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In 2016, Kohki Yamaguchi climbed a rooftop in the heart of Tokyo with a friend. “The view from the rooftop and how I felt looking over the city with a camera in my hand was amazing,” he remembers. “I took some photos, posted them on Instagram, and one was featured on a page called Beautiful Destinations. I have been in love with photography since.” Although Yamaguchi enjoys capturing “anything and everything,” he may be best known for his cityscapes. We recently asked him to share eight of his Adobe Photoshop Lightroom presets, plus a few tips.

Tip: Beware of clarity and texture.

When we’re new to photo editing, we often think the more clarity and texture, the better. But they give images an unrealistic look, so unless that’s what you’re going for, don’t apply clarity or texture overall. Rather, use it only in parts of an image; for example, I might decrease the overall clarity of an image and then add some back to a building to better separate it from the rest of the composition.

Before and after applying the Cyan preset.

Before and after applying the Brighter preset.

Tip: Direct the viewers’ eyes.

In real life, a spotlight helps the audience focus on the person who’s performing, and a photograph is the same. To pull the focus to the main subject of your image, use the Adjustment brush and graduated filters in Lightroom.

Before and after applying the Minimal Colors preset.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to tweak colors.

Colors can either draw or distract one from what you wanted to convey through an image. Use the HLS tool in Lightroom to adjust the colors to your liking.

Before and after applying the Green Enhance preset.

Before and after applying the Color Enhance preset.

Tip: Think outside the box borders.

Depending on what I’m going to use a photo for, I view it with a black background and then a white background to help me decide. To switch background colors in Lightroom, right-click the backdrop and change the color.

Before and after applying the Simple Adjust preset.

Before and after applying the High Shadow preset.

Tip: Don’t worry about your gear.

Sony has been on the top of the game in the past few years — I love my Sony Alpha 7 series camera — nonetheless, I don’t believe one camera brand is better than another.

Before and after applying the Blue Tone preset.

Installing presets.

Having trouble getting presets into Lightroom? Follow these instructions.

For Lightroom (must have version 1.3 or later):

  1. Download the preset here.
  2. Open Adobe Lightroom on your computer.
  3. Select File > Import Profiles and Presets.
  4. Select the downloaded preset file and click Import.
  5. Open the photo you want to edit and click the Edit toolbar on the right-hand side of Lightroom. Select the Presets button and you’ll find the imported preset.

 

For Lightroom Classic (must have version 7.3 or later):

  1. Download the preset here.
  2. Unzip the zip file on your computer.
  3. Select an image and go to the Develop Module.
  4. Click on the + icon in the Preset Panel. Select Import Presets.
  5. Navigate to the preset you downloaded in step 1.
  6. Click Import.

 

Learn how to make these edits and save as presets directly in Lightroom (desktop and mobile):

Lightroom offers a range of photo editing tutorials called Discover edits that show you the edits made to a photograph. You can view the before and after photos and the editing process to know what it took for the photographer to achieve the result, and save the edit as a preset to apply to other photos.

To access Kohki’s Discover edits, click each link below to open each Edit in this preset pack to see how the edits were applied in Lightroom:

 

To view the Edit:

  • Desktop users: In the bottom panel, tap Playback to view the edits step by step. Tap Edits to see all the applied edits. The Info button gives you information about the file type and metadata.
  • Mobile users: The Edit will automatically display the output of edits made to the photo. Tap Edits at the bottom of the screen to see all of the applied edits step-by-step. Like on Desktop, the Info button gives you information about the file type and metadata.

 

To save the edits applied as a preset:

  1. Desktop users: Tap Save as Preset in the upper-right corner of the screen.
  2. Mobile users: Tap “...” in the upper-right corner of the screen and then select Save as Preset.
  3. Click Back in the upper-left corner to return to the Home view.
  4. The preset is saved to User Presets folder in the Presets pop-up menu, by default.

 

Follow Kohki Yamaguchi on Lightroom to view more of his Discover edits.