Rich

Rich does what its name suggests. Colours become fuller, shadows deeper, skin warmer. This is not a preset for airy lifestyle shots or pastel-toned portraits. Rich is for photographs that mean something. For faces with character, for light that falls from the side, for an image that stays with you.

Technically, Rich pulls the shadows down without destroying detail. The darker zones in a face, a neck, a background, recede and give the image depth. At the same time, the midtones warm up. Skin takes on a rich, golden tone that works particularly well with deeper complexions. Highlights stay present but never blow out. The contrast comes from how the tones are built, not from simply pushing a slider. That is what separates weight from flatness.

This preset works strongest with portraits of people with deeper skin tones. Brown and dark skin absorbs warm colour temperatures in a way that Rich brings out fully. But it also works well with portraits of people with more average skin tones, shot in warm backlight or during golden hour. Street portraits with hard light, close-ups, studio portraits with a single light source: all a good match.

You reach for Rich when you want a photograph that has presence. When the mood needs to feel denser, richer, more considered than what your camera captures by default. Not every photo calls for that. But for the one image where you know there is more in it, this is the preset that draws it out.

A practical tip: start with your exposure set slightly lower than you normally would. Rich works best when there is already some darkness in the frame. Drop the exposure in Lightroom by a third to half a stop before applying the preset, then look at what happens to the shadows in the face. The depth will fall into place.