Click on the image to enlarge it in another window.
I took an HDR image that I created in NIK HDR Efex Pro and started experimenting with it in OnOne Perfect B&W to see what I could get from it. The OnOne Perfect Photo Suite is very powerful. It allows me to work in layers so that I can turn on and off each individual layer to see whether I like what it does in conjunction with other layers. For the first image here I applied the Ambrotype preset and then made several adjustments to the paper tone and silver tone, added an Emulsion border and adjusted the contrast and sharpening. Using the HDR image as a starting point helped render the interior details while still maintaining the surface textures on the car.
Click on the image to enlarge it in another window.
This is the HDR image I started with. As you can see there is a lot of color in the image due to the patina of age. Most of the color in the glass and the wooden steering wheel was too muted for my taste until I adjusted the separate color channels in Aperture 3 after merging my bracket set in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2.
Click on the image to enlarge it in another window.
For this last image I used the Perfect Effects application and applied a preset that changed the overall color of the image yet allowed me to emphasize the yellow and red in the window sticker. I can’t recall which preset I started with but I’m sure that I adjusted it’s effect to get the result I was looking for. I seldom stop with the base settings in these presets as I consider them to be starting points rather than end results.
The point of this post is to show that digital image processing opens the door to many options when creating art photography. It’s no longer necessary to spend hours in Photoshop building an image only to discover that it doesn’t convey your vision for the piece. By applying plug-in presets the artist is able to look at variations rapidly and decide what they want final result to be. Once a preset has been selected the artist can then make their own changes to it and emphasize the aspects of the image that are important for their vision of the image.
Wonderful image,
Thank you for the kind response.
Great Image and also post work is very nice indeed! I to am a fan of OnOne Software so much faster than photoshop.
You are right the time it takes is greatly reduced by using plug-ins. The layer function of OnOne software is so simple to use.
Great image. I like the second the best. Do you use many of the topaz plugins?
Thank you Fotographer. Yes I use Topaz plug-ins primarily Adjust, Clarity, Detail and Denoise. They just released another product ReStyle that I was experimenting with this morning. If you are interested in trying it out click on this link http://www.topazlabs.com/705.html
I know it is like apples and oranges, but which to do prefer or use the most, the topaz suite of plugins or nik’s? Or onone?
Fotographer, You are correct when you use the apples and oranges analogy. For HDR I prefer NIK HDR EFex Pro 2, for noise reduction I like Topaz DeNoise and for resizing images I like OnOne ReSize. I find for my personal workflow they all have a place in my “toolbox” and are worth the investment in learning to use them. Sometimes when I can’t get the look I want in one piece of software I will take it into another one and find exactly what I’m looking for. Why not download free trials from each one and see which ones feel best to you? That is how I have been evaluating plug-ins for years.