Surprisingly Great! Jared Platt Lightroom Profiles and Curves Review
In a way, the staff and I are all spoiled. We’re photographers who work to get the looks in-camera that you do in post-production. It’s a lot of extra work, but to us, it’s always worth it. And for that reason, we tend to stay away from presets. But, the Jared Platt Lightroom Profiles and Curves package is pretty awesome. It’s part of the 2021 5 Day Deal package. And if I were still using Lightroom often, I’d be addicted to these. They’re fun, and if you’re going for the trendy, super redscale look, then you’ll love these.
The 2021 5 Day Deal lasts from October 14th at 3pm EDT to October 19th 3pm EDT. Check it out here!
Too Long, Didn’t Read
The Jared Platt Lightroom Profiles and Curves package includes presets and curves for photographers to play around a lot. They say some of the looks are based on film, but we know better. However, that doesn’t discount the fact that, at times, the looks they deliver are genuinely exceptional. Still, you’ll have to work with them and adjust the look to exactly what you want. But they provide a pretty solid base.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Simple to use
- Gives a lot of variety when it comes to looks
Cons
- I wish people would stop saying that looks are inspired by film. Sometimes it’s clear they’ve never shot a roll of film in their lives. Jared’s looks are nice, but the naming is confusing.
Gear Used
We edited these photos in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC. The images are from Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Leica cameras. If you’re a Fujifilm user, you don’t need these: you’ve got the goodness baked right in.
Main Features
Platt’s website says the following:
“Contrast and tone are a key elements of beautiful photography. Don’t believe me? Choose one of your best images, click on a few of my Curve Presets and watch the magic happen. These stylistic film curves mimic the feeling of film and include masterfully designed point curves that range from cool, to neutral, to warm and even include beautiful and edgy cross processed looks. Not only that, companion Develop Presets take your images even further by adding film grain, contrast, vignetting, and tone for the ultimate control of the style of your image.”
Essentially, you’re getting a few folders of presets. There are three dedicated to portraits: deep skin, medium skin, and light skin. Then there are three styles: cinematic, futuristic, and vintage. Finally, there’s a folder dedicated just to travel. After that, there’s a bunch of curves you can use. If you’re newer to photography, you’re probably going to mess around until you get something you like. But if you’re more experienced, then you’ll likely apply one thing and edit from there. That’s what I ended up doing.
Ease of Use
Importing these presets and curves into Lightroom is simple. The presets themselves are imported easily as their own folders. But the curves were imported under User Presets, and I had to rename the folder. That’s fine and easy enough, but it can be annoying if you’ve got a lot of presets. Lightroom Classic thankfully makes using the Jared Platt Lightroom Profiles and Curves package simple. Hover over the looks, and it will preview. Then, you can click to apply.
Platt’s presets really depend on your white balance. I know that’s standard for every photo, but it really hits home here because of how contrast and all are dialed in.
If anything, the most challenging thing is trying to figure out how to use them. You’d think that the vintage presets would give a vintage look. But that’s not always the case. It’s safe to say that sometimes they don’t at all look vintage. The same applies to the cinematic looks. And where it’s really confusing is with the travel looks. So what would I say otherwise? Honestly, I’m not sure. I can’t put my finger on it. But nothing in the cinematic presets resembles some of the most beautiful movies you’ve seen. Similarly, the vintage looks are more associated with significantly toned-down alternative processes. One can look like a bleach bypass.
Where things start to really make sense are with the curves. In fact, the curves are my favorite part of all this. They’re addictive. Want that redscale look that’s super popular right now? It’s here. Just make sure you’ve got a subject being shot under Tungsten light.
My qualms with naming aside, the presets and the curves are all charming. But I found myself far more enamored with the curves.
One of my concerns was how the presets work with people of color and their skin tones. In the image below, I’ve got an LED light gelled green camera-left. A standard flash is camera right. Micah came out looking pretty great.
Real Life Applications
I’m going to go down the list of photographers who should probably get these:
- The passionate photographer who’s bored and just wants to take advantage of the insane amount of stuff you get with the 5 Day Deal? Go for it.
- The portrait photographer looking to experiment with a new look.
- The party photographer who wants to give a film-look to their photos.
- Wedding photographers who shoot more DIY occasions.
This makes no sense for anyone that shoots wildlife, landscapes, or anything else that doesn’t involve people. Truly, stick to people when you’re using these.
Conclusions
The Jared Platt Lightroom Profiles and Curves package is usually over $100. Honestly, I’m not sure it worth it. But as part of the much larger 5 Day Deal package, it’s an obvious choice to get. This year’s 5 Day Deal package ends October 19th at 3pm EDT. Act before then.
The 2021 5 Day Deal lasts from October 14th at 3pm EDT to October 19th 3pm EDT. Check it out here!