playing with NIk silver effects 2

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi all,

Ive been playing with all the software ive got and decided to have a go with nik silver effects i dont have many image here to play with this was taken last time i was home. below is the original OOC followed by nik what do you think?

[Shadowman]

Mark,

Interested treatment, but somehow prefer the original. Perhaps if the effect were applied to the foreground grass only...

[Mark von Kanel]

Mark,

Interested treatment, but somehow prefer the original. Perhaps if the effect were applied to the foreground grass only...

John i picked the most boring, bad image i could find how could you possibly prefer it over my masterpiece of pp ahh well no accounting for taste

Well i wanted to learn how to use my software so i thought id have a go, i couldnt achieve anything in LR and i dont think nik is capable of such selective adjustments (well it probably is but im not sure how, maybe someone will tell me) so i pushed it over to PS and for the first time i used layers!! Now im really chuffed with myself (not the image) i did a rough selection cut out the sky on a separate layer, imported the grass into nik and processed, exported back to PS and there it was... I was stunned..... im still patting myself on the back now

so here it is my first ever composite!

TADAAAA!



go on then set me another challenge

[Mike Buckley]

Congratulations on a very nice revision, Mark.

Your next challenge (remember that you asked for one ) is to crop the sky about by half and to darken the bright sun some more. Doing both will place more emphasis on the subject, which for me is the area of the ground that has no grass. You could even brighten that area just a bit to ensure that our eye is attracted to it.

The control points in SilverEfex Pro can be used to to make the selection required in this image. However, doing so will require getting used to how to use them, as the masking required in this photo is about as difficult as it becomes when using them. If you find using the masking ability of Photoshop is easier or more intuitive in this particular situation, you're probably better off not bothering with learning how to make SEP2's control points work in such a difficult example.

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for taking the time to comment, and help me improve my PP skills, i will tackle the mask in Nik tomorrow. i have adjusted the sun in camera raw and lightened the path up as well and ill attempt both of these in NIk as well. The sun was quite difficult, probably because its blown out and there was no detail to darken, so i found i quickly ended up with a black blob rather than the sun

When i used PS to make the selection i used the colour selection tool which did an ok job but it was dirty, and so ive got what looks like a halo along the top of the grasses, which in fact were selected with the sky and so not processed by NIk... so i need to improve my selections as well.

so heres your suggestion, i wasnt convinced about your crop idea but it does work

[dabhand]

............ i dont think nik is capable of such selective adjustments (well it probably is but im not sure how, maybe someone will tell me)..........

go on then set me another challenge

Mark - try doing it by following this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hNAXpshWks , the guy may not be the most dynamic tutor but stick with it. ( Black and White Photography Workflow Tutorial with Silver Effects Pro 2)

steve

[dabhand]

............ i dont think nik is capable of such selective adjustments (well it probably is but im not sure how, maybe someone will tell me)..........

go on then set me another challenge

Mark - try doing it by following this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hNAXpshWks , the guy may not be the most dynamic tutor but stick with it. ( Black and White Photography Workflow Tutorial with Silver Effects Pro 2)

steve

[Shadowman]

John i picked the most boring, bad image i could find how could you possibly prefer it over my masterpiece of pp ahh well no accounting for taste

Well i wanted to learn how to use my software so i thought id have a go, i couldnt achieve anything in LR and i dont think nik is capable of such selective adjustments (well it probably is but im not sure how, maybe someone will tell me) so i pushed it over to PS and for the first time i used layers!! Now im really chuffed with myself (not the image) i did a rough selection cut out the sky on a separate layer, imported the grass into nik and processed, exported back to PS and there it was... I was stunned..... im still patting myself on the back now

so here it is my first ever composite!

TADAAAA!



go on then set me another challenge

As Mike said, the control points can be used to fine tune your "lovely" conversion, it took me about ten tutorials before I figured out you could do that.

[Mike Buckley]

The last version works really well for me.

[Mark von Kanel]

thanks steve ill watch the vid first and then have a go.

[Brownbear]

Hi Mark,

Just to say that I absolutely adore the 1st version. Simply personal preference (no knowledge of b&w images) simply because I love all the detail (clouds) in the beautiful sky.

