How To Get Soft Tones In Portrait Photos

📸 My Lightroom Presets: www.mitchlally.com/presets/
⚡️ Learn to create beautiful photos with my Creative Portrait Photography Class: www.mitchlally.com/courses
🐇 I use Narrative Select to speed up my workflow: mitchlally.com/nrrtv
👨🏽‍💻 I use Squarespace to build my websites: mitchlally.com/squspc
🎧 Get a free trial of the best music for your videos: mitchlally.com/mscbd
🔧 My Gear
Main Photography Camera: geni.us/sony-a74
Main Video Camera: geni.us/zv-e1
Vlogging Lens: geni.us/sony-vlogging
Versatile Wide Lens: geni.us/17-28mm
Favourite Wide Angle: geni.us/sigma24-14
Zoom Lens: geni.us/tamron70-180mm
Camera Strap: geni.us/camerarope
On Camera Audio: geni.us/j0veiA
Voiceover Mic: geni.us/rode-voiceover
Voiceover Recorder: geni.us/AbX3
Rode Wireless Go II: geni.us/XfLTU
My Favourite Lav Mic: geni.us/Akwok
Travel Tripod: geni.us/HFnPEtY
Best SD Card for the A7IV: geni.us/sd-card-a74
Reflector (must have): geni.us/Aq02H
ND: bit.ly/nisivariond
CPL: bit.ly/nisicpl
BlackMist: bit.ly/nisiblackmist
My Camera Bag: geni.us/i8uU
Best Editing Hard Drive: geni.us/WslG
Best Backup Hard Drive: geni.us/m3wg
** Clicking any of these links above helps support my channel as I get a little commission from each link used (and doesn't cost you any extra!) **
💬 Join the discord to chat and hang out: / discord
Follow me on Instagram:
/ mitchlally
Get in touch (Business only):
[e-mail]

[@jjfecik]

Such a great breakdown!! Thank you so much for sharing, Mitch. Definitely have noticed how heavy handed the vibrance & saturation sliders can be so it's amazing to see how such simple adjustments to a few colors is all you really need!

[@Steve-xn6hm]

So refreshing to have a tutorial which rather than going on about how easy everything is then rushes a million miles an hour through the video with crazy background music, actually explains slowly and clearly exactly what you are doing and why. The pace and voice tone are perfect and have subscibed thank you.

[@kabir01]

This was awesome. Learned some details of when to use the tone sliders vs the curve. Thank you for sharing!

[@oueia]

Hello! I'm a hobbyist/casual amateur and your explanation on how to use the color mixer and tone curves has been very enlightening! It was clear without being complicated. I mostly edited by 'feel' but my takeaway from this video will let me be more intentional. Thank you so much!

[@CHRIS-ql7cv]

what a nice and useful video ...no bs just straight to the point ..THANK YOU

[@rohanavnee]

superb tutorial ! Just what I needed. Thanks ! ❤

[@lauredussuet]

Aha! Thank you for sharing! This is very insightful 😊

[@SimonRK]

Okay Mitch, everytime I see your videos in my feed I get very happy, no actally; super happy! You always post things I actually wonder, and it's like you're this cute little mastermind that fits in my pocket and just helps me out. I wish I could hug ya, lots of love Mitch!!

[@ggyanwali]

Wow! This is what I wanted to learn. Thank you. Keep these videos coming bro. Good work

[@john_in_Berlin]

Extremely helpful. Thank you.

[@JasonLawrenceNoel]

Thanks a tone! Learned a lot 🙏. Reminds me a bit of Classic Chrome but specialized of course 😊

[@TimTrussJr]

I enjoyed this, man! Thank you for sharing your process with us. 🙌🏼

[@MitchLally]

Cheers Tim!

[@DLee365]

great explanation about the tone curve. I dont think photographers really explain the editing envelope all that well and I think you did a great job illustrating that in the video. More tips and tricks like that go a long way! Keep up the great work mate!

[@MitchLally]

Thank you! Yes - I came across a lot of tone curve videos online that explain tone panel and tone curve as doing the same thing which isn’t the case.

[@GunslingerMediaCo]

Omg, this is genius. I think ive stumbled my way into doing this a few times but it wasnt anything i was aware of, just a lot of experimenting. Using the tone dials to move the histogram about, and nail the lighting in with the tone curves is some of the most brilliant advice ive ever heard in photography. You just helped me a ton, now i can save time and be more consistent in my edits.

[@MitchLally]

Glad to help!

[@ryzenbiel4145]

love the white grading .. .

[@lukebohemian]

Simple but effective 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@taufikmakkarwai]

thanks for sharing. learn something new on color mixer and curve.

[@PrestonPJackson]

thanks for the peak behind the curtains, unpacking the roles of those tools definitely helped demystify what I'd always try to do based on intuition--your soft look is clutch. I'm almost done with your video course from Black Friday, and it's honestly the best value of pragmatic info I've come across in ages. Keep it up mate! -- your friend from the States

[@MitchLally]

Thanks Preston!

[@willcarias7858]

Soo coool bro thanks nice art 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@malithaniman1730]

Thanks man ❤

[@smalltalk.productions9977]

thanks for the effort and sharing. i am an appreciative subscriber. thumbs up.

[@brandoconklin]

The tone panel as a base layer is helpful information. But for batch editing with a consistent style, it seems like a reversal of operations would be more effective - to apply the tone curve first as a base layer, and then move the tone panel sliders as a secondary layer until it looks good to the eye.

thank you!

[@JasonMcMullen]

nice video, thanks for this

[@Havenotats]

The curve 🙏🏼

[@JamalPhoenix]

Damn bro you are good !!

[@winterkat8693]

you like low Dynamic but I like high dynamic range, I really like the sony fullframe giving me like little bit of glow effect in those situations

[@RandumbTech]

Interesting - no masking? I tend to use local adjustments when editing portraits. Thx for sharing your workflow and explaining the tone vs. tone curve logic.

[@jannicolaij6742]

Always really nice to see how other photographers approach post processing images! If I may ask, what do you do with Sharpness in the Details panel? I know some photographers turn it off completely to achieve more "softness" in their images.

[@MitchLally]

Just default settings for me!

[@michaelbell75]

Nice tutorial but the easiest way for softer skin tones IMO is a good mist filter and/or a quality vintage lens. Saves lots of time in post too 😊

[@JohnnyMcMillan]

Issue with that solution is that with a mist filter the effect is full baked in

[@michaelbell75]

@@JohnnyMcMillan that’s not an issue. It’s like a lens. You use a specific lens because you like the look and character it gives. Same with a diffuser. It’s also a far more organic look than digital post processing.

[@mattm7426]

Or just duplicate, blur image and change blending mode to soft light

[@michaelbell75]

@@mattm7426 Try doing that with thousands of photos, no thanks. I prefer to get my shots right when I shoot. I avoid editing software as much as possible, it's a crutch.

[@jantzenearl990]

What would you say the main difference or selling point for your new preset pack vs old preset pack is?

[@israelite2279]

Can I get a version of this software

[@lukejwitter]

Super helpful video, Mitch! Out of curiosity, what picture profile do you typically use when shooting portraits on the A7IV?

[@MitchLally]

Glad you liked it mate! I shoot with PP off. Since I'm editing in RAW the picture profile just affects the preview in camera, not the final result when imported to LR.

[@ToggleErol]

I prefer the raw file 😂 but that's just a matter of taste. Nice work & video, thanks !

[@fnshirokov]

Красиво даже очень что тут скажешь

[@harryvuemedia5106]

Wonderful tutorial on soft images. Quickest for me if I need it right away is to tone down the texture and clarity. And then Leave the contrast at zero. Sony images are just too darn sharp!!! It's great for fine arts photography but for natural light and fall season, i prefer a soft image.

[@Dev.Shoaib]

🥇

[@creativevisiongaming]

Great tips, but I prefer the original image.

[@strippedlist]

Carlo Obrien, you, Gerard Needham..i see some lack of contrast in your edits or presets, totally opposite of what is custom in Europe...it's your style if you like it and poeple love it, don't change, but time to time try something different...when i edit images i always think: How this would look like in 20 years not what is now, would they frame the picture? and if you like softness or faded look, try combo GLIMMERGLASS 1 OR BLACK SATIN 1/2 with tiffen smoke 1 or 2

[@vincentsolon3216]

following

[@afargreencountry6324]

What’s with the girly aye poses? Weird.