Day: October 1, 2021

TORONTO — Called up Tuesday and thrust into the most important series of the Toronto Blue Jays‘ season, the most important series Rogers Centre has seen in five years, a playoff series for all intents and purposes, Cavan Biggio doesn’t feel much has changed. He’s been playing playoff-style baseball with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons for weeks.

“Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun,” Biggio said Tuesday, standing in front of his sort-of new, sort-of old home dugout before the Blue Jays fell, 7-2, to the New York Yankees. “Down there everyone cares and pulls for each other just like they do up here. It’s definitely a similar feel.”

ROSTER MOVES:

INF Cavan Biggio reinstated from 10-day IL and will be active tonight

LHP Ryan Borucki optioned to Triple-A pic.twitter.com/PNBM8RJZzg

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 28, 2021

Similar in a couple ways. The Bisons began their season playing in Trenton, NJ while Buffalo’s Sahlen Field underwent a substantial renovation prior to hosting a portion of the Blue Jays’ home schedule in June and July. When the Blue Jays returned to Rogers Centre, the Bisons shifted home themselves and eventually won the franchise’s first division title since 2005, finishing the regular season with a 71-46 record and +144 run differential.

In non-pandemic times, that would have qualified Buffalo for a traditional postseason tournament culminating in a championship series. But this season’s playoffs are structured as a 10-game “Triple-A Final Stretch” in which each club plays a five-game home series and five-game road series. The team with the highest winning percentage over those 10 games is named champion.

So far, the Bisons are tied for second place with a 4-1 record through their first five-game series — three of the wins being walk-offs. And Biggio’s been right in the middle of it. Last Thursday, he walked to load the bases in the bottom of the 10th before Gregory Polanco won the game with a single. The next night he walked in the bottom of the ninth, this time ahead of Polanco’s walk-off homer. Sunday, he scored one of two runs on Christian Colon’s game-winning, ground-rule double.

“I can’t say enough about (Bisons manager) Casey Candaele and the rest of those players on that triple-A team,” Biggio said. “That clubhouse that they have down there, they keep it loose. … They have a lot of fun when they play the game. And the No. 1 thing down there is to win. And when you play like that, it just makes everything that much better.”

Playing part in a pair of postseason pushes is a bright-side reward for Biggio at the end of a trying season, the toughest he’s had since turning professional in 2016. Over 290 plate appearances with the Blue Jays, Biggio’s hit .215/.316/.350, good for an 82 OPS+ that stands in stark contrast to the 122 he posted in 2020 and the 113 he put up a season prior as a rookie.

And his peripherals don’t play a nicer tune. His strikeout rate is up, his walk rate’s down. His .293 wOBA is higher than what would be expected (.278) based on the quality of contact he’s made. After featuring a patient, selective approach over his first two MLB seasons — Biggio swung at the lowest rate of pitches outside the zone of any qualified hitter in 2020 — his chase rate increased five percentage points in 2021. Pitches he once took on his way to walks became ones he whiffed at on his way to strikeouts.

Of course, context matters. Biggio’s 2021 began with multiple balls in play deflecting off his right hand during spring training, bending his pinkie finger “the way it shouldn’t bend” and causing a blood blister that had to be drained. He carried those hand injuries into the season, playing through pain until it became too much and sidelined him for several days in mid-April.

A month later, he took his first of two trips to the injured list due to neck and back issues — a cervical spine ligament sprain, officially — that plagued him throughout the summer. And while on a triple-A rehab assignment during the second IL stint, Biggio collided with Josh Palacios as the pair chased a sinking liner, suffering a Grade 1 UCL sprain in his left elbow.

It’s not so easy to rediscover an approach and find consistency at the plate when you’re spending that much time off the field and everything hurts when you’re on it. Biggio has tinkered with a few approach adjustments and mechanical tweaks throughout the season, as most players do. But he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to find something that works or let an adjustment take because his playing time’s been so sporadic.

“It’s definitely challenging. But that’s a big part of this game. And it’s a big part of this game that I’ve never really had to deal with before,” Biggio says. “If you want to look at the silver lining, I’m glad I went through it the way I did. I was able to learn a lot about myself and about my body. And I’m going to use that later on in my career as I go.

“I think the biggest thing was just finding a good routine — not only for my body, but also in the cage, as well. Making adjustments; the ability to make adjustments game-to-game. I feel like my routine that I developed down there has been pretty good. And I’m going to continue that here.”

The good news is Biggio’s healthy enough to play and squeeze a few more afternoons of batting cage work out of his season. Although he hit .197/.308/.318 with 10 walks and 23 strikeouts over the 19-game rehab assignment he just completed with the Bisons, the Blue Jays have been encouraged by the quality of his plate appearances, particularly over his last four games when he walked four times and came up with a couple hits.

“He’s back physically healthy — I think that’s first and foremost. And he’s had really good at-bats. He’s continued to have better at-bats with the team in triple-A,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said. “His versatility, the handedness, the plate discipline — they’re good complements to us.”

For now, Biggio says he’s been told to expect to play the outfield if he gets into any of Toronto’s remaining games. That’s where he spent five of his final eight games with the Bisons before being called up. But this is late-September baseball, so it’s probably best not to expect anything. And Biggio’s ability to play any position on the diamond save for shortstop and catcher could make his a useful, late-game puzzle piece as manager Charlie Montoyo plays matchups and optimizes his defence.

“The expectation is to contribute in any way possible. And I could play pretty much every position out there,” Biggio said. “Anything can happen in this game and over the course of a game. In a big situation, whatever it calls for, I’ll be ready for it.”

More than anything, Biggio’s merely happy to go from one playoff push to another. Toronto’s postseason chances may have taken a significant hit with Tuesday’s defeat to the Yankees. But they’re still alive. Still capable of landing one final, improbable punch at the end of a season of improbabilities. And if asked, Biggio will be ready to play his part in it.

“The past couple of months, it’s been tough. Whether I was here rehabbing, watching the games from the dugout. Or if I was watching from my bed in my hotel room in Buffalo. You can see the energy and the amount of fun that everyone’s having — and there’s a little bit of FOMO there,” Biggio said. “But this means a lot, just to be here, be a part of the team again. I’m just looking forward to contributing any way possible. We’ve got a special team here. And hopefully we can keep it going.”

TORONTO – The scenarios for the American League wild card remain wild heading into the final weekend and the Toronto Blue Jays still have realistic pathways to the post-season, even after losing two of three to the New York Yankees.

To get there, though, they’re going to need some help, as even a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles won’t be enough on its own. The Yankees, at 91-68, are the closest to securing a berth, holding a two-game lead for the first wild card over the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners, who are tied for the second spot at 89-70, with the Blue Jays a game behind them at 88-71.

Boston closes out at the Washington Nationals while Seattle hosts the Los Angeles Angels, so those should be the primary out-of-town focuses for Blue Jays fans this weekend. The Yankees, meanwhile, will hope to clinch against the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays, although they can still miss the playoffs, too.

Here’s what the scenarios look like.

Four-team tie for two wild card spots

This is still possible and, strangely, is actually a good outcome for the Blue Jays if they can’t win a wild card spot outright. For it to happen, the Blue Jays would need to win out, the Yankees would need to lose out, and the Red Sox and Mariners would each need to go 2-1 to finish up 91-71.

The teams’ winning percentage against one another is the first tiebreaker and the Red Sox, at .533, would get first choice of the Team A, B, C or D designation, followed by the Blue Jays at .500 (22-22), the Yankees at .489 (22-23) and the Mariners at .450 (9-11). Team A would then host Team B in one tiebreaker with Team C hosting Team D in the other, with the winners then meeting in the wild card.

The Red Sox, presumably, would host one game as Team A, the Blue Jays the other as Team C and then the Yankees would be left with the intriguing choice of who to play.

Cumulative records for wild card contenders against one another, along with head-to-head records

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Three-team tie for two wild card spots

This can happen a few different ways, both with or without the Blue Jays. If the Yankees go 1-2 while the Red Sox and Mariners go 3-0, they’d all finish 92-70; If the Yankees go 0-3, the Red Sox and Mariners go 2-1 while the Blue Jays go 2-1 or worse, the first thee would all finish 91-71; If the Blue Jays go 3-0, the Yankees go 0-3 and one of the Red Sox or Mariners goes 2-1 and the other does no better than 1-2, the first three would all finish 91-71.

In this scenario, a team’s head-to-head against the others would be weighed first and the club with the best mark selecting to be either Team A, B or C. Next, the club with the better head-to-head mark chooses second. Team A would then host Team B, with the winner advancing to the wild card game and the loser going to play Team C in the second tiebreaker.

