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Camera settings (EXIF data)

Camera Sony Sony a7 II

Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm)

Lens Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA

min. focus distance: 1.64' / 50 cm

stabilization: no

weight: 281 g

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Focal length

55.0 mm

Aperture

ƒ/7.1

Shutter speed

20s

ISO

100

Metering mode

Multi-segment

Exposure program

Shutter speed priority AE

Exposure compensation

Flash

Off, Did not fire

Taken at

2016:05:11 21:27:42

Software

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 10.0 (Macintosh)

no copyright note in EXIF

GPS Location

—

GPS Altitude

—

GPS Date & time

—

Raw EXIF data

ISO

100

Make

SONY

Flash

Off, Did not fire

Model

ILCE-7M2

FNumber

7.1

Contrast

Normal

LensInfo

55mm f/1.8

Software

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 10.0 (Macintosh)

LensModel

FE 55mm F1.8 ZA

SceneType

Directly photographed

Sharpness

Normal

ColorSpace

sRGB

CreateDate

2016:05:11 21:27:42

FileSource

Digital Camera

ModifyDate

2020:11:21 11:09:20

OffsetTime

+01:00

Saturation

Normal

Compression

JPEG (old-style)

ExifVersion

0231

FocalLength

55.0 mm

LightSource

Unknown

XResolution

240

YResolution

240

ExposureMode

Auto

ExposureTime

MeteringMode

Multi-segment

WhiteBalance

Auto

ApertureValue

7.1

CustomRendered

Normal

ResolutionUnit

inches

ThumbnailImage

(Binary data 10222 bytes, use -b option to extract)

BrightnessValue

-4.25625

ExposureProgram

Shutter speed priority AE

SensitivityType

Recommended Exposure Index

ThumbnailLength

10222

ThumbnailOffset

942

DateTimeOriginal

2016:05:11 21:27:42

DigitalZoomRatio

MaxApertureValue

1.8

SceneCaptureType

Standard

ShutterSpeedValue

ExposureCompensation

FocalPlaneXResolution

1675.257385

FocalPlaneYResolution

1675.257385

FocalLengthIn35mmFormat

55 mm

FocalPlaneResolutionUnit

RecommendedExposureIndex

100

Raw XMP data

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  <rdf:Description rdf:about=""
    xmlns:xmp="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/"
    xmlns:aux="http://ns.adobe.com/exif/1.0/aux/"
    xmlns:exifEX="http://cipa.jp/exif/1.0/"
    xmlns:photoshop="http://ns.adobe.com/photoshop/1.0/"
    xmlns:xmpMM="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/mm/"
    xmlns:stEvt="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/sType/ResourceEvent#"
    xmlns:stRef="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/sType/ResourceRef#"
    xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
    xmlns:crs="http://ns.adobe.com/camera-raw-settings/1.0/"
   xmp:CreatorTool="Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 10.0 (Macintosh)"
   xmp:ModifyDate="2020-11-21T11:09:20+01:00"
   xmp:CreateDate="2016-05-11T21:27:42"
   xmp:MetadataDate="2020-11-21T11:09:20+01:00"
   aux:LensInfo="550/10 550/10 18/10 18/10"
   aux:Lens="FE 55mm F1.8 ZA"
   aux:LensDistortInf...

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IPTC

DateCreated

2016:05:11

TimeCreated

21:27:42

CodedCharacterSet

UTF8

DigitalCreationDate

2016:05:11

DigitalCreationTime

21:27:42

ApplicationRecordVersion

Photoshop

IPTCDigest

e2c7869037a99b382db14e972aaf8e7e

XResolution

240

YResolution

240

DisplayedUnitsX

inches

DisplayedUnitsY

inches

PhotoshopThumbnail

(Binary data 10222 bytes, use -b option to extract)

Adobe Lightroom edits

Download as Lightroom Preset

Need help?

Look

Name	Adobe Color
Group	Profiles
Cluster
Amount	1.0

Note on Looks

Looks are not included in the default downloadable preset. The reason is that they often require extra files installed on your system (e.g. many film emulation packs).

Without these files in place, the presets downloaded from PixelPeeper couldn't be imported. That's why PixelPeeper presets focus on universal settings. If you want to replicate the Look part, you can copy it manually, but in many cases, it won't have an effect without the looks installed on your computer first.

The "Full XMP Settings" version of the downloadable preset will include the look and other (complete) adjustments. If you have the required looks installed, you should be able to import this XMP file to Lightroom.

