Collection: Cinematic Lightroom Presets

Unleash Your Color Grading with Cinematic Lightroom Presets

Add film and movie looks with Cinematic Lightroom Presets: Apply instant cinematic color grading to your photos and videos with a single click. (Yes, you can customize your look later!)

In photography, getting the desired aesthetic just perfect can be a quest in its own right.
One of the most sought-after looks is what's called Cinematic Color Grading. But what does 'cinematic' really mean when it comes to photography? And how do you make your photos look cinematic?

Quick Overview: Cinematic Color Grading

Cinematic color grading involves the deliberate manipulation of colors and tones to infuse a photograph with a visual mood or thematic style reminiscent of film imagery. It’s all about setting a particular mood, often through the use of rich, compelling, or subtly graded colors.

Cinematic Color Choices

The cinematic look typically features certain color combinations, such as the popular teal and orange, dark modern scenes or heavily saturated and vibrant fantasy elements to name a few.

• Scenes are often accompanied by a color scheme that transports the mood of the story.
• Think warm orange tint, cold blue hues or mysterious greens as dominant colors.
• Skilled filmmakers do not need to employ such stereotypical colors and will break these obvious rules (so to speak) and play with colors and contrast at their leisure.
• So should you when you feel that that's what your photo needs!

Cinematic does not mean natural, as the following horror scene demonstrates. Watch how a regular cinematic shot transforms into a surreal and spooky scene with very little color left:

Preset Radioactive Zombies from the presetpepper Horror Lightroom Presets collection.

Cinematic Color Grading With Adobe Lightroom

The powerful editing tools available in Adobe Lightroom allow you to level up your photos. From simple snapshots to compelling, movie-like masterpieces:

1. Apply our professionally crafted color grading presets with a single click
2. Watch the instant transformation of your photos
3. Add your own edits

Cinematic Scenes for Social Media: Edit your Instagram Photos with Lightroom

If you want to stand out on social media, your content has to be spot on. That means your content has to be interesting, engaging and attractive to look at. In our blog post on the topic we teach you all about How to get noticed on Instagram with Lightroom presets!

Download Cinematic Lightroom Presets

Get our Cinematic Color Grading Lightroom Presets to choose from an exclusive selection of curated color styles, purely designed to bring a cinematic touch to your images.

Every preset performs a unique transformation that changes the emotional context of your photo.

What is Cinematic Color Grading?

To truly understand cinematic color grading, think of your favorite movies. Remember the chilling blues and grays in thriller films, the dreamy pastels in romances, or the gritty, desaturated look in post-apocalyptic narratives. That's cinematic color grading - the use of color to evoke emotions, guide narratives, and define a movie's aesthetic.

Cinematic color grading in photography emulates this movie magic by using specific color adjustments to evoke similar feelings in still images. Whether it's a dramatic transformation like our gloriously spooky Horror Lightroom Presets, or the comforting and familiar warmth of our Warm and Cozy Lightroom Presets: Cinematic color grading adds a layer of narrative depth to your photos that goes beyond simple exposure or white balance adjustments.

Preset Golden Hour from the presetpepper Teal & Orange Lightroom Presets collection.

What Are Cinematic Complementary Colors?

In color theory, complementary colors are those that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel, such as blue and orange. They create strong visual contrast and, when used effectively, can make the subject stand out.

In cinematic color grading, one common combination is teal and orange. This duo is often used because it complements most skin tones while providing a visually pleasing contrast. The teal gives a cool backdrop that makes the warm orange tones of human skin pop, creating an immediate focus on the subjects. Explore the power of this dynamic duo with our Teal and Orange Cinematic Lightroom Presets.

What is the Cinematic Photo Effect?

The cinematic photo effect is about more than just color grading. It's a combination of several elements that together create an image reminiscent of a film scene. This involves aspects such as composition, lighting, depth of field, and of course, color grading.

To create a full cinematic photo effect, you need to mix various 'cinematic settings' to bring all variables closer to actual film footage. Here are a few examples:

• Use wider aspect ratios (similar to a cinema screen)
• Involve the use of natural light for enhanced drama
• Add a shallow depth of field to isolate the subject

Creating a cinematic photo effect is about telling a story through your images. Lightroom is a powerful tool that will help your visual storytelling process.

You can find inspiration by cycling through many different presets.
A good start is the very bold Dramatic Effect Color Grading Lightroom Presets selection, which will tell you a lot about how your photo will look in different scenarios.

Watch how drastically our Dramatic Effect presets change the mood of the photo, compared to the original:

How Do You Use Lightroom for Cinematic Color Grading?

Here is how you can create cinematic color grading in Adobe Lightroom, step by step:

1. Import Your Photo: Start by importing the photo you want to edit into Lightroom.

2. Apply a Preset: For an instant cinematic look, apply one of our Lightroom color grading presets, like the Vintage Lifestyle Lightroom Presets or the Midnight Swagger Lightroom Presets.

3. Change the mood with basic adjustments: Add your own style by adjusting exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, clarity, and saturation in the basic adjustments section.

4. Work with Color Tools: Lightroom provides powerful color tools such as the HSL/Color panel and the Color Grading panel. Use these tools to refine your image's color palette.

5. Fine-Tune: You may need to change the preset strength to compliment your own changes. Take a visual break, look at something else for a few minutes. Fresh eyes are often your best, most underrated friend when photo editing.

By following these steps, you can create powerful, cinematic photos.

The key to effective color grading is experimentation. Every photo is unique and will respond differently to various color adjustments.

Troubleshooting

Not every preset will work with every photo. You may have a go-to preset that you love for basically anything. But there is that one photo, where it just won't fit.

That's all right. Take a step back, cycle through many different presets and you will see what's working and what isn't and get an idea for your preferences.

If you still can't find inspiration try the Inspect Colors Utility Preset to find out what's really going on in your image. Apply the color tints and the color channel push presets individually and observe what's happening to your photo so that you can move forward with confidence.

Which Format is Best for Color Grading?

When it comes to color grading, the best format to work with is RAW. RAW files contain the most information captured by your camera sensor, providing a greater range of colors and more flexibility when editing. Unlike JPEGs, which are compressed and lose some data, RAW files allow you to make significant changes to elements like exposure and white balance without losing image quality. So, when you start working on color grading in Lightroom, try to start with RAW files for the best results.

What Makes Lighting Cinematic?

Cinematic lighting involves more than just illuminating a scene. It creates mood, guides the viewer's attention, and tells a story. Cinematic lighting often utilizes contrast, shadows, and colors to evoke specific feelings or emphasize certain subjects. Just like the dramatic light in a sunset can create a feeling of nostalgia, strategic lighting in your photos can create a narrative depth that draws the viewer in.

You can experiment with lighting in your photos using various presets from our collections, like the ones found in our Light and Airy Lightroom Presets or Dreamy Lightroom Presets collections.

Preset Space Western from the presetpepper Cinematic Lightroom Presets collection.

Can Pictures Be Cinematic?

Yes, absolutely! Although the term 'cinematic' comes from cinema, it can certainly apply to still images. Cinematic photos are ones that look like they could be stills taken from a film. They often have a specific color grading, a certain composition, and a style of lighting that evokes a feeling of drama or narrative. They tell a story, just as a good film does.

Our Vintage Lightroom Presets collections can help you find the perfect Lightroom Presets to transform your photos into vintage cinematic masterpieces.

Creating a cinematic feel in your photography isn't about replicating a specific look. It's about using light, color, and composition to tell a story, evoke emotions, and give your viewer a sense of being immersed in a different world. Keep experimenting and find what speaks to your unique visual storytelling style.

FAQ: A Short Summary

Recap: Create a Cinematic Effect with Adobe Lightroom!

Creating a cinematic effect involves multiple steps:

1. Shoot in RAW: This gives you the maximum amount of information to work with in post-processing. You can use JPEG if you don't have access to RAW files.

2. Consider Your Composition: Cinematic images often adhere to the rule of thirds, the golden ratio, leading lines, and other compositional techniques to draw viewers into the image.

3. Pay Attention to Light: Just like in film, light is crucial in photography. The direction, quality, and color of light can greatly impact the mood of your image.

4. Color Grading: This is where you'll give your image that distinctive cinematic look. Use Lightroom's color grading tools to adjust the colors in your image.

5. Use Presets: Lightroom presets, like the ones found in our Black & White Color Grading Lightroom Presets and Septic Pumpkin Horror Color Grading Lightroom Presets, can make it easy to quickly apply cinematic color grading to your photos.