The intriguing call is made by the second-place team, choosing between two shots on the road or one at home. Boston, having won the season series against each of the others, is best positioned for this.

Three-team tie for the second wild card spot

This is a more likely tiebreaker to occur, potentially set up by the Blue Jays going 3-0 while the Mariners and Red Sox each go 2-1 to all finish 91-71, although any three of the four clubs could end up in this situation. In this case, the same three-team tiebreak formula as above is used to decide the designation selection order, with Team A hosting Team B, and the winner of that game then hosting Team C to determine the wild card.

Blue Jays win first wild card outright

This is also still in play, incredibly, if the Blue Jays win out, the Yankees lose out and the Mariners and Red Sox go no better than 1-2. In that case, home-field in the wild card game would be determined by season series and the Blue Jays hold the tiebreaker over the Yankees.

Blue Jays win second wild card outright

For this to happen, the Yankees would need to go at least 1-2, the Blue Jays would need to sweep the Orioles while the Mariners and Red Sox could go no better than 1-2. The Blue Jays would then visit New York for the wild card game under this scenario.

Two-team tie for the second wild card

This can happen in several ways, with head-to-head records deciding who hosts a Game 163 and the winner advancing to the wild-card game.

Not only was Thursday’s game against the New York Yankees enormously consequential for the Toronto Blue Jays, it also represented the closing argument for Robbie Ray’s Cy Young case.

It’s safe to say that it didn’t go as planned for the southpaw as he allowed five earned runs on four home runs in a six-inning stint. It was his season high for earned runs allowed.

Ray came into the year as the ultimate wild card, and he’s finishing it as a pitcher his team specifically lined up for a Wild Card Game. He’s been nothing short of spectacular, and from his simplified two-pitch repertoire to his internet-famous pants, he’s put up his eye-popping numbers in style.

The question for the southpaw is whether that will be enough, and the answer to that will depend on how voters feel he compares to Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Although a tortured FIP-based argument could be made for Nathan Eovaldi to factor into the race, the reality is that this is Cole vs. Ray.

So, how do the two stack up?

The WAR war

Although not everyone agrees on which version of WAR is the best, or how much weight the metrics should carry, the reality is that Wins Above Replacement will be the first port of call for many awards voters.

This how it breaks down:

There’s a significant difference between how the two models see Ray — we’ll circle back on that — but there isn’t a big enough advantage for either pitcher to establish a frontrunner on this basis.

Edge: Push

The narrative game

There’s an argument to be made that MLB awards are being given more on merit in recent years than they have in the past — no one is winning a Gold Glove based on just 28 games in the field like Rafael Palmeiro did back in 1999 — but that doesn’t mean voters are immune to a good narrative.

This aspect of the race is somewhat unresolved due to the Blue Jays’ unknown playoff fate, but there are some components that are resolved.

Cole has name recognition and a superior win total in his favour, but he doesn’t have too much more to recommend him. The 31-year-old did much of his best work early in the season, and if the Yankees make the playoffs, which is extraordinarily likely at this point, the perception will be that Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton got them there — not their ace. It doesn’t help Cole’s case that he laid an egg in his biggest start of the season on Wednesday night, and his September ERA sits at 5.13.

Ray, on the other hand, has the underdog story working in his favour considering that disastrous 2020 he had, and if the Blue Jays reach the Wild Card game there will be no doubt they couldn’t have gotten there without him. Even if Toronto misses the playoffs, he probably has more narrative goodwill with the voters — especially considering Cole became a face of the “sticky stuff” controversy earlier in the season.

Edge: Ray

There’s a case to be made for leaving it at that. The total value numbers are relatively similar and Ray bests Cole when things get less tangible. However, there is still a debate to be had between the two and it comes down to the best way to value pitchers.

Fielding-independent numbers

If you think the best way to determine pitcher value is to focus your analysis on strikeouts, walks, and home runs, Ray’s case weakens significantly.

Not only does he have the tendency to get victimized by the long ball, none of his other fielding-independent stats match Cole’s:

This looks a little bit grim for Ray, but it requires some context.

Valuing FIP over ERA has some logic behind it, but it also originates from an era before contact quality statistics were readily available. When a pitcher’s ERA used to be higher or lower than their peripherals would indicate, the assumption tended to be that luck was the primary factor at play. Luck still plays a role that we should acknowledge, but now we have Statcast numbers that give us a precise idea of the quality of contact a pitcher is allowing, making it less wise to ignore balls in play.

