Downtown looks amazing on outdoor and urban portraits especially if you have a lot of color in your images. We love how it balances a natural look with a dramatic aesthetic. It produces sharp, high-contrast, photos that always grab attention.
Collection: Urban Presets, Portrait Presets
Best for: Outdoor Portraits, Urban Portraits, Travel
Style: Vivid, Crisp Tones, Deep and Dark Colors
Go for this preset if you want punch tones and colors. As you will see in the examples below, Downtown creates a stunning moody style. The best part is that you can even use it as an Instagram filter and set a cohesive look throughout several photos, or even your entire feed!
Darkens Tones for a Dramatic Urban Look
Moody Urban Portraits. To create Downtown’s dramatic style, we deepen and darken some colors. In this example, you can see how we desaturated the green hues. This means that if you have greenery in the background, it will look dark and subdued. This actually helps draw attention to the subject of your shot. As you can also see in the After photo, this adds to the moody look and feel that we are going for.
Adds Depth and Definition for a Modern Polish
Stunning Definition. Look at this stunning portrait. There is now more depth in the photo as the shadows become darker, even almost black. There is greater contrast, too. Observe the woman’s clothes, scarf, and the wall behind her. We’re sure that you can also notice the enhanced textures as we increase the image’s clarity.
Try to compare the woman’s face in both images as well. We love how the preset enhances her features in the After photo. Even the strands of her hair look more defined now. Lastly, notice the immediate shift in mood.
Produces Stunningly Crisp Portraits
Detailed Portraits. The urban aesthetic usually demands a crisp look. This naturally goes with the intense, bold, style. This is exactly what we were going for, but we also wanted to optimize it for portraits. This Downtown preset is the result.
Just examine the photo above to see how this free preset draws out more detail. The man’s beard now looks coarser and you can more clearly see the folds on his denim jacket. The pallets behind him pop more now, too.
Creates Vivid Urban Colors
Dark and Vivid. As we pointed out earlier, we want a dark look so we decrease the brightness of some hues. Take the photo above, for example. The foliage now looks lush in darker green, which works beautifully in this modern urban style. We also love how the effect helps draw the attention of the viewer to the subject.
Desaturated. To complement the preset’s almost industrial look, we also decrease the saturation. In this photo, we lower that of aqua hues, pulling it closer to grays. You may have already guessed it: this neutral color works even better as a backdrop for portraits. You get the modern aesthetic and a nice emphasis on your subject.
Downtown is for Lightroom Mobile, Desktop, and…
You can absolutely use Downtown as is, right out of the box. With any preset, you might need to make adjustments to accommodate your specific camera, settings, lighting, and subject matter.
If you want more presets like this, be sure to check out our collections of urban presets and Lightroom presets for portraits.
- Entirely Adjustable
- Compatible with Lightroom 4, 5, 6 and CC
- Performs with both PC, Mac, and Mobile
- Applicable to both RAW and JPG images
- 100% Free
Free Lightroom Preset by PresetLove.com
