Antique Plate Preset – click to embiggen
This is Wk 2 of the July One Four Challenge – working on this lovely night scene of the Wellington waterfront taken by a beginner photography friend. I am using her image to show her what can be done in post processing, and hopefully encourage her to move in that direction when she is ready.
Of course I turned to my old friend Nik Silver Efex for some BW treatments, and I wanted to show some of the variations and scope it is capable of, so I have THREE images for you, you lucky people 🙂
The one above is using Antique Plate, settings unchanged but I adjusted the colour tone to be a slightly warmer gold. I like the old fashioned feel.
Here are two more traditional BW – I wasn’t sure how the night shot would come across but there were plenty of choices. Because it was a night shot all the lamps are lit and I really like how that looks in these shots.
Full Dynamic Smooth Preset – click to embiggen
Forgotten this preset but I changed the tone to a warmer silver – Click to Embiggen
So there you go, three different images all from the same program – Nik Silver Efex. Which one do you like and why?
All feedback and comments welcome!
Learning to See Light 
The first -Antique Plate Preset – it has an old look and feel to it, grungy stuff. I also like the frame which I know has nothing to do with the image, but it still adds something to the final result. The other two seem more sterile and straight photos and don’t keep me interested as long, if that makes sense !
its the first time I have used the Antique Plate, normally dont like the options with an inbuilt frame but it just worked here for some reason 🙂
I like the first one, also. It has a grittiness to it that I think a downtown should have. Those doors across the bottom really stand out and command your attention.
It seems a popular choice 🙂 They all improve the level of detail nicely which is interesting to see as I had not tried this with a night scene before
I’m going for the second one – full dynamic smooth. I am not big on the really gritty look and feel this one is a little less so. It has a cleaner look and is less grainy too overall.
The fully dynamic works well here too, I liked how it brightened it up but still retained the glow of the lamps
I like the antique silver efex one best….I love the graininess
Im not always a fan of grain but i liked it here, it reminded me of old newspaper prints
Stacey they all look great! BW definitely suits the image and brings out all of the details.
Particularly like the Antique preset too 😀
Thanks Robyn, it was interesting experimenting with the different presets to find a look to suit, it certainly taught me not to stop at the first one I liked but to keep trying 🙂
They all look great but that first one with it’s old-world feel, definitely at the top of the list! 🙂
Yes I liked it a lot too, given I put it at the top of the page.
Not to be different, but I like the third one the best. It is warmer than the second, but has more contrast than the first – at least that’s how I’m seeing it.
I deliberately made that one a bit warmer, the default is the quite hard silver tone and I wanted some variation and that version seemed to suit it better
I always struggle with editing B&W pictures and the only thing I now that Contrast plays a big role. You showed me now that it’s far more than that. You have here three very different B&W version and all of them are amazing! My favourite is the Antique Plate Preset. It’s like a picture of an old telly screen.
Yet the Antique one was the LAST one I did so we both learned a lesson here – mine was to KEEP EXPERIMENTING 🙂
I really like the slightly gritty antique look, even when used on very modern buildings.
Yes it works well here, it was a fun experiment
Nice work. I really like the antique preset. More gritty and noir looking.
The Antique one was the LAST one I did so this has been a good lesson in not stopping at just the first one you like 🙂
It is always fun to try new filters and see how they fit in with your thought processes. Hope you are keeping warm here. It is freezing here and my fire is just not warming the house.
I have a pellet fire and once it cranks up it pours out the heat. I also invested in wool insulation and some new carpet a few years ago and it all helps keep the house warm. Luckily my place gets a lot of sun so if I shut the door from the lounge to the rest of the house by the time I get home from work the lounge is warmer from the sun during the day. The cats like it too.
This looks great, especially the gritty one. Good for you that you pushed it further, it is so nice to explore new ways.
yes it was a good learning experience
I’ve got to go back in time to view week one. But of these three I prefer the third the best. The smoothness of the image just sets a soothing night mood. T
very nice with antique plate!! I have a fondness for the vintage and nostalgic edits!
I like the first one best, but like many questions of this sort, I think the answer depends on what you intend to do with the finished results. I always have trouble with “which one is best?” questions when no intended purpose is given. The other two are both nice as well and would be more suited for some uses.
The intended purpose was to use an image taken by a friend and play with editing it so she could see the benefits of doing to – so there was no wrong answer, it was merely out of interest to see what peoples preferences were for the different technique best suiting the image in a way that appealed to them 🙂
I like your first photo the best – the Antique Plate look. I really like Black and White photos and I’m glad you went in that direction this week. I wonder what you will do next?!?
Silver efex is a great choice for black and white editing. I love the whole nik suite but silver efex is the best. I quite like the Antique Plate effect as it gives a nice contrast to the modern scene.
It was a good learning experience to keep playing with this image, the favourite seems to be the Antique Plate and yet that was the LAST image I created. Love Silver Efex 🙂
I love the grainy, grungy look of the Antique Plate Preset. 🙂 Very nice.
It seems to be the crowd favourite 🙂