That’s exactly what FanGraphs’ version of WAR does, which is why it favours Cole by a solid margin.

Edge: Cole

Run prevention and contact management

The number that those who see Ray as the Cy Young favourite cite the most is ERA, where the southpaw has a significant advantage, beating out Cole 2.84 to 3.23. For many voters that will be an unbridgeable gap. The job of a pitcher is to keep runs off the board and there’s no disputing that Ray has done that better than Cole.

Where things get a little sticky is when you look at how that happened. If we establish that Cole has done better than Ray on fielding-independent measures, that means the Blue Jays ace’s advantage comes when the ball is put into play. However, there’s significant evidence to suggest the ball is hit with more authority off Ray than Cole:

That information leaves you a tough spot for Ray because Cole’s got him beat on strikeouts and walks, suppressing home runs, and managing contact with balls in the play.

Based on that information, you wouldn’t expect Ray to have the better ERA, but he does for two reasons. The first is that he’s been supported by better defence. We don’t think of the Blue Jays as a top-tier defence — and they aren’t — but the Yankees have been brutal in the field this year and Toronto has them beat by 70 runs according to DRS and 11.8 by UZR. That’s a massive difference, but the bottom line is that they’ve been better.

The second factor suppressing Ray’s ERA is his incredible rate of stranding runners. The left-hander has left a MLB-leading 90.1 per cent of runners on base compared to Cole’s 77.9. That’s a tricky stat to parse because Ray deserves some credit for performing better with runners on base, and his strikeout ability plays into that, but there’s also some luck and sequencing as well.

For instance, the left-on-base numbers there might have you believe that Ray has performed far better with runners on than Cole has, but they’ve allowed hitters to produce almost identical lines in those situations:

This category is where voters’ preferences will come into play because there are multiple ways to interpret it.

Edge: Ray (in most voters’ minds)

It’s probably safe to say that Cole has pitched better than Ray this year. It’s also reasonable to assert that Ray has gotten better results. The race between the two is close enough that a vote for either is valid — but Cole’s case is more esoteric while Ray’s seems more likely to resonate with the voters.

From the very beginning, Álvaro Montoya could feel there was something particular about his presence in the hockey world, something special.

It started early on, in Michigan, as his Wolverines won two CCHA titles. It continued with Team USA, when he helped the Americans claim the first world juniors gold in the country’s history. He felt it especially once he graduated to the NHL, during a near-decade that took him through Montreal, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Long Island, Phoenix and Florida.

It wasn’t the titles or the wins or anything else that transpired on the ice, though. It was something more. It was the signs he’d see dotted among the crowd, the shirts with his name scrawled across, that endless love from Hispanic fans that followed him from city to city. It was that feeling he had in June 2004, when the New York Rangers called his name with the sixth pick at the NHL Draft, and in doing so, made him the first-ever Cuban-American NHLer, and the League’s first native Spanish speaker.

The impact of that historic step, and the attention and responsibility it brought, might’ve been overwhelming to other teenagers with big-league dreams. But Montoya never saw it like that.

“I get asked, ‘Did you feel the pressure, or did it weigh on you?’ And the honest truth is it was such an honour,” he says, looking back on it now. That appreciation has only grown with retirement, the time away granting Montoya the chance to see his career from afar. “I go back to when my grandparents and my mother fled Cuba in 1963 from that communist government, you know, left behind everything they knew for future generations, for their grandkids — I really got to see my grandfather’s dream, my grandparents’ dream, come full circle.”

He’ll now look to ensure others get that same chance.

Three years after suiting up for his last NHL game, Montoya is back in the league after being named the Dallas Stars’ director of community outreach, a role that’ll see him help the organization reach out to underrepresented communities in North Texas. It was a long time coming for the 36-year-old, after a couple years spent speaking to different teams gauging who was most willing to help him roll up his sleeves and do the real work, and a career that showed him long ago that this would one day be his calling.

The Dallas Stars are excited to welcome Al Montoya as the Director of Community Outreach!

: https://t.co/3Zj1Tts49h pic.twitter.com/rzcjbInrPq

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) September 9, 2021

Really, the path that led him to this opportunity started in his earliest days at the rink, his own younger years granting him a firsthand understanding of how different life looks for players and fans who come from communities rarely represented in the sport.

