Lightroom Preset: Two HDR Presets

The first of the two presets is the HDR Natural preset. The image on the right is an HDR image after being processed in Photomatix 3.2.


When I am processing in Photomatix I tend to not play much with the HDR’s saturation levels because I, being a control freak, have and therefore exercise more control over the saturation levels in Lightroom, specifically the saturation of specific color channels.

And although I have a lot of dynamic range in this photo, it lacks any substantial color punch, a direct result of processing the flat looking raw files directly in Photomatix.

An so, in the image on the left, I have played with the saturation levels of the photograph and the result are strikingly different than the original. The yellows pop, not only in the sky, but in the water and the clouds take on an otherwise non-existent (in the original) purple hue, which is there, but subtle.


This is accomplished by using the HSL tool and making the following adjustments, plus a few other adjustments; SaturationAdjustmentAqua = 0, SaturationAdjustmentBlue = 0, SaturationAdjustmentGreen = 0, SaturationAdjustmentMagenta = 19, SaturationAdjustmentOrange = 38, SaturationAdjustmentPurple = 90, SaturationAdjustmentRed = 0, SaturationAdjustmentYellow = 50.

The other method of HDR is to produce a surreal, painterly or grunge look to the photograph. In the photo on the left, I processed it in Photomatix with that look and feel in mind, but again didn’t mess with the saturation in Photomatix because I am a control freak.


As a result the output from Photomatix was halfway to where I wanted the photo to be. So I began the process of tweaking with the photo in Lightroom. There were a tone of changes made to this photo to the look that I was looking for.

I made the following adjustments: Brightness = 51, ColorNoiseReductionDetail = 50, FillLight = 11, HighlightRecovery = 100, LuminanceAdjustmentAqua = 0, LuminanceAdjustmentBlue = -29, LuminanceAdjustmentGreen = -38, LuminanceAdjustmentMagenta = 0, LuminanceAdjustmentOrange = -8, LuminanceAdjustmentPurple = 0, LuminanceAdjustmentRed = 0, LuminanceAdjustmentYellow = -20, LuminanceNoiseReductionContrast = 0, LuminanceNoiseReductionDetail = 50, SaturationAdjustmentAqua = 0, SaturationAdjustmentBlue = 0, SaturationAdjustmentGreen = 0, SaturationAdjustmentMagenta = 0, SaturationAdjustmentOrange = 54, SaturationAdjustmentPurple = 0, SaturationAdjustmentRed = 0, SaturationAdjustmentYellow = 75 and Vibrance = 31.


The image on the right shows the results, which is exactly what I was looking for. And now you too can get this look to your photos, just download one or both of the presets below.

Download HDR Natural Here


Download HDR Surreal Here

To install the preset, copy the file in the zip (xxx.lrtemplate) to your Develop Presets folder on your computer. If you don't know where to find this folder, open Lightroom. Click on Edit menu and select Preferences. Click on the Presets tab and click the Show Lightroom Presets Folder... button.