Chrome and Lacquer

Chrome and Lacquer is a preset built around materials. Metal that mirrors. Paint that sits deep and even. It was made for automotive lifestyle photography that looks polished without feeling overdone, glamorous without crossing into gaudy. You notice the result straight away: the image has weight and quality.

Technically, the preset pushes the highlights in chrome and lacquer close to a bright, clean peak while keeping the shadow areas dark and full. That contrast gives curved surfaces shape and volume. Colors shift slightly cooler, making metal read more like metal. Red paint deepens. Black becomes denser. The tone curve carries a gentle S-shape that does not exaggerate, but it does give the image character and presence.

The preset works best on cars with a clean, glossy finish. Classic sports cars, modern grand tourers, showroom shots, or lifestyle images taken on a quiet street at golden hour. Reflections caught in bodywork, close-up frames of wheels, a leather-and-chrome steering wheel, a dashboard with polished trim. It also works well for product photography of accessories with a shiny surface, glasses, watches, or similar objects where finish is part of the story.

You reach for Chrome and Lacquer when you want an image to look considered without spending a long time in post. Not as a shortcut, but because the foundation of the preset already fits what automotive lifestyle photography needs: clarity in the highlights, calm in the shadows, and a color palette that matches the material. If the exposure is solid, this preset does most of the heavy lifting.

One practical tip: after applying the preset, spend a moment in the HSL panel adjusting the specific hue of the paint in your photo. Orange lacquer needs a different saturation value than blue or silver. Two minutes on that one color slider, and the result feels built for that particular car rather than borrowed from somewhere else.