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Photographic Filters For Photoshop
Andromeda pioneered Photoshop filters for
photographic effects: reflections, rainbows, motion, etc. But
the offering from The TECHnik Group is nothing short of amazing.
nik Color Efex Pro! is a set of 55 digital
filters, many of which work like their conventional filter
counterparts and then some. The late Ansel Adams was an advocate
of filters for his dramatic black and white skies and his
shimmering forests. We learned from Adams that filters of
yellow, orange or red could progressively darken skies, that a
green filter could bring out details in the foliage of deep
woods.
Unfortunately, we also learned that a yellow
filter used on color film created a jaundiced yellowish-looking
photo.
nik's Contrast filters work just like their
conventional counterparts except they work on color images
without altering the other colors in the photo. For instance,
the Contrast Red filter creates dramatic dark blue skies and
lightens reddish hues without altering other colors in the
image.
The image on left is directly from my camera.
Middle image shows polarizing effect. Image on right shows
polarizer plus contrast red which results in noise.
Even more amazing is the Polarizing filter,
something previously though impossible by digital photographers.
This one works almost like its glass cousin by appearing to
darken skies and water surfaces… plus it is not dependent upon
the angle of the light source. However, it does not remove
reflections and glare like a real front-of-lens polarizer.
Still, it's a wonderfully useful tool for creating natural
looking polarized effects.
The nik Color Efex Pro! Sunshine filter does the
impossible: transforming a gloomy, overcast day into one filled
with warm, natural-looking sunