Getting pleasing skin tones can be tricky for a lot of photographers who are working in Lightroom.? It’s especially tricky if you are not sure where to start. In this article I will teach you an extremely easy way to get skin looking great using the HSL Slider in Lightroom.
First off, before you start trying to locate that HSL slider, there are a couple things you want to make sure you?ve done correctly first.
Exposure
Take a look at your overall exposure. Is it overexposed? Underexposed? If so you?re going to want to adjust that.? Poorly exposed images are one of the number one reasons that skin tones look bad in any image. Not sure how to do this? You can view lesson two on how to simply fix your exposure in Lightroom.
White Balance
Next, make sure your white balance is set correctly. If it is not, this skin will appear too yellowish orange or to blue. To learn how do make sure your white balance is set right read How to Get White Balance Correct every time!
HSL Slider
Ok, now here’s the super easy step to get those skin tones looking great using Lightroom. Locate your HSL slider. You will see this on the right hand side of your screen. There will be a tab that says HSL/Color/BW Click on that and choose HSL and follow these 3 steps:
- From there click on luminance. You’ll be working with the orange slider. Slide that to the right
- Now, select saturation. Once again, on the orange slider. This time, drag it to the left
- Finally select hue. Still on that orange slider, slide it right.
The amount you move the sliders is dependent on the tone of the individual’s skin and the look you are hoping to achieve. There is not one magical formula for every skin tone. Keep practicing and playing around with this technique and you will be amazed with your results!
To see the steps in action, just view the short tutorial below!
Let me know how it worked for ! Leave me a comment below!
Come check out all the free lessons in this Free Lightroom Training series right here!
I didn’t know the trick with Hue before. Thanks! However, you’re right and left directions in the text and times when you’re talking in the video don’t match what you actually do with the sliders
Hi Jeanine! Thanks for catching that for me. It’s corrected now in the article. I must have been thinking backwards the day I wrote it:) Glad it helped you! Emily