Why I Decided to Create Presets Just for Cocktails

If you follow along on the Stir and Strain Instagram, then you may have learned that we rolled out our first set of presets for Lightroom Mobile on Friday. This set of presets is based on 6 classic cocktail recipes. But with so many presets out there already, you might be asking yourself… why? Why more presets?

Well, here’s my reasoning. A lot of presets I find out there are mainly for lifestyle and fashion photographers (there are definitely ones for the food industry as well but I don’t personally see those as much); these are not those. These are made to work with cocktails and beverage photography. I’ve heard from many followers that they aren’t ready to invest in a DSLR camera and just want great photos from their phone. Guess what? You can totally have that. Presets make efficient use of your time editing on your phone too and take out a lot of the guesswork of how to make your photos pop.

Many of the lifestyle presets out there are blowing out everything and it’s all in soft focus (Because FYI, they’re not really 22. Well, some are…). The sharp clarity and range of colors and tones that comes with cocktails gets lost here. The glint of light on the edge of the glass, the sharp edges of a crystal clear ice cube, the velvety texture of a Luxardo cherry in syrup… these presets cater to this style of photography.

I’ve been creating my own presets to use on my phone and on my desktop so I would be more efficient with my editing. And when I’m editing it on my phone, it also means it’s less steps before I snap a photo and it lands on the internet. I love for my workflow to be as streamlined as possible and presets help a lot with that.

 

I’ve been testing these out with followers all weekend and a few questions and comments came up I wanted to mention.

• First, you do not need to be any level of pro photographer to use these. These are meant for everyone regardless of how much time you’ve spent with a camera, or even just your smart phone.
• Lightroom mobile is FREE, and once you download it, there are some very helpful guides to get started with. There are also some quick and easy YouTube videos as well on the general functions of the app.
• We will be releasing other themed presets over the next few months with other types of cocktails in mind (we have a REAL FUN one coming up!).
• Presets are not a one size fits all type of thing. Please read the descriptions to see what preset will work with the photos you are trying to edit. Once a preset is applied, you can always make adjustments in exposure, contrast, etc…
• And, if you need help downloading and installing your presets, we’ve got a handy guide for that HERE!

 

Thanks for reading, and for checking out this new fun project we’ve been planning for awhile. And if you have some feedback on the presets, shoot us an email! We’d love to hear from you!

You can find all the presets here on the Gum Road shopping site.