Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise is not a subtle preset. It goes for the full feeling of old movie stock: warm, hard, slightly dangerous. Shadows drop to true black while dark red and dark gold take over the midtones. It is the colour mood of Pulp Fiction, translated into Lightroom.

Technically, Mayonnaise sets a steep tone curve. Highlights are compressed, shadows are crushed. On the colour side, the preset pushes warm tones toward amber-brown and deep red, while cool tones are suppressed. Skin tones pick up an orange-red glow that reads as cinematic rather than digital. The contrast is high, but not clinical. Split toning keeps the shadows cool and pushes the highlights warm, which creates that distinctive cinematic tension between the two ends of the tonal range.

Mayonnaise works best on photos with strong artificial light: streetlamps, neon signs, café lighting, late-day sun cutting through a window at a low angle. Street photography in the evening, portraits under warm practical lights, interiors with atmospheric sources. Scenes with deep shadow and one clear light source are exactly where this preset finds its footing. Flat grey daylight gives it less to work with.

You reach for Mayonnaise when you want a photo that feels like a film still. Not moody documentary, but something that looks almost constructed, as if a director set the lights. That makes it a strong match for deliberate, graphic images that stand on their own. Less so for reportage work where a neutral read matters.

A practical tip: pull the exposure down by half a stop to a full stop before applying Mayonnaise. The preset is calibrated for slightly underexposed files. Correct or slightly overexposed shots will often blow out the highlights with no recovery. Coming in a little darker gives you more control over the bright areas and lets the shadows fall even further into black.