It's been a minute...

Breezy85 · Oct 30, 2018

Hey all! It's been a little while since I've posted here. I'm in some FB groups but I do miss this community, so I'm gonna try to get back into it. Life has been hectic lately.

Anyhow. I do have something photography related for this thread. Hope this is the right place.

I have a friend that I've been kind of helping teach her some stuff; how to use manual mode, when/how to adjust manual settings based on environment, etc. I've even been helping her with Lightroom and Photoshop. Recently we've were talking about Lightroom and presets. She bought a pack of presets for Lightroom that seemed rather a steep price. I personally don't buy presets, because I don't use many. I have a handful that I usually turn to as a base, and then I adjust my photos as needed.

I know there are some great ones out there, but presets IMO can only do so much. It can't take a crappy photo and make it extraordinary. I feel it's necessary to improve your skills before spending crazy money on presets. If anything, just learn how to make adjustments manually. I bought some once, and they did nothing for my photos. Thankfully the seller gave me a refund.

I'd like to see what you guys all think of Lightroom presets or Photoshop pre-made Actions. Do you use them? Do you buy them or not?

Dean_Gretsch · Oct 31, 2018

As you said, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig, so I don't bother with them either.

smoke665 · Oct 31, 2018

Presets at least in my opinion are somewhat image specific. What looks good on one image doesn't work well on another. I have several that I've accumulated via free download that I sometimes click on to view an image differently, but I seldom use them. I do have several "general" custom generated presets that would apply to all images (camera specific/export/etc) like a batch operation. Actions in PS are the same the only ones I use are custom recorded, and perform batch type processes.

Overread · Oct 31, 2018

Well in Photoshop there are often many ways to get the same effect - part of this is because the software features both core components and also tools that summarise one or two other core components being used in a certain way for a certain effect. So already you can use one tool or several to get the exact same result.

Now all a photoshop action does is record and repeat a series of those tools being used at specific values to create a specific kind of effect. It is not the only way to create that effect, just the one the designer of the tool used; and its not impossible to recreate it yourself. However if you've not got a strong grasp of Photoshop it can be very hard to emulate. That's where action sales come in because it lets those who can sell the tool, not the method, to the customer.

Those who are more experienced often don't make heavy use of bought actions because you've got your own style, method and also your own way of working that might well let you emulate the result anyway. So actions are often aimed at those who have some idea, but not much and who are not looking to put in the time to learn (that's not bad nor good its just how it is - we each decide how far we want to learn something in our hobbies).

Personally I've never bought any because I've no real need to. I try to learn how to emulate results through the method rather than through buying an action. Furthermore my editing is often not that "heavy" in terms of needing to buy fancy actions to achieve specific results.

waday · Oct 31, 2018

Breezy85 said:
I'd like to see what you guys all think of Lightroom presets or Photoshop pre-made Actions. Do you use them? Do you buy them or not?

I bought a pack once, and they were ok. They were enough to get specific photos in the direction I wanted, but I don't think I've ever used one without tweaking the image afterwards. And sometimes I couldn't find a preset that worked well enough, and I needed to start from scratch anyways.

So, it depends. I don't think I'd spend more than $15, and that would really just be to play around if I was really interested or if I really really wanted a very specific filter.

Overread · Oct 31, 2018

I would never spend serious money on a pre-set alone - I'd rather spend serious money learning how to do it myself rather than get a series of automated steps. Yes those series did take time to produce, but to me they are not worth a huge investment that could be better spent on training material.

Breezy85 · Oct 31, 2018

I agree with you all.

I didn't say anything and don't want to hurt her feelings saying that she should have waited and perfected her photography skills before making that kind of investment. I simply told her that I don't and never have bought presets. I only have a few that I've downloaded free that I use as a base, then tweak from there.

It's not just the presets, I've seen the photos from the FB group of those using the presets that she bought. These photographers are outstanding and have gotten amazing photos, the presets just give them a little "shine" so to speak.