Photographers who capture narrative-driven, storytelling images lean heavily into the cinematic-inspired editing style to emphasize emotion in their images. Let’s take a deep dive into Quest Presets and Archipelago Presets that bring those moody, dramatic tones to your photos!
What characterizes Cinematic edits?
We bet you can name a few of the top photographers who use a cinematic editing style off the top of your head. While popular among photographers based in areas with dramatic landscapes (think Scotland and Iceland), the cinematic style can be applied to photos that emphasize dramatic light and shadow, capturing emotional depth and storytelling scenes.
Cinematic photo editing recreates the mood, tone, and drama of film cinema in still photography. The main goal is evoking emotion and immersion.
Key Elements:
🎨 Colors: Cinematic color grading includes common teal-and-orange palettes, along with split-toned highlights and shadows for emotional impact. Often, the style leans into desaturated colors.
⛰️ Mood and Feeling: Rich, moody tones that emphasize drama. Atmosphere and depth can be added with haze, highlight bloom, and grain. Lean into cinematic composition with widescreen crops like 16:9 ratio to mimic movie frames. Intentional framing and lighting add to the scene.
☀️ Contrast and Light: Soft highlights & gentle roll-off. Light transitions are smooth, avoiding harsh clipping for a more natural, “filmed” look. Often leans toward deep shadows, muted highlights, and balanced contrast for a filmic feel.
Image by Lucinda Steiner
Edited with Light & Ember
Why Choose a Cinematic Edit?
The emotional impact of cinematic color grading and moody tones is unmistakable. They create a visceral storytelling atmosphere for viewers.
The style is inspired by decades of film cinematography, lending itself to a timeless, polished, artful feel.
Portraits, weddings, travel, editorial… You name it, the cinematic style works well on it! It’s incredibly versatile, adapting to dramatic and romantic moods.
Image by Hello Norte
Edited with Quest 43 Llŷr
Our Core Cinematic Preset Collection
If you want a moody, cinematic collection with a robust toolset, look no further!
Available in the Archipelago Presets Shop
Image by Mariah Arianna
Light & Ember was developed with the emotive storyteller as its core inspiration. Those who yearn for imagery that encapsulates the soul and the soft intimacies in every fleeting moment. Moments where narrative and history mean just as much as light and color. With an unparalleled richness of depth and mood, Light & Ember delivers this and so much more.
This set includes 6 meticulously crafted color grading presets tailored for the dark & cinematic aesthetic. Featuring a unique palette, the presets in this collection give you a variety of tonality to use across a wide body of work. Use the included creative profile to further modify each preset to perfectly match your lighting environment whether harsh or soft.
The Light & Ember Toolset extends your customization with a host of tools and effects, each carefully developed to help you achieve your desired look with precision and ease.
True to Color CInematic Presets
The following presets offer cinematic tones and lean toward color-accurate hues for editorial and storytelling photography.
Image by Mel Panteli
Unveil the raw essence of storytelling with Veritas, a Lightroom preset collection that honors the art of truth in its purest form. Designed for the discerning creative, this pack bridges the gap between cinematic grandeur and minimalist precision. At the heart of Veritas lies a dedication to authenticity.
Each of the 5 color presets is carefully crafted to deliver true-to-tone palettes, evoking the subtle richness of filmic color grades while maintaining the integrity of your original shot. The black-and-white preset, stark yet soulful, transforms light and shadow into pure emotion, revealing the depth within simplicity.
Veritas includes a dedicated Cine Toolset, offering finely tuned emulations of essential cinematic techniques.
Quest 23 Odeon
Available in the Quest Archive and Quest Public Shop
Quest 17 Ayre
Available in the Quest Archive and Quest Public Shop
Perpetua
Available in the Archipelago Presets Shop
Image by Mariah Arianna
Perpetua is a collection of meticulously crafted presets designed to bring an elegant and luxurious feel to every aspect of your photography, from intimate moments to majestic landscapes. With a focus on rich tonality, exquisite details, and flawless skin tones, Perpetua ensures that every photo exudes sophistication and class.
The included style options — Bright, Cinematic, Dark, Earthy, and Filmic — utilize masking layers to give you the ability to adapt each preset to your preferred style and can even be used with other presets.
From timeless black and white elegance to vibrant and bold color palettes, this collection offers a diverse range of presets to suit every style and preference. Perfect for wedding photography and any other genre where you want to achieve a clean and refined look.
Cinematic Blues
These presets bring out some of the blue hour vibes that cinematic color grading is known for.
Quest 43 Llŷr
Available in the Quest Preset Archive and Quest Public Shop
Quest 35 Nexus
Available in the Quest Archive and Quest Public Shop
Quest 22 Glacial
Available in the Quest Preset Archive and Quest Public Shop
Mood and Drama
These presets offer moody, dramatic, and atmospheric edits perfect for emotional cinematic images!
Quest 20 Orphic
Available in the Quest Archive and Quest Public Shop
Quest 33 Trouvaille
Available in the Quest Preset Archive and Quest Public Shop
Quest 31 Mythos
Available in the Quest Preset Archive and Quest Public Shop
Quest Cinematic Bundle
The Cinematic Bundle of Quest Presets is available in the Quest Archive and Quest Public Shop
If you’re looking for the best combination of our cinematic Quest sets to try, shop the bundle and get Quest 07 Obscura, Quest 17 Ayre, Quest 23 Odeon, and Quest 35 Nexus.
Each of the above mentioned presets applied to one photo:
Image by Bettina Vass Photography
Edits in order: Before, Light & Ember, Veritas, Perpetua, Quest 07 Obscura, Quest 17 Ayre, Quest 23 Odeon, Quest 22 Glacial, Quest 35 Nexus, Quest 33 Trouvaille, Quest 20 Orphic, Quest 43 Llŷr, and Quest 31 Mythos.
What is your favorite cinematic preset? Tell us in the comments!