does this matter (if something else with different colors accodentally slips into the frame) ?

I've tried that a lot myself, appreantly (at least with the 1dx) you only need to fill the spot-metering circle with the grey area. However, I always try to include as much as I can without shadowing the greycard. Kind of hard with 24mm to get a lot in the frame. But it made very little difference with the 5d2, it always came out right.

And yeah, I too get the blues (lol) to blue...

Thanks

[lexonio]

Sorry for somewhat hi-jacking the thread, I tried the "Camera Standard" setting and I relly liked it. Is there a way to enable it by default?

[Viggo]

Sorry for somewhat hi-jacking the thread, I tried the "Camera Standard" setting and I relly liked it. Is there a way to enable it by default?

Yes, set all settings the way you want the default to be, in down on the right until you see "sync" and "reset" and hold THE ALT-key and it will change to "Set Default".

[lexonio]

Will do, thanks. I have no idea why haven't I seen this before, to my eye this setting is much more accurate when used with 5DIII files.

[Brendon]

I find that the "camera calibration" settings for my 5diii are best on neutral when shooting scenes with skin tones in them.  You will have to add some contrast back into the scene after changing this but it's worth it.

I find that scenes with skin tones are the most difficult to adjust.  Here is my work flow for wedding photos:

1) Get the skin exposure right with the exposure slider
2) Get the color temp, this is often the hardest one of the bunch!
3) Adjust the white and black sliders while holding down the cntrl key so that whites are pure white and blacks are pure black.  This kind of stretches the DR a bit and adds contrast.
4) I will usually bump the vibrance up to 40-50 and the saturation to 10-15 to start.  Doing this screws up the skin tones so I will go into the color saturation panel and use the dropper to click on the skin and draw down the saturation of just the skin tones.  (I have a couple of presets for this and will tweak the presets for each wedding couple)  This process adds the "pop" to the colors.
5) Add a little bit of contrast.  You can do this with the slider but I find that adjusting the curve to an S curve is more natural.  (just use the pre-programed curves)  The amount of contrast is going to depend on the lighting and on your lens.
6) Tweak the white and black sliders again to get the final effect i'm looking for.
7) Tweak the noise reduction with the picture at 100%

Obviously I jump around these steps and use a little different settings based on lighting but for a "standard" picture this is basically it.  Some might say that colors (particularly reds) become too saturated using these settings so you have to adjust for the scene but most people today are looking for the photos that "pop" rather than a very natural look.

FYI, I also use a 50d for weddings and the settings are totally different for it.  The tones are rendered very differently between the two cameras.  Most of the photos I take with the 50d end up as black and whites.

I used to hate Adobe colours but they have come a long way in the last few years especially (as mentioned) adding camera profiles. When I compare DPP set to faithful and LR to faithful on my screen I find they are pretty close. Adobe is still a little stronger on the yellow but much improved.

For skin tones I use a simple preset. I first make sure I'm on faithful adjust exposure (if needed) and my preset is

Clarity - 10
Vibrance +10
Saturation - 10

I then adjust black do get back that contrast/punch lost in my preset and make slight adjustments on the basic panel as required. Now you do lose a little sharpness but it really smooths out the skin tones and hides minor defects. Depending on how much editing you have to do you can do a little selective sharpening around the eyes, etc but for mass edits it is impractical unless you want to spend all that time. I will do it if really necessary but I find the output sharpening using LR does a pretty good job at the end.

I have seen some work amazing work by people. Not sure what PP software they use but they get the skin tones so natural and creamy looking. I'll try to find a link if can. I'm still trying to figure that one out.       

I am interested in step 4 of your process. I might play with that after my process to add a little more punch to my images if I can get the skin tones back to where they were.

Thanks for the info!                 

Quasimodo and Digital Paradise - I apologize for not getting back more quickly to your questions, here is an example of the technique...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/braraigh/8323601145/#in/set-72157632377172935

Beware that these settings work best in consistent lighting situations like cloudy days.  If you get color temperature differences (indoor shots) you won't be able to use the high levels of vibrance because it will bring out the purples and particularly greens from mixed lighting.  I drop the vibrance down 8-10 for indoor situations.

[RMC33]

I have a few general settings for various situations but they get used for things I want to quick and dirty. My 5DII/III and 7D have profiles I have built over time. I have settings I built for using a flash, various lighting types, macro work, different effects (I built instagram filters since everyone and their bride loves them) etc. One thing all my LR presets include is Lens Correction and CA. All in all you kind of learn them as you go and need them for specific situations and desired effects.

I also follow up with some work in PS on most images as well for various filters and effects that LR can not do.

[Brendon]

Can you explain which brush you are using to desaturate the skin tones only? Thanks in advance.

I don't use a brush although you could.  It would take way too long when editing a large batch of photos.  I use the HSL panel and click the little dot to the left of to panel title...either Saturation or Luminescence.  If you hover over it you get "Adjust Saturation/Luminescence/Hue by dragging in the photo".  Click this then the skin tone and then push the mouse up or down.  This is a global adjustment.  This is also a handy trick for increasing the brightness of skin if it's in a shadow. 

Again, these are global changes to the picture so you always have to be on the lookout for instances when something else in the photo is adversely affected. 

