05-15-2012, 07:06 PM
[quote name='Frank' timestamp='1337052949' post='18213']
Thank you both, BC and Wim. Now I understand it: using a colour filter on a RGB DSLR doesn't make much sense and it causes loose of light and information.
I was curious about this question because I found that the colour filters in NX2 (and in Color Efex as well) do not work very well, in particular the red colour filter cannot give me the dramatic sky-cloud effect as seen in for example Adam's work who used red filters to get the effect. I know there are other ways in NX2 to get the similar effect but the method is not quite straightforward, for example using the Color Control Point technique.
Best regards,
Frank
[/quote]
I don't see why the colour filters don't work well in Silver Efex and/.or Colour Efex. You need to work the contrast and brightness sliders as well, plus potentially a host of others. You also need to do the B&W conversion first, prior to applying the B&W colour filters, i find, or use the options in Nik Silver Efex to do this straight away.
I tend to use a combination of Nik and TopazLabs software for best effects, Topaz for overall changes and/or denoising, and Nik for the delicate work, and for the B&W conversion plus filtering.
As to Ansel Adams: he specifically exposed and developed his negatives, for a specific tonal range, depending on the subject. That you can achieve in digital, starting from a 16-bit tiff, dng or psd file, with a combination of specific exposure, B&W conversion, filters, and with brightness and contrast adjustments. When printing such a negative, Ansel then did burning and dodging, etc. This you can do with Nik software (Silver Efex0 quite easily. This is also possible in Photoshop or any other post processing software, but Nik makes it easy and straightforward. Once happy, save the 16 -bit image to an 8-bit jpeg, and you're done. Works well.
Actually, the fact that the pictures I have seen from the Leica M-Monochrome weren't processed I think is a terrible pity, because that would have really shown what is possible, especially as the monochrome sensor is quite unforgiving from a latitude POV.
Kind regards, Wim
Thank you both, BC and Wim. Now I understand it: using a colour filter on a RGB DSLR doesn't make much sense and it causes loose of light and information.
I was curious about this question because I found that the colour filters in NX2 (and in Color Efex as well) do not work very well, in particular the red colour filter cannot give me the dramatic sky-cloud effect as seen in for example Adam's work who used red filters to get the effect. I know there are other ways in NX2 to get the similar effect but the method is not quite straightforward, for example using the Color Control Point technique.
Best regards,
Frank
[/quote]
I don't see why the colour filters don't work well in Silver Efex and/.or Colour Efex. You need to work the contrast and brightness sliders as well, plus potentially a host of others. You also need to do the B&W conversion first, prior to applying the B&W colour filters, i find, or use the options in Nik Silver Efex to do this straight away.
I tend to use a combination of Nik and TopazLabs software for best effects, Topaz for overall changes and/or denoising, and Nik for the delicate work, and for the B&W conversion plus filtering.
As to Ansel Adams: he specifically exposed and developed his negatives, for a specific tonal range, depending on the subject. That you can achieve in digital, starting from a 16-bit tiff, dng or psd file, with a combination of specific exposure, B&W conversion, filters, and with brightness and contrast adjustments. When printing such a negative, Ansel then did burning and dodging, etc. This you can do with Nik software (Silver Efex0 quite easily. This is also possible in Photoshop or any other post processing software, but Nik makes it easy and straightforward. Once happy, save the 16 -bit image to an 8-bit jpeg, and you're done. Works well.
Actually, the fact that the pictures I have seen from the Leica M-Monochrome weren't processed I think is a terrible pity, because that would have really shown what is possible, especially as the monochrome sensor is quite unforgiving from a latitude POV.
Kind regards, Wim
Gear: Canon EOS R with 3 primes and 2 zooms, 4 EF-R adapters, Canon EOS 5 (analog), 9 Canon EF primes, a lone Canon EF zoom, 2 extenders, 2 converters, tubes; Olympus OM-D 1 Mk II & Pen F with 12 primes, 6 zooms, and 3 Metabones EF-MFT adapters ....