The HDR technique is one of the most popular techniques photographers use to add more depth and range to photos. It usually takes multiple photos and a lot of work to take photos using the HDR technique.
However, if you have the Lightroom app, there’s a much easier way to create that same HDR effect with just a few clicks. In this post, we’re sharing with you a collection of the best HDR Lightroom presets you can use to add an authentic HDR effect to your own photos.
These HDR Lightroom presets are easy to customize, and they let you adjust the settings to match any kind of a photograph, whether you take it with a DSLR or your smartphone camera.
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What is an HDR Lightroom Preset?
The presets are one of the most useful tools available in Adobe Lightroom. Presets allows you to quickly apply effects, make adjustments, and improve the overall look of a photo with just a single click. These come in handy when you’re editing an entire photo shoot or a batch of photos.
There are many different types of Lightroom presets out there and an HDR Lightroom preset is a type of preset that allows you to replicate the HDR technique and apply an effect to your photos. This effect allows you to enhance the depth and mood of your photos.
3 Tips for Using HDR Presets
If you’re not familiar with the HDR technique or using HDR presets, there are a few things you need to be aware of before you start applying the effect to your photos.
Pick Your Photos Carefully
Unlike most other types of Lightroom presets, HDR presets needs to be used with only certain types of photos. The HDR technique is best used with photos taken in bright and natural light conditions, especially outdoors.
Of course, you can use the effect with other types of photos, but you should pick the photos carefully that most require more depth. For example, the HDR effect will make your outdoor landscape photos look phenomenal but it shouldn’t be used with your newborn baby photos.
Remember to Adjust and Customize
The best part about using Lightroom presets is that they can be easily customized to match your photographs. So don’t rush to remove the effect if it doesn’t look great right away.
HDR presets, in particular, requires adjustments to apply just the ideal amount of depth to a photo. Play with the adjustments until you get it right.
Don’t Overuse the Effect
Look up HDR photography on Google and you’ll see most of the photos that come up looks horrible and just hurts your eyes to even look at them. Don’t be like those people and overuse the effect. Remember to adjust and lower the strength of the effect to match your photos.
Top Pick 
This is a bundle of HDR Lightroom presets that includes multiple presets with various styles of HDR effects you can use to improve different types of portrait and landscape photos. Each preset in this bundle creates non-destructive effects you can easily adjust to your preference.
Another great feature of this pack is that these presets are compatible with both the mobile and desktop versions of the Lightroom app.
Why This Is A Top Pick?
The presets in this pack can be easily applied to your photos with just one click, allowing beginners to easily use the effect. Not only that, but it’s also compatible with Lightroom 4 and all the way up to Lightroom CC. Which means, even if you have an older version of the app, these presets will work smoothly.
If you’re looking for a preset to add a subtle HDR effect to your portrait and wedding photos, this Lightroom preset is the perfect choice for you. It creates a faded HDR effect that will not only add more depth to your portrait photos but also enhance brightness and contrast as well.
When using this collection of Lightroom presets you’ll be able to mix a combination of an HDR effect and color enhancements to make your photos look more attractive and colorful. This pack comes with 20 different presets.
Want to give your sports and adventure photos an HDR look? Then these Lightroom presets will come in handy. It includes 7 different HDR presets you can use to instantly give an HDR effect to your various sports, outdoor, and travel photos.
Gym and fitness photos posted by professional athletes on social media often look quite incredible. The trick is to enhance them before uploading. You can use this bundle of Lightroom presets to give that professional look to your own fitness photos.
Whether you’re a travel photographer, adventure blogger, or a fan of outdoor photography, this collection of HDR Lightroom presets will help you create high-quality photos with just one click. It includes 8 different presets with stylish HDR effects.
Looking for easy to use Lightroom presets to quickly improve your travel photos? Then this bundle of presets will come in handy. It includes 11 unique HDR inspired presets that are designed for outdoor and landscape photos.
This unique Lightroom preset uses two different enhancements to completely transform your photos. It uses a color toning effect with a subtle HDR effect to add a moody look and feel to nature and outdoor photos. It’s perfect for Instagram bloggers.
If you want to apply the HDR effect to low-light and night-time photos, this free Lightroom preset will help you create a natural HDR effect with just a few clicks. The presets is specially optimized for improving city nightscape and landscape photos.
Drone photography is the perfect candidate for giving an HDR makeover. Those aerial photos will look amazing when you add more depth with an HDR effect. This bundle of Lightroom presets comes with 30 different HDR effects you can use to improve your drone photography.
This free Lightroom preset will be quite useful to nature and outdoor photographers to easily enhance and improve their photos without any effort. The preset creates a simple and subtle HDR-like effect to add more depth to landscape photos.
The preset also works well with RAW and JPEG image files, which will make things easier for you to process photos taken with digital cameras much faster.
Even though this preset is free to download, it features a premium-like quality effect that will greatly enhance your nature and wildlife photos. It also works well with older versions of Lightroom.
Who would’ve thought that food photography would look so amazing with a touch of HDR? This collection of Lightroom presets are designed for food bloggers and Instagram users who love sharing more attractive photos of food. The pack includes 50 different effects, including ones with HDR effects.
Even though HDR effects are most suitable for outdoor photos, adding a subtle HDR effect to your studio photography can also help enhance them even more. The presets in this collection are specially optimized for improving your studio portrait photography.
This is a collection of free Lightroom presets and Photoshop actions. It includes a total of 40 effects featuring HDR, retro, film, color enhancing effects, and much more. You can download the entire bundle for free.
Another free HDR Lightroom preset for applying an authentic HDR effect to your photos. This preset is most suitable for improving outdoor portrait and landscape photos taken in natural light conditions.
If you’re a photographer who deals with lots of nature and wildlife photography, these Lightroom presets will allow you to add more depth to your photos to make your nature photos look more detailed and attractive.
This collection of HDR presets is ideal for improve low exposure photos and give an artistic look and feel to your photos. The pack comes with 10 different presets that can also be easily customized to your preference.
Another collection of high-quality HDR-inspired presets fully optimized for enhancing travel and nature photography. This collection features 11 presets that are compatible with Lightroom 4 and higher. The effects are editable as well.
A collection of Lightroom presets made for improving wedding photography. It includes 32 different presets for enhancing different styles of wedding photos, including presets for adding HDR effects.
This bundle of Lightroom presets includes 20 different HDR effects with various styles of enhancements for improving your portrait and landscape photos. The presets are fully compatible with Lightroom 4 and higher.
For more amazing Lightroom presets, check out our best professional Lightroom presets collection.
Lightroom Presets
Adobe Lightroom makes it easy to organise and edit thousands of images and photographs. It’s trusted by photographers everywhere, and a key piece of software to know how to use as a designer. This series looks at how you can use Lightroom presets to create stunning end-results with your photos.
