TbN Presets Pack + Lightroom Accelerator Kit

Why Presets Alone are Not Enough

When I first started editing photos, I couldn't wrap my head around why certain presets looked the way they did or how to adjust them appropriately in order to achieve the look I envisioned.

While presets are a great way to speed-up the editing process, the truth is, presets are typically not a one size fits all solution, and are rarely enough on their own. Although the TbN Presets are extremely versatile and can get you most of the way there (see video below), the final images will need to be fine-tuned to get the most out of them.

So, understanding how to apply presets is half the battle... The more important skillset is understanding when to apply them, and further: how to modify the look to fit your particular image.

That's why I developed Color & Contrast: The Fundamentals of Image Editing. Paired with my TbN Presets pack, this is a Lightroom Accelerator Kit that covers nearly every photo post-processing tool, from basic sliders, to more advanced masking and grading techniques (though, these lessons apply to all image-editing softwares).

The goal is to provide you with a foundational understanding of common (and advanced) editing tools, from which you can build confidence in your photo-editing journey.

How It Was Developed

Let's start with the presets, which have been "in development" since I began my journey as a photographer. However, it wasn't until 2024 that I really started to think about how these presets could be used in other people's workflows.

For the next two years, I spent my time fine-tuning 8 of my most-used presets to the point of uniqueness from one another and overall versatility, across images of different lighting, genre, and composition.

Halfway through that process, I realized how important it is to understand the fundamentals of image-editing tools; things like sliders, curves, and wheels found in most editing programs, like Lightroom. Presets are great, but if you don't understand what they are doing to your image, they will only take you so far.

That led me to develop Color & Contrast right alongside the presets - an eBook that aims to provide new photographers with the knowledge necessary to fully understand, appreciate, and be able to effectively use the presets I spent so long developing and using in my own work.

Honestly, developing these products in a way that is packed full of information, but presented in a way that is easy to understand and replicate, challenged me to revisit my own foundation - and I'm happy to say that I too learned along the way.

What's Included?

When you purchase the Lightroom Accelerator Kit, you'll receive:

-> TbN Presets Pack

• 8 custom Lightroom presets I have developed over nearly a decade of professional photography.
  • Carefully crafted over years of shooting, editing, refining, and repeating. The result is 8 premium presets, each with a unique look, all of which are more versatile than any other presets I have personally used.

-> Color & Contrast: Fundamentals of Image Editing (PDF eBook)

• Section 1: Sliders, Their Definitions, & When to Use Them
  • A breakdown of each slider (contrast, dehaze, etc.) found in most editing programs - with explanations of their purpose and why you might use them. Each definition has accompanying example images, showing what happens to a photo when each respective slider is pushed to its extremes.
• Section 2: Curves, Wheels, Masking & More
  • A breakdown of more advanced image-editing tools and techniques (color curves, masks, etc.) - with explanations of their purpose and why you might use them. These definitions have accompanying example images. The section finishes with a deeper dive into lesser-discussed Lightroom tools, including Defringe and Color Calibration.
• Section 3: Lessons in Action
  • A full image-editing walkthrough, applying the lessons you've learned in Sections 1 & 2. In this section, I take a RAW image from "straight out of camera", to finished edit. You'll receive the RAW photo as well, so you can step through the process alongside the tutorial.
• Section 4: Preset Examples & How to Install
  • Instructions on how to install the TbN Presets Pack, plus 8 example images, fully edited using each preset. In this section, I also document the additional changes made to each image (in addition to the presets) and I supply you with each of these RAW image files, so you can replicate the exact changes I made and get immediate experience editing with these presets.

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Which Version is Right for You?

Lightroom Accelerator Kit (Color & Contrast + TbN Presets Pack)

• For those beginning their photo & video editing journey and/or those new to Lightroom Presets.

TbN Presets Pack Only

• For those with solid Lightroom / image-editing fundamentals and who feel comfortable using Presets.

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Presets: How to Install

(Lightroom Classic)

1. Select the “Develop” Tab
2. Select the “+” Icon next to “Presets”
3. Select “Import Presets” from the dropdown menu
4. Navigate to your save location for “TbN Presets Pack”
5. Open the folder and select all of the .XMP files
6. Select “Import”

(Lightroom / CC)

1. Select the “Presets” Tab or press ‘shift, p’
2. Select the “•••” Icon next to “Presets...”
3. Select “Import Presets” from the dropdown menu
4. Navigate to your save location for “TbN Presets Pack”
5. Open the folder and select all of the .XMP files
6. Select “Import”

(Lightroom Mobile)

1. Open an image
2. Select “Presets”
3. Select the “•••” Icon on the top of the screen
4. Select “Import Presets” from the dropdown menu
5. Navigate to your save location for “TbN Presets Pack”
6. Open the folder and select all of the .XMP files
7. Select “Import”

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Common Qs & As / Best Practices:

“Do the presets work on JPEG photos?”

Please note, these presets work best when applied to RAW images. However, they do work on JPEG photos as well, but please avoid using a picture profile applied in-camera.

“When do I apply the presets?”

It's always best practice to apply a preset to a RAW image that has no changes yet applied. If you apply a preset to an image that has already been edited, some adjustments & effects will "stack", making the final look very different from the intended result.

“The look is too heavy OR not strong enough...”

Lightroom allows users to adjust the intensity of a preset using the "amount" slider.

“What if I don't edit in Lightroom?”

Please understand that while the eBook "Color & Contrast" is primarily developed around Lightroom tools, the actual information contained in this book extends to all photo and video editing softwares.

With that said, the presets are developed for use within Adobe Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Lightroom CC, and Lightroom Mobile. They are not designed to be used with programs outside of the Adobe editing suite.