rodders Posted March 1, 2012 Share #1 Posted March 1, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Very new to photography but have aperture on my mac. Considering Silver Efex Pro 2. Any thoughts about this or other alternative. Prefer plug-in for aperture. Thanks, Rod. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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wda Posted March 1, 2012 Share #2 Posted March 1, 2012 Rod, welcome to the forum! Although I can't help you directly, because I use Lightroom on a PC, I have faced a similar dilemma and plan to look more closely at Focus on Imaging next week. Meanwhile, I have been exploring using LR processing and can obtain quite good-looking mono versions from my Raw files. Aperture should have similar controls. This is really a question for the Digital Post Processing Forum where you might gainfully search for past discussions. (The forum is a sub-forum under Digital). In addition, it is worth Googling for tutorials. Certainly the Adobe site has useful guidance. Silver Efex Pro 2 essentially is mildly automated steps which can be done, possibly less intuitively, in your existing software. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted March 1, 2012 Share #3 Posted March 1, 2012 'Black + White Photography' magazine recently did a review of all the plugins available and Silver Efex Pro came out on top. I use it with CS5. It does things that would take hours working with Layers and Masks in CS5 and makes it easy and straightforward. There are loads of presets to give you some ideas and good starting points, and you can create your own as well. It is worth looking at the short video tutorials about its features on the Nik web site. It is just as useful in converting a digital file to B&W as it is used for fine tuning a scanned negative. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 1, 2012 Share #4 Posted March 1, 2012 I use Alienskin Exposure, but I think you'd be happy with either that or Silver Efex. Exposure also emulates colour films. Like Silver Efex as well as supporting a wide number of presets it's also possible to create your own, or modify the ones that are shipped with the plugin. Both have trial versions available, why not try both and see which you prefer? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Allsopp Posted March 1, 2012 Share #5 Posted March 1, 2012 Silver Efex pro is good but you can do wonders just with Photoshop. I rarely use NIK SFX now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted March 1, 2012 Share #6 Posted March 1, 2012 Silver Efex pro is good but you can do wonders just with Photoshop. Ditto with LR. And choice of papers, custom profiles, printer, inks and myriad variations on settings and controls allow more flexibility and efficiency than was possible in my darkrooms. There are many good products available today. More will be gained on becoming expert at any one of them than switching around looking for the holy grail IMO. Each product gets better with every iteration. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanyasi Posted March 1, 2012 Share #7 Posted March 1, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I like SilverEffects. It is easy to use and intuitive. I use it with Lightroom. The prepackaged templates are very useful. You can see somewhere around 20 B&W conversions that use standard film processing techniques. When you find a look that you like, you can then make manual adjustments to refine it. I've learned a lot from those templates. I now use four or five of them as starting points. You undoubtedly can achieve everything in Photoshop, but I find LR to be a great starting point. If you do go with SilverEffects, I suggest you take a look at al the Nik products--about five or six now. Don't take these numbers as the gospel, but one program is about $200 and the entire suite is in the $400 range. So if you think some of the other programs might be useful, you can get the whole package with great economies of scale. Best Jack Siegel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richfx Posted March 1, 2012 Share #8 Posted March 1, 2012 I have found NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 to be an excellent plug in to Aperture 3.2.2. It is very robust and user friendly. Highly recommended. Rich Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilhelmR Posted March 1, 2012 Share #9 Posted March 1, 2012 I'm just reading Michael Freeman's 'The complete Guide to Black & White digital Photography' He shows in many examples how to master tones etc. Very helpful when you are interested in YOUR results (and not in presets). Wilhelm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted March 1, 2012 Share #10 Posted March 1, 2012 Wilhelm, I agree. In my case I was inspired by my 'Christmas' book called Vision & Voice by david Duchemin. He gives a step-by-step example of converting a mountain scene in LR to black and white. You can download his Raw file and try his technique on his file yourself. I have adopted his approach and am overjoyed with the quality of results I am obtaining. Some may see pre-sets as a convenient short-cut. I have in the past. But once you understand the controls available to you in LR or similar software, there is no limit to the possible outcomes, limited only by your imagination.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted March 1, 2012 Share #11 Posted March 1, 2012 Some may see pre-sets as a convenient short-cut...(snip)....But once you understand the controls available to you in LR or similar software, there is no limit to the possible outcomes, limited only by your imagination.. Ditto. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted March 1, 2012 Share #12 Posted March 1, 2012 I'm just reading Michael Freeman's 'The complete Guide to Black & White digital Photography' He shows in many examples how to master tones etc. Very helpful when you are interested in YOUR results (and not in presets). Wilhelm Lets not get so far away from reality by thinking that a preset isn't your choice, or indeed just a jumping off point. In our own little rooms where we do our digital photography, usually with nobody around us, it is often a good thing to have an instantly available contra view, like a dumb critique saying 'yes but what if you did this!'