I (Julie) couldn’t decide which picture I liked the most so I thought I’d post them as a series.

These were taken in downtown Boise last month. Rob and I spent a morning wandering around on our own little photowalk. We were impressed by the cool/funky/historic nature of the area. There will be a few more pictures coming from that day.

To get the grungy, popping look, I first used the “Night Grotto II” preset in Lightroom. This was a good start, but I knew I needed to alter a few things to get the look I was going for. The preset added split-toning, turned the color saturation down, and turned up the luminance on the remaining color. Below is what the original picture looked like straight-out-of-camera. Then the picture after applying the preset.

Then I adjusted the vignette and turned up the black clipping and exposure until it was just right. I love how the red popped out and really makes the bricks look amazing.

So, presets are a great start. They help get the creative juices flowing. But it’s important not to get stuck there. Adjustments usually still need to be made in order to make your picture just right.

Have a wonderful weekend, everybody!