Mark Elkins Presets: The Workflow

These presets were developed with the intention of creating a Lightroom workflow that was both more intuitive and more versatile than anything I've used in the past. Since I occasionally shoot in different file formats, I also needed presets that could adapt to both a RAW and JPG workflow.

Over time, my workflow evolved into a two part process: 1) Correcting and enhancing the quality and tonality of the images, and 2) making color adjustments. Once the process was in place, I began adapting and implimenting some of my frequently used settings into the the workflow by creating presets. The two categories of presets I developed (Basic Presets and Color Presets) can be mixed and matched in a number of ways, and since the settings of each type of preset are exclusive to their function, you'll never have to worry about Basic Presets or Color Presets overriding each other. Basic Presets only affect White Balance, Exposure, Recovery, Fill Light, Blacks, Brightness, Contrast, Tone Curve, and Vignette settings. And Color Presets only affect Hue, Saturation, Luminance, Grayscale Mix, and Split Tone settings.

1 - Basic Presets

Basic Presets are a set of correction and enhancement presets. They focus on the quality and tonality of each photograph, and lay the groundwork for the later use of color presets. These things aren't magic, though. More often than not, a little manual adjusting is necessary...especially when it comes to exposure and white balance. Unless a photograph is decently exposed, and the white balance is on close to the mark, the auto tone and auto white balance presets wont always adjust accurately :)

*Basic Presets only affect White Balance, Exposure, Recovery, Fill Light, Blacks, Brightness, Contrast, Tone Curve, and Vignette settings.

OriginalRecipeEnhanced

Basic Presets

Auto Presets
Auto Tone
Auto White Balance

Tone Curve Presets
Flat
A little Contrast
More Contrast
Woah! That's a lot of Contrast
Mid-Bright
Mid-Dark
Brighten those Brights!
Darken those Darks!

Vignette Presets
No Vignette
Vignette
Heavy Vignette

+Auto Tone

+A little Contrast

+Vignette
+Auto Tone

+Woah! That's a lot of Contrast

+Heavy Vignette
+Auto Tone

+More Contrast

2 - Color Presets

Color Prests apply color changes by either manipulating the hues, saturation, and luminance, or converting the image to greyscale and adjusting the split tones. Color Presets only affect Hue, Saturation, Luminance, Grayscale Mix, and Split Tone settings.

Available Color Presets

Original Collection
Color Preset Remover
Color Enhance
Black and White
Sepia

Color Collection I
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Vintage Collection I
Vintage
Vintage Cream
Vintage Gold
Vintage Midnight

Split Tone Collection I
Caramel
Chocolate
Berry
Blue Berry

Split Tone Collection II
Caramel Light
Chocolate Light
Berry Light
Blue Berry Light

Below are samples from The Original Collection.

Color EnhanceBlack and WhiteSepia

Requirements
Adobe Lightroom Presets work in Adobe Lightroom versions 1 and 2. Adobe Camera Raw Presets work in Adobe Camera Raw, which is included with Adobe Photoshop CS3.

Purchase Agreement
Due to the electronic nature of the presets, all sales are final and no refunds will be given. These presets are not for resale purposes, and must not be distributed. You'll receive the files via email within 48 hours.