- Digital Darkroom with Nik Software
I truly miss working in the traditional darkroom, but times have changed for the better with digital photography and processing! One of my favorite tools in the digital darkroom is Nik Software’s suite of photoshop plugins. I especially love Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, and Viveza. The control and creative power of these tools are unprecedented and should be part of every photographer’s workflow. This photograph of a fern was taken along the Elakala Falls Trail at Blackwater Falls State Park, WV. I first applied minor adjustment in Adobe Camera Raw before opening the image in Photoshop. Once in Photoshop I used Color Efex Pro’s White Neutralizer to adjust any color casts. Next, I used the Tonal Contrast feature to increase the visual impact and contrast of the fern from the background. Now at this point I still wasn’t happy with the green tones from the fern. I tried a few different adjustments before deciding on the black and white version. Most of my nature photographs are color so this was an exception. Silver Efex Pro is a great program for black and white conversions and allows control over everything from film grain, contrast, tone, and even vignetting. For this image I decided to go as clear as possible with no grain to maintain the details in the fern. I applied a slight amount of warm tone, and just a touch of vignette at the corners to finish the image to my liking. Overall, I prefer to keep my image processing based on traditional darkroom techniques and try not to overdue my processing. I prefer more of a classic looking image. After, I finished with Silver Efex Pro, I did a slight adjustment to the fern’s brightness in Viveza to make it pop off the background. Please let me know if you have additional questions about my processing or about Nik Software. This program is just an amazing asset for any photographer. Thanks for viewing! – Vince
Nikon D700 – Sigma 150mm macro
