Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 software first try

[neways]

Comments and critiques are welcome!

John

[louoates]

Good first try. You will find it essential for this kind of image. I use Nic exclusively for all my b/w conversions.

[luxborealis]

Not sure what Nik Silver Efex brings to the table for this or any other black and white that can't be done with thorough use of, for e.g., LR, especially with tone mapping in LR4. Can someone fill me in with some before and afters?

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Not sure what Nik Silver Efex brings to the table for this or any other black and white that can't be done with thorough use of, for e.g., LR, especially with tone mapping in LR4. Can someone fill me in with some before and afters?

That's my take on it as well. I have Silver Efex Pro 2, which I found rather tricky to use. Once I learned how to do conversions in LR I never turned back. I find the LR controls very intuitive and powerful.

Eric

[Jeremy Roussak]

Good first try. You will find it essential for this kind of image. I use Nic exclusively for all my b/w conversions.

How can you make that comment without having seen the original? What features of the Nik software, which are not available elsewhere, do you think have been used in the conversion?

It's a lovely shot, anyway.

Jeremy

[Kerry L]

Regardless of the software used or your processing techniques, it's a nicely done B&W rendition.

Aesthetically, I would like to see a lower angle. This is my own personal preference, and not knowing what the image background holds, but I try to avoid shots taken at standing height as this looks to me.

Nice start, keep posting.

[neways]

Thanks for all the great comments. I don't use LR so I have no say on that. But the control point on the Nik software is just a magic  tool to do the local adjustments, all the presets make process so easy and fast, and I love those interesting boarders. I attach a straight b/w conversion copy done in Photoshop here for you to compare. You can see how much more details and structure I can pull out on the tree trunk in Silver Efex than the Photoshop version. Of course I am not the expert to convert color photo to B/W in Photoshop, so you guys may have more experience and tricks to do it right in PS. Please share it with me but I just found the Nik software so easy and fun to use.

John

[stpf8]

I also use Nik's Silver Efex Pro 2 software, and I think it does an excellent job of producing B&W conversions.  The aspect that I especially like is the ease of making very local adjustments in relative brightness, contrast, and structure.

[sailronin]

I use SilverEFX Pro and have for a couple of years. I'm not a LightRoom or PS user, stick to Aperture and NIK plugins.

[scott2012]

Good first try.