January

January is not a preset that adds warmth where there is none. It works with what is already there: the emptiness, the cold, the quiet that settles after the holidays. Grey light falling on frozen water. A street with no one on it. A sky that is almost white, but not quite. This preset gives those moments their own kind of beauty.

Technically, January pulls the white balance towards cooler tones and lowers the warmth in shadows and midtones. Exposure is taken down slightly, not to create darkness but a kind of exhaled stillness. Contrast stays present but is kept soft. Highlights take on an icy, near-milky quality. Saturation is reduced in yellows, oranges and reds so they no longer compete with the mood. What remains are blues, greys and skin tones that read a little paler than in real life. Not clinical, but cool and quiet.

The preset works well for winter street photography, but also for portraits in diffuse daylight. Think of someone standing behind a fogged-up window, a figure crossing an empty square, bare trees along a frozen canal. Scenes without direct sun suit this preset best. Hard shadows and strong side light tend to fight against its character. When the environment already has little colour, January draws the most out of that restraint.

You reach for January when you want a photo to feel the way that morning felt. Not dramatic, not heavily processed. Just cold, still, a little empty. For anyone willing to go outside with a camera in January, this preset holds onto that feeling.

One practical tip: adjust your exposure before applying the preset. January performs best on images that are slightly underexposed, or that you have pulled back half a stop in Lightroom yourself. Too much light in the original makes highlights go flat and papery. Start a little darker, and the preset delivers exactly the icy white it was built for.