[Mark von Kanel]

Thanks Christine, yes I did prefer my origional conversion, but I actually like the lates crop as well as other sugestions made so ill continue to play with it

Its all interesting stuff and im learning loads.

[Brownbear]

Hi Mark,

Just to say I like the crop, too. (I like both) But I just love the clouds in the 1st image. And I'm learning from reading your posts. Thank you for sharing.

[Manfred M]

Number 2 for me Mark; but that has a lot to do with the processing that the Silver Efex did to the image. I suspect that you could probably bring out similar details in the coloured version, and then I would end up changing my mind on which image I prefer.

I probably do 80% - 90% of my B&W conversions with Silver Efex as well; with the other 10% - 20% being either straight conversions or using the B&W films in DxO FilmPack 4. I generally get the image looking the way I want it in colour before doing the B&W conversion; for instance I would have definitely cracked up the blues and aquas to bring out the sky as well as working to give the grasses more "pop".

B&W conversion is usually one of my last steps; although I do have to admit that sometimes I will go there right away and polish the image after conversion.

Regardless, nice shot...

[IzzieK]

I prefer the coloured version too, Mark though your second version of the B/W is much better than the first one. I use Silver Efex too if I remember I have it, otherwise I use Photoshop most of the time.

[Loose Canon]

Hi Mark,

Fun stuff with the software!

Just wanted to say that I think your SEP version (#2) rocks this particular series.

The one thing I would probably look at is handing it back to PS and then eliminating those dark blotches in the sky in that version. Easy and quick.

Another thing on location is that with the cloud cover being what it is maybe a shot stopped way down (providing of course no wind and conditions are good) around f/22 or more might have given the sun a “sunburst” effect behind those clouds. Maybe not but surely worth a try.

While on site just something to play with exposing for the sky. Then as long as you are looking at possible comping you might have another choice for the sky. If you look at taking brackets the wind might not be an issue when shooting just for the sky and sunburst effect.

[Mark von Kanel]

Number 2 for me Mark; but that has a lot to do with the processing that the Silver Efex did to the image. I suspect that you could probably bring out similar details in the coloured version, and then I would end up changing my mind on which image I prefer.

I probably do 80% - 90% of my B&W conversions with Silver Efex as well; with the other 10% - 20% being either straight conversions or using the B&W films in DxO FilmPack 4. I generally get the image looking the way I want it in colour before doing the B&W conversion; for instance I would have definitely cracked up the blues and aquas to bring out the sky as well as working to give the grasses more "pop".

B&W conversion is usually one of my last steps; although I do have to admit that sometimes I will go there right away and polish the image after conversion.

Regardless, nice shot...

Thanks Manfred ill try the colour version later. im not quite sure how to go about it so ill have to experiment.

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi Mark,

Fun stuff with the software!

Just wanted to say that I think your SEP version (#2) rocks this particular series.

The one thing I would probably look at is handing it back to PS and then eliminating those dark blotches in the sky in that version. Easy and quick.

Another thing on location is that with the cloud cover being what it is maybe a shot stopped way down (providing of course no wind and conditions are good) around f/22 or more might have given the sun a “sunburst” effect behind those clouds. Maybe not but surely worth a try.

While on site just something to play with exposing for the sky. Then as long as you are looking at possible comping you might have another choice for the sky. If you look at taking brackets the wind might not be an issue when shooting just for the sky and sunburst effect.

Thanks Terry.

All great suggestions and ill give them a go unfortunately it wasnt a togging day and i had no tripod..... the lady looked resigned when i picked up my camera so i tried not to keep her to long whenever possible!

[Mark von Kanel]

I prefer the coloured version too, Mark though your second version of the B/W is much better than the first one. I use Silver Efex too if I remember I have it, otherwise I use Photoshop most of the time.

Thanks for you comments Izzie, im going to have a go at the colour version tonight... its funny though as i said to John, i picked this image because i think it awful OOC!
its great to have other people open my eyes to the possibilities that i would otherwise discount.

[Mark von Kanel]

Izzie, John & Manfred,

a quick tea break version of the colour done in LR, needs more to make it work for me but im not quite sure what!