[Saunders12]

hey for these i use instagram. and not having so much knowledge about other softwares.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Can you explain which brush you are using to desaturate the skin tones only? Thanks in advance.

You do not need a brush.  Vibrance does not affect skin tones, so desaturate the entire image and boost vibrance to achieve the effect. 
As far as settings, each shoot is different.  Its much easier to process one typical image and then use the sync function to copy the settings to a highlighted group of images that were taken under similar conditions.  There are usually only a few different lighting situations in a shoot, so you can process hundreds of images in a few seconds.

[digital paradise]

I find that the "camera calibration" settings for my 5diii are best on neutral when shooting scenes with skin tones in them.  You will have to add some contrast back into the scene after changing this but it's worth it.

I find that scenes with skin tones are the most difficult to adjust.  Here is my work flow for wedding photos:

1) Get the skin exposure right with the exposure slider
2) Get the color temp, this is often the hardest one of the bunch!
3) Adjust the white and black sliders while holding down the cntrl key so that whites are pure white and blacks are pure black.  This kind of stretches the DR a bit and adds contrast.
4) I will usually bump the vibrance up to 40-50 and the saturation to 10-15 to start.  Doing this screws up the skin tones so I will go into the color saturation panel and use the dropper to click on the skin and draw down the saturation of just the skin tones.  (I have a couple of presets for this and will tweak the presets for each wedding couple)  This process adds the "pop" to the colors.
5) Add a little bit of contrast.  You can do this with the slider but I find that adjusting the curve to an S curve is more natural.  (just use the pre-programed curves)  The amount of contrast is going to depend on the lighting and on your lens.
6) Tweak the white and black sliders again to get the final effect i'm looking for.
7) Tweak the noise reduction with the picture at 100%

Obviously I jump around these steps and use a little different settings based on lighting but for a "standard" picture this is basically it.  Some might say that colors (particularly reds) become too saturated using these settings so you have to adjust for the scene but most people today are looking for the photos that "pop" rather than a very natural look.

FYI, I also use a 50d for weddings and the settings are totally different for it.  The tones are rendered very differently between the two cameras.  Most of the photos I take with the 50d end up as black and whites.

I used to hate Adobe colours but they have come a long way in the last few years especially (as mentioned) adding camera profiles. When I compare DPP set to faithful and LR to faithful on my screen I find they are pretty close. Adobe is still a little stronger on the yellow but much improved.

For skin tones I use a simple preset. I first make sure I'm on faithful adjust exposure (if needed) and my preset is

Clarity - 10
Vibrance +10
Saturation - 10

I then adjust black do get back that contrast/punch lost in my preset and make slight adjustments on the basic panel as required. Now you do lose a little sharpness but it really smooths out the skin tones and hides minor defects. Depending on how much editing you have to do you can do a little selective sharpening around the eyes, etc but for mass edits it is impractical unless you want to spend all that time. I will do it if really necessary but I find the output sharpening using LR does a pretty good job at the end.

I have seen some work amazing work by people. Not sure what PP software they use but they get the skin tones so natural and creamy looking. I'll try to find a link if can. I'm still trying to figure that one out.       

I am interested in step 4 of your process. I might play with that after my process to add a little more punch to my images if I can get the skin tones back to where they were.

Thanks for the info!                 

Quasimodo and Digital Paradise - I apologize for not getting back more quickly to your questions, here is an example of the technique...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/braraigh/8323601145/#in/set-72157632377172935

Beware that these settings work best in consistent lighting situations like cloudy days.  If you get color temperature differences (indoor shots) you won't be able to use the high levels of vibrance because it will bring out the purples and particularly greens from mixed lighting.  I drop the vibrance down 8-10 for indoor situations.

You don't need to apologize - I do! I can't believe I let this one dropped under the radar for so long. I don't know what I was thinking. Old and easily distracted I guess. How rude of me and thanks for replying so long ago.   

[digital paradise]

Can you explain which brush you are using to desaturate the skin tones only? Thanks in advance.

You do not need a brush.  Vibrance does not affect skin tones, so desaturate the entire image and boost vibrance to achieve the effect. 
As far as settings, each shoot is different.  Its much easier to process one typical image and then use the sync function to copy the settings to a highlighted group of images that were taken under similar conditions.  There are usually only a few different lighting situations in a shoot, so you can process hundreds of images in a few seconds.

Sorry for late Thanks. I had a wedding for Jan 26 and was cancelled early Jan. Got distracted and time to revisit.   

[Pinchers of Peril]

Sorry for somewhat hi-jacking the thread, I tried the "Camera Standard" setting and I relly liked it. Is there a way to enable it by default?

Yes, set all settings the way you want the default to be, in down on the right until you see "sync" and "reset" and hold THE ALT-key and it will change to "Set Default".

Thank you so much for this tip.  This has saved me a ton of time in post processing.  "Camera Standard" is awesome for processing the 5DIII images.

[wayno]

I almost always reduce saturation to some degree. Reds I often red to reduce saturation additionally as Canon reds seem to jump out particularly.

[bycostello]

i mess with curves and contrast and saturation... how much depends which camera i've been using...