Abandoned building. Rame Peninsula, Cornwall

[kernowbhoy]

[mknittle]

resembles a pencil drawing. I like the look Andy

[Shadowman]

Nice composition.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Andy,

Not sure if the lightening at the top of the gable end is due to the vignette, but I think it detracts (up there).
If mine, I might try to exclude (or reduce) that, or burn so the surfaces are darker.

Good composition and the pale vignette does fit the 'olde worlde' look of the building.

Cheers, Dave

[bnnrcn]

Very nice Andy

[bje07]

Nice picture.

[John 2]

I like this Andy. Works well with the sepia/antique treatment but I do agree with Dave, needs the vignette applying with a tad more care.

[Manfred M]

Andy - nice shot, but it looks like a use of the Nik Collection Silver Efex Pro 2 Antique Plate 2 filter. It give you a nice effect, but I find it can be rather heavy handed when you stick with the default settings. and suspect this is what you did here.

Don't be afraid to move the sliders around a bit or to do the B&W version by hand, rather than using a plug in.

[madcrow]

Nicely done, good image.

[Tronhard]

This truly to me puts the graphic back into photographic art. I think this one of the most effective conversions I have seen. Cudos galore from me!

[Mike Buckley]

Wonderful in every aspect. Special kudos for the toning and the negative vignette. This would make an ideal general-purpose note card.

[Dave A]

Very nicely done.

Dave

[Jim A]

I love the treatment, Andy - very effective ! Now by habit and practice, I normally suggest ways of improvement, however in this instance I have none.

[Donald]

Don't be afraid to move the sliders around a bit or to do the B&W version by hand, rather than using a plug in.

I'm not sure that you can say that using SEP is NOT doing it by hand. It is a complex tool that requires a good understanding in order to use it properly. Suggesting that it's not doing it 'by hand' and that it is some sort of automated process, is not quite accurate.

[Manfred M]

I'm not sure that you can say that using SEP is NOT doing it by hand. It is a complex tool that requires a good understanding in order to use it properly. Suggesting that it's not doing it 'by hand' and that it is some sort of automated process, is not quite accurate.

Carefully said, Donald, I don't think I said quite that. I suggested that one needs to get beyond just using the default settings in Silver Efex Pro (SEP) and play with the various sliders in that software precisely for the reason that you have mentioned - to learn what the tool does. In fact, the various presets presented by SWP are nothing more than that very specific options that can be created with that software.

I was also trying to point out that SEP is not the only way to do B&W conversions. In fact I had been doing B&W work for quite a few years before some of the plugins hit the market, and those tools are in many ways more sophisticated and can give me superior results versus what I can accomplish using SEP, although it will take me more time and effort, unless I happen to turn things into an Action. As an example, SEP effects are linear (a limitation of sliders), but if I do some of them in Photoshop, I can use curves applied to individual colour channels to get some of these effects.

The other advantage I have by using Photoshop, I can use layer masks to tweak how I apply some of the effects. One comment (#4 by Dave Humphries) suggests that the vignette has possibly lightened the gable. If I use a layer mask to create a vignette (an approach I often use), I can strengthen or weaken the effect of the vignette in places, as required, to avoid this issue. I don't see a simple way of doing this in SEP. This is where the "doing it by hand" thought comes from - the fine control that I cannot get from SEP.

Nicely said, SEP has all of the limitations of a parametric editor, so I cannot get the fine control offered by tools I use in Photoshop - Smart Objects or the power of layers (Blending Modes, Layer Masks, Clipping Masks or Layer Styles) or the strength of a none-destructive workflow.

I don't needed this level of sophistication all the time. When I don't I will turn to tools B&W conversion tools like SEP or DxO Labs Film Pack 5, but when I do I will either do the B&W conversions manually (which is really what I mean when I suggest doing them "by hand") or I will use a hybrid workflow where I incorporate the B&W conversion via Smart Objects with these outside plugins and use the output in a Photoshop layer.

[Mike Buckley]

As for the presets, though I have rarely used Silver Efex Pro, I'm familiar with it enough to know that it's easy enough to use that I've never used a preset other than that, if I understand correctly, the program forces you to use at least one preset such as the "Neutral" preset at least as a point of departure. That is to say that at least for me I can customize every setting rather intuitively, which is always my preference regardless of the program I'm using.

I can strengthen or weaken the effect of the vignette in places, as required, to avoid this issue. I don't see a simple way of doing this in SEP.

It's like anything else in life in the sense that if it's easy for someone it's not necessarily easy for someone else. It's easy for me to do that but that's probably because I've been using control points to make and fine tune masks long before Nik released its plugins that use them.

[Manfred M]

It's like anything else in life in the sense that if it's easy for someone it's not necessarily easy for someone else.

Totally agree Mike. It's much like having decades of experience driving a car and then going someplace where driving on the other side of the road and many of the skills you have acquired and use automatically all of a sudden need to be "relearned", yet everyone that seems to be on the road with you is doing just fine.

It's easy for me to do that but that's probably because I've been using control points to make and fine tune masks long before Nik released its plugins that use them.

Control points are fine for some adjustments, but I find for others, I find the level of control is too crude. If one is using Lightroom and does not have layers to work with, then these are really the only option one has to deal with how the effect is applied. On the other hand, if one deals with software that supports layers, then there are a lot more options available.

Because I use the Nik Collection with Photoshop, I have the flexibility to use the output with a variety of tools that are far more powerful and far more precise than control points, so that tends to be the direction I go in. I can apply a layer mask far more quickly and precisely than I can control points.

[GrahamS]

Bravo, Andy.

[Wavelength]

So beautifully worked; just an eye catcher!!!