Basic

Profile	Adobe Standard
White Balance	As Shot
Temperature	4450
Tint		+6

Tone
Exposure		+0.88
Contrast		+6
Highlights		-84
Shadows		+20
Whites		-25
Blacks		-30

Presence
Texture		0
Clarity		0
Dehaze		0
Vibrance		0
Saturation		0

Tone Curve

Tone Curve:

Region
Highlights		0
Lights		0
Darks		0
Shadows		0

Color Mixer / HSL

Hue
Red		+31
Orange		-1
Yellow		-40
Green		+17
Aqua		+15
Blue		-12
Purple		-57
Magenta		0

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The edit creates a restrained blue-hour cityscape in which the warmly illuminated church stands out against a cool, subdued environment. Strong highlight recovery controls the building lights, while selective HSL work removes competing color from the sky and foliage. The result is dark and atmospheric without losing important architectural detail.

Overall look

The Adobe Color rendering provides a moderately vivid starting point, but the edit then narrows the palette substantially. Cool blues and near-neutral dark surroundings dominate, while warmer red-orange illumination is preserved around the church. There is no crop or perspective transformation, so the original framing and architectural geometry remain unchanged.

Light and tone

Exposure was raised by 0.88 EV to bring the blue-hour scene and architecture into view. This is counterbalanced by very strong highlight recovery (-84) and reduced whites (-25), which keep the church’s bright floodlighting and waterfront lamps from becoming harsh or clipped. Shadows are opened slightly (+20), but blacks are deepened (-30), preserving a strong nighttime anchor in the trees, riverbank, and buildings. A custom tone curve lifts the absolute black point slightly while holding much of the tonal range below a straight linear response; together with the black adjustment, this gives the image dense, controlled shadows rather than a broadly brightened night scene. The modest contrast increase reinforces separation without making the lights brittle.

Color and subject emphasis

The as-shot white balance is relatively cool at 4450 K with a small magenta tint, retaining the natural blue-hour atmosphere while keeping the illuminated stone from becoming overly yellow. The HSL treatment is the main creative color tool: blue saturation is reduced heavily and blue luminance is lowered, producing a quieter, darker sky. Greens are both strongly desaturated and darkened, causing the trees to recede into a near-neutral silhouette. Yellow is also heavily desaturated and darkened, preventing lamps and mixed artificial lighting from spreading a distracting yellow cast. Purple and magenta are strongly suppressed, removing likely color contamination in the night lighting. In contrast, reds receive slightly more saturation and substantially more luminance, while orange is essentially preserved. This selectively strengthens the warm pink-red church illumination against the cool background. The extensive hue shifts further consolidate natural and artificial colors into this restrained cool-versus-warm palette.

Detail and optical corrections

Moderate sharpening (40, radius 1.0, detail 25) supports the fine architectural edges without an aggressive high-frequency treatment. No masking was applied, so sharpening also affects the sky and water, though the conservative amount limits the effect. Standard color noise reduction is present, but luminance noise reduction is zero; the ISO 100 capture provides little reason for stronger luminance smoothing. Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze are all untouched, so local contrast remains relatively natural and the cloudy sky keeps its soft atmospheric character. The dedicated Adobe profile for the Sony FE 55mm F1.8 ZA is enabled to correct the lens’s distortion and vignetting at the default strength.

Capture-related appearance

The 20-second exposure is capture context rather than a Lightroom adjustment. It materially explains the smooth water and elongated, softened reflections in the foreground. At the same time, the static architecture remains crisp, giving the scene a calm contrast between solid buildings and fluid water. The f/7.1 aperture and ISO 100 capture also support clean architectural detail and broad scene sharpness.

Effects

No grain, post-crop vignette, color grading, split toning, or added haze treatment was used. The edge darkness and cinematic mood therefore come primarily from the original night lighting, deepened blacks, the tone curve, and the darkened/desaturated foliage rather than from a synthetic vignette.

What mattered most

Strong highlight recovery makes the illuminated church readable after the overall exposure lift.
Deep blacks and darkened greens preserve the nighttime mood even though shadows were opened slightly.
Heavy desaturation of blue, green, yellow, purple, and magenta removes competing color.
Brighter, slightly richer reds and preserved oranges direct attention to the warm architecture.
The long exposure supplies the smooth water and reflections; Lightroom shapes their tone and color rather than creating the blur.

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