Chingliu: Lightroom

The Chingliu Lightroom aesthetic is not for everyone. It is emotional, heavy, and dramatic. It sacrifices the "happy" vibes of summer for the introspective feel of autumn and winter.

If you want your photography to feel like a still from a Christopher Nolan film or a Wong Kar-wai movie, invest the time in building or buying this preset.

Action Steps:

Once mastered, the Chingliu Lightroom preset will become your secret weapon for a timeless, professional, and highly engaging social media feed. chingliu lightroom


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You don't need to buy a preset. If you understand the intent, you can build a Chingliu Lightroom preset in 5 minutes. The Chingliu Lightroom aesthetic is not for everyone

Step 1: The White Balance Set Temp to 4800k (slightly cool) and Tint to +5 (slightly magenta). This neutralizes the base.

Step 2: The Exposure Baseline Underexpose by 1/3 of a stop. Drag Highlights to -80. Shadows to +40.

Step 3: The HSL Shift

Step 4: The Split Tone Go to Color Grading (Shadow wheel). Pick a deep navy. Hold Alt/Option to see the intensity. You want just a "ghost" of color in the shadow layer.

Step 5: The Finish Add grain. Then, go to Lens Corrections. Crucially, turn off "Remove Chromatic Aberration" or set it to low—the tiny purple fringe actually adds to the "analog lens" vibe that Chingliu loves.

Save this as a user preset. Name it "My Chingliu Clone." Once mastered, the Chingliu Lightroom preset will become

Go to the Color Grading wheel (or Split Toning in older versions).