“I grew up in kind of two worlds,” he says of those days back in Chicago. “We grew up in a Spanish-dominated household, which was so beautiful. [But] there were times in our life that we didn’t know if that was right, at least personally — I would leave the house at eight years old and be like, ‘Oh, maybe I shouldn’t speak Spanish anymore, because nobody else around me speaks Spanish.’

“Sport really allowed me to develop and navigate these worlds. … It’s sport that really allowed me to express myself when I was confused, whether it was what path should I follow or who should I listen to — I truly believe that sports transcend all that. It’s that universal language.”

It was in Florida that Montoya truly had his eyes opened, his run with the Panthers bringing him the closest he’d ever been to bridging the gap between those two worlds.

“I mean, the Freedom Tower that’s down there [in Miami]… that’s where my grandparents got off the boat, and where their first apartment was, and where my cousins brought my mom and my uncles sandwiches, you know? They still tell the stories to this day,” he says. “Whether it was doing interviews with the Latin community on a weekly radio show, whether it was speaking to Telemundo or Univision, whether it was helping out in the Spanish broadcasting that we were a part of, it was amazing.

“And it wasn’t something that felt forced — it’s something that helped me, selfishly, connect with those that I grew up around. You know, whether it was going to my favourite restaurant, Versailles, at Calle Ocho in Miami, in Little Havana — these were traditions that happened before hockey and that I was able to bring together with hockey.”

While that run in Florida allowed him to bring his hockey career to his community, it made room for the reverse, too — an early preview of the work he’s since devoted himself to.

“It was bringing my madrina — which is a godmother in Spanish — it was bringing her to her first game in South Florida. What does she do? She shows up with pastelitos, which are Cuban pastries from the local bakery that I had been having since I was a kid,” Montoya remembers. “She shows up with 20 people that I hadn’t seen since, you know, 1990 at a Christmas that we celebrated down in Miami.

“It was their first game, and their cousins were able to come. And it was just that chance to really connect and bring the game.”

Montoya representing the Stars at El Súper Clásico. (Courtney Kramer/Dallas Stars)

Growing the sport and its surrounding culture is going to require more of that, Montoya says. More connections, more bridged gaps, more branching out and taking hockey into communities it’s rarely ever engaged with or embraced.

“I think in hockey, we’ve always relied on the fact that this is such a fantastic game, and ‘Come see us soon and you’ll see why,’ right? And I think nowadays, no matter what you’re doing, no matter what industry you’re in, there’s just too many things out there for people to be entertained by,” he says. “I think the best way to do it, to grow hockey, is to go where hockey isn’t. Not rely on the fact that we have the best game on earth, because we know we do, but the best way to go about it and make people feel more included is to go to events or be in touch with communities that aren’t part of the game.”

Montoya’s vision of what’s needed is clear, because he’s been there himself. He’s confronted those early moments of awkwardness that come with mixing the culture at home with the culture at the rink. For him, the way through came from the luck of simply being the best athlete of the kids around him, he says. But that’s not always how the situation shakes out.

“As a minority in sport, why do we have to be so tough to make it through?” Montoya says. “Why aren’t there more minorities in hockey?… I think all of us in these underrepresented communities had to go through some tough periods in our life early on in hockey or whatever sport you’re playing, to bypass it. And there’s a lot of kids that’ll say, ‘If you’re going to treat me like that, I don’t even want to be a part of this sport.’

“So, what I want to do, and what we’re trying to do, is pave the way so now kids have someone to look up to and they can see that maybe their path doesn’t have to be as difficult.”

Letting those kids see the name ‘Montoya’ as part of an NHL front office is a step in itself, he says. The next ones will come slowly and steadily, by putting in the time to bring about legitimate change in the North Texas hockey community. Maybe not tomorrow, or the week or month after that, but some time down the line.

“You know, we’re going to be at the front of these things now. We’re going to be seeing what’s important — we’ve built a relationship with the Mexican consulate here to understand where we should be,” Montoya says of his plans with the Stars. “I think building these relationships with business owners in the community, and aligning ourselves with them, will help show what we’re doing is honest work. And not only that, we want to be consistent. I think having me here, I’ll make sure that we’re consistent and it’s not just a flash in the pan, and I think that’s the best way to make a difference.

“You’re really trying to build up for the long term and make it something that feels genuine. I feel like we’re starting pretty close to the ground level and the only way is to go up. So, the best way to do that is being consistent, and going to the people.”

VSCO is a popular photography app for both Android and iOS, known for stunning filters and effects. Today we’re featuring a selection of VSCO Lightroom presets, inspired by the VSCO app, to help you achieve similar results with greater power and flexibility.