. There are an infinite number of adjustments in modern software, and only a miniscule number of options pre-packaged as presets, but even so its not worth throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdb Posted March 1, 2012 Share #13 Posted March 1, 2012 Not generally a fan of plug ins, most all can be done with photoshop. But if you want to emulate film don't forget dxo film pack. Neopan is so good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share #14 Posted March 2, 2012 Thanks for the responses, appreciate the advice. I was lucky enough to get an entire version of photoshop from a bloke who worked at Adobe for free (actually, cost me an old golf club but that is another story!). Truth is, apart from my wife doing the web page for my business and some other things, it hardly gets used. I'm a MAC boy and have used aperture up to its current version. I don't have the time unfortunately to spend learning all the techniques necessary to produce the amazing pics I see on here from some people. Just using aperture I was pretty happy with my X1 i just bought. The images it produced out classed anything I had done with my 5D. I really appreciate the quality, albeit at a quality price. Last night I downloaded the NIk demo and was simply blown away. Using the comparison slide I could see how crap the image I took was to the presets, with my own adjustments thrown in for good measure. My wife is a teacher, so for under $100 we got it. I'm happy and I think that is the real test. Thanks again for the advice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnwolf Posted March 2, 2012 Share #15 Posted March 2, 2012 One of the main benefits of the BW plug-ins, especially for someone without a darkroom background, is that you'll get exposure to many different approaches to BW processing. Not just the film effects, but different keys, contrast levels, filter effects, etc. Even pinhole, sepia, push/pull, and others. It's a pretty good education in BW history that's likely to give you some fresh ideas for your own work. That said, since reading Thorsten's recent article, I'm starting to use Silver Efex less and less. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHAG Posted March 22, 2012 Share #16 Posted March 22, 2012 That said, since reading Thorsten's recent article, I'm starting to use Silver Efex less and less. John Agreed, that said, local adjustments in Silver Efex allow much. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted March 23, 2012 Share #17 Posted March 23, 2012 One of the main benefits of the BW plug-ins, especially for someone without a darkroom background, is that you'll get exposure to many different approaches to BW processing. Not just the film effects, but different keys, contrast levels, filter effects, etc. Even pinhole, sepia, push/pull, and others. It's a pretty good education in BW history that's likely to give you some fresh ideas for your own work. For that education, one is immensely better off going to a few museum or gallery shows, or even looking at well printed books. The simulated versions pale in comparison to the real thing. Just as any screen shot pales in comparison to a fine print, which needs to be seen to understand the end product goal. Looking at other art, paintings and such, is equally beneficial for educating the eye and fostering creativity. IMHO. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted March 23, 2012 Share #18 Posted March 23, 2012 It is all very well going to the museum, but very frustrating for people who do that and have no idea how they can get close to achieving those results when they get home. The best education is a balance between the intellectual and the practical, and if a Photoshop plugin gives a clue it beats hours of standing in front of a Cartier Bresson print scratching your head. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted March 23, 2012 Share #19 Posted March 23, 2012 Different strokes. I've always found the best learning occurs when I try something and experiment for myself, one step at a time. What happens when I do this, what happens when I do that? I don't rely on my camera to render a picture a certain automated way (sunset mode, etc) for the same reason I wouldn't do so in PP. The picture is in my head, helpfully informed by many methods of educating my eye. The rest is up to me to bring that thought to life. The easy part is the technical part. Anyone can quickly learn to use PP controls. The hard part is having good judgment, a good eye, to determine when and to what extent to do something in the first place. And that comes from lots of experience looking and learning to see. The same approach that worked for me in the film world, i.e., one paper at a time, one developer at a time, one film at a time...and then in the darkroom, one step at a time....has its counterpart in the digital world. I would get no pleasure, nor as much learning, from having something magically appear. No thanks. YMMV. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted March 24, 2012 Share #20 Posted March 24, 2012 I agree that just having a go is a good idea. But there is only a certain level novices can get to by those means, and I would rather they win a medal for the image, not for the fight with Photoshop. There is nothing easy about replicating the amount of work Silver Efex can do for you. It would mean juggling with many Layers and Masks if applied directly to Photoshop. Some of the options would take even greater skill, like making your own Tri-X grain. On the other hand it is easy to simply do some dodging and burning and Curve adjustments etc and sometimes that is all that is needed. But the photographer still needs to make a personnal choice in either case. The presets in Silver Efex are only an option, and each then has an infinite number of ways to alter it, not really much different from choosing a film for its characteristics and then altering the development to your tastes. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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