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12 Free VSCO Lightroom Presets

This bundle includes 12 unique and free Lightroom presets featuring professional-quality effects inspired by VSCO filters. The presets in this pack are designed for different types of photos from outdoor landscape photos to portrait photos, nature photography, and more.

Free VSCO Film Lightroom Preset

Want to create the same film effect in Lightroom, then use this free preset. It features a beautiful film-like effect inspired by VSCO that makes your photos look like they were shot with a DSLR. The effect works with Lightroom 4 and higher.

Faded VSCO Look Lightroom Presets

Add a faded look to your photos using this bundle of Lightroom presets. It comes with 20 different variations of the effect to match different types of photos. This bundle is a must-have for improving outdoor and portrait photography.

50 Free Spirit Lightroom Presets

With this bundle you get 50 different Lightroom presets featuring VSCO-like effects. It includes film-like presets, retro effects, toning filters, and more. All of which are specially made for travel and outdoor photography. The presets also works with both mobile and desktop versions of the app.

Moody VSCO Effect Lightroom Presets

Looking for a portrait filter to add a moody tone to your photos? Then this pack of Lightroom presets will come in handy. It includes 15 unique presets featuring moody effects for adjusting the tone of your portrait photos. It’ll work with photos taken in various lighting conditions as well.

Orange and Teal Lightroom Presets

Using this preset you can make your photos look more vibrant and colorful. The preset is designed inspired by the popular orange and teal effect. The filter is available in 8 different variations and it works with mobile and desktop versions of Lightroom.

10 Glamour Pro Lightroom Presets

With 10 unique Lightroom presets specifically made for improving fashion photography and photoshoots, you can use this pack to optimize your portrait photos to look like pages from a fashion magazine. Each preset is fully customizable and creates non-destructive effects as well.

50 Cotton Candy Lightroom Presets

Adding pastel color effects is one of the most popular ways of making even most boring photos look more vibrant and colorful. This bundle comes with 50 different presets designed to help you achieve that goal. It includes various color-themed presets to match different types of outdoor and landscape photography.

Free Vintage Lightroom Preset

Looking for a simple preset to add a vintage and classic look to your photos? Then this free Lightroom preset will help. It features a subtle effect that adds a vintage and retro look and feel to your photos.

Free Landscape Lightroom Preset

This free preset is designed for enhancing and improving your landscape and outdoor photos. It’s perfect for nature photography and travel photographers. It works with both Lightroom desktop and mobile versions as well.

Sensation Matte Filters Lightroom Presets

Sensation matte is a collection of filters that allows you to add a warm and gloomy effect to your photos to make them look more attractive. It includes 11 unique Lightroom presets you can apply with just one click and also lets you adjust the effect to your preference.

Pro HDR Filters Collection Lightroom Presets

If you’ve ever wanted to give your photos a professional HDR look, like the ones you see on Instagram photography pages, this bundle of Lightroom presets is for you. It includes 11 Lightroom presets that will allow you to instantly create and apply an authentic HDR effect to your photos.

Sweet Tones Mobile & Desktop Lightroom Presets

Adding pastel color tones to photos is a popular trend used in feminine, fashion, and wedding photography. This is a collection of Lightroom presets that allow you to create that same effect to beautify your own photos.

Fairytale Mobile & Desktop Lightroom Presets

The presets in this pack will allow you to transform your photos by making them look like a still out of a fantasy movie. The bundle comes with 11 easily customizable Lightroom filters which you can use with both Lightroom desktop and mobile apps.

Couple Goals – VSCO Lightroom Presets

This is a collection of Lightroom presets made for portrait photos, especially for outdoor photos. The pack features Lightroom presets that works with desktop and mobile Lightroom apps as well as a CameraRaw action file for Photoshop as well.

Vogue – Fashion Filters Lightroom Presets

Make your fashion and lifestyle photos look more amazing with this set of VSCO-style Lightroom filters. This collection includes 11 different Lightroom presets with various styles of effects that work with Lightroom 4 and higher.

Free Lightroom Presets for Portraits

A set of 10 unique Lightroom presets designed for optimizing portrait photos. This pack includes various effects and filters you can easily apply to your photos with just a few clicks.

Movie Effect Lightroom Presets

This collection of Lightroom presets comes with 11 creative filters featuring effects inspired by movies. These filters will help give a cinematic look to your photos and make them stand out from the crowd.

Cool Blue Effects Lightroom Presets

This amazing Lightroom preset creates a cool blue toning effect to give a cool look and feel to your photos, way better than VSCO. It includes 10 different styles of cool toning effects that you can also adjust to your preference.

Pastel Tones Lightroom Presets

Another collection of Lightroom presets featuring pastel toning effects. This pack comes with 50 different effects that work with various types of photos, including outdoor, portrait, low-light, and landscape photos.

Sepia Collection Lightroom Presets

If you’re looking for a filter to create a stylish and professional sepia effect, this bundle of Lightroom presets is for you. It includes 15 different Lightroom filters featuring various styles of sepia effects.

VSCO Cam 50 Lightroom Presets

This bundle of Lightroom presets will give you plenty of options to play around with to improve and enhance your photos. It comes with 50 different Lightroom presets inspired by VSCO filters with various styles and effects. The presets support all types of images, including JPG and RAW and includes smart adjustments for customizing the effects to your preference.

Free Fantasy Mobile & Desktop Lightroom Preset

Similar to the film effects in VSCO, this free preset will also allow you to add a unique fantasy film-like look and feel to your ordinary photos. The preset works well with portrait photos.

Free Night Life Mobile & Desktop Lightroom Preset

This free Lightroom preset is perfect for improving night-time photography, especially ones you take outdoors and urban street areas. The preset is easily editable and works with both mobile and desktop versions of Lightroom.

12 Pro Matte VSCO Lightroom Presets

This pack includes a set of unique matte effects based on popular VSCO filters. These Lightroom presets feature a faded matte effect with color correction. They will instantly turn your ordinary photos into a professional work of art. The bundle includes 12 different presets that works with Lightroom 3 or better.

29 Pro iPhonography Presets

This is a collection of Lightroom presets made specifically for smartphone photographers and enthusiasts. It comes with 29 professionally quality Lightroom presets optimized for enhancing and improving the photos taken with a smartphone, especially for iPhones.

18 Pro Tilt-Shift Presets

This is a collection of professional Lightroom presets designed to give a unique Tilt-shift photography effect to your photos. This effect is usually done with the help of an expensive Tilt-shift lens that goes in an expensive DSLR. But, with this set of presets, you can give that same effect to your smartphone photos for much cheaper.

19 Lifestyle Film Lightroom Presets & Camera Raw

A collection of 19 different Lightroom presets designed for your everyday photos. This bundle comes with various styles of Lightroom presets with unique effects to make your lifestyle photos look more professional. The presets works with just one-click and includes smart adjustments for advanced users as well.

40 Traveller Lightroom Profiles and LUTs

This is a collection of Lightroom presets made for travelers and outdoor photographers. You can use these presets to instantly give a professional look to your smartphone photos and selfies before uploading them to social media. The collection includes 40 different effects featuring skin tone protection and color correction.

Street Photography VSCO Lightroom Presets

If you’re most likely to take a lot of photos on the road and the streets, this bundle of Lightroom presets will come in handy. It includes 13 easy to use one-click Lightroom presets that are designed to make your street photography look absolutely stunning. It includes a mix of film, night, and black and white filter effects as well.

Urban Desaturated VSCO Lightroom Presets

This collection of Lightroom presets are designed for improving your urban photography. It comes with 20 different presets that will give a stylish desaturated and contrasted look to your photos. The presets are easily customizable and works with JPG, PSD, RAW, and more formats. You can use them with Lightroom 4 or better.

UltraPOP VSCO Lightroom Presets

The Lightroom presets in this bundle are quite similar to the colorful effects you see in the VSCO filters. This collection includes 20 unique Lightroom presets that comes with effects and adjustments that will bring out the colors in your photos. They will work with Lightroom 4 or better.

Matte Fashion VSCO Lightroom Presets

This is a collection of Lightroom presets that comes with a special set of effects for improving fashion style photography. The presets include a faded matte effect that makes your fashion photos look more professional and natural. These effects are perfect for Instagram users and fashion bloggers.

Deeptone Lightroom Presets

A set of toning presets for enhancing your smartphone photos. This collection includes 8 unique Lightroom presets featuring cold, matte, warm, and other toning effects for improving your photos. The presets are perfect for selfies, portraits, and lifestyle photography.

Sunflower VSCO Lightroom Presets

This is a collection of VSCO inspired Lightroom presets that comes with 6 unique presets for achieving the perfect sunny look in your outdoor photos and portraits. The presets will also work with nature and landscape photography as well. They are compatible with Lightroom 4 and above.

Artistic VSCO Lightroom Presets

If you’re looking for presets with effects that give your photos a unique artistic look, you’ll want to download this bundle of Lightroom presets. It comes with 50 professionally crafted Lightroom presets that includes various effects, retouching, color enhancement presets, and much more. The presets work with JPG and RAW files as well.

Nature VSCO Lightroom Presets

The presets in this pack are designed for improving and enhancing your nature photography. It comes with 10 unique Lightroom presets that will make your nature photos look more natural and professional. As a bonus, it also includes 12 nature stock photos for you to test the effects. You’ll need Lightroom CC to use these presets.

HDR PRO Lightroom Presets

This collection of Lightroom presets will help you achieve that stylish HDR effect with your photos with just a few clicks. The bundle includes 10 unique presets that works with different types of photos to give them a natural and professional looking HDR effect.

UltraFaded Lightroom Presets

A set of Lightroom presets featuring 30 unique effects that will help make your ordinary photos look more beautiful. The presets in this pack are designed to give a naturally faded color look. It will come in handy for improving your outdoor photos, selfies, and family photos.

Bjorndale Rustic Lightroom Presets

The Lightroom presets in this bundle feature a unique rustic toning effect that will give a unique look to your photos. It includes 3 original presets for toning and 15 variation presets for adjusting lighting in different types of photos.

Gold Tones Lightroom Presets

This Gold & Lightroom Preset is designed to create a catchy and sharp look that stands out from the rest, creating a unique smooth style, focusing on different shades. Good for low-light photos with dark Dark-Green tones.

Editorial Lightroom Presets

Editorial & Magazine Lightroom Presets is a collection of 30 professional Lightroom Presets perfect for photographers and graphic designers. They have been created with precise calibration adjustments and clean arrangements to bring your images to life. Apply them to achieve a silky smooth, polished magazine-style look.

Child Portrait Lightroom Presets

This Pack of 15 x presets will take your images to the next level. Go from amateur to pro at a click of a button. Rather than edit each photo from scratch, you can spend your time on the fine-tuning part of the editing process.

Globe Traveling Lightroom Presets

These 10 presets are designed specifically for bloggers who don’t want to spend hours editing. We’ve tried to make your editing process easy and quick.

5 Tips for Getting the VSCO Effect

Using presets is the easiest way to create VSCO inspired effects in Lightroom. But, if you like experimenting with new styles, you can do so using these tips.

1. Play Around with Temperature and Tint

The Tint and Temp adjustments in the Develop tab are two of the best adjustments you can play around with to create beautiful effects. While the temperature tab allows you to adjust and add a warm toning effect to your photos you can also use the tint adjustment to add an effect that looks like a subtle color overlay filter. You’ll have so much fun experimenting with these two adjustments.

2. Use the Tone Curve Tool

If you’re thinking about giving a faded look to your photos with washed-out colors, you can use a simple adjustment tool in Lightroom to create that effect within a few seconds.

To add a faded effect to your photo, open the Tone Curve panel in the Develop tab. Then simply click on the bottom point of the tone curve tool and drag it up until you have the faded look you want.

3. Get Familiar with the Detail Tab

The Detail tab of Lightroom is another important toolset that allows you to optimize your photos for various effects. For example, by adjusting the sharpening in your photos you can either create an HDR-like effect by increasing the sharpness or create a vintage look by decreasing it.

The Detail tab includes many other adjustments you can experiment with to create various VSCO-style effects. Be sure to familiarize yourself with all of them.

4. Don’t Forget the Effects Panel

Yes, there’s actually an effects panel in Lightroom that allows you to make film-like filters and effects. But, this adjustment panel is not exactly what it sounds like.

While you can use the Effects panel to add basic filters like film grain and vignetting you still need to combine these filters with the rest of the adjustment panels and tools to create a truly VSCO-like effect.

5. Customize the Presets

As you can see, creating a VSCO effect in Lightroom is all about experimenting and combining various adjustments until you have a professional-quality effect. And it’s not always easy to create them.

An easy workaround to this process is to install a preset and then customizing it. This way, you get to see which adjustments the preset use and learn from them. You can also customize the adjustments to make your own custom effects as well.

Check out our best Lightroom wedding presets and Lightroom portrait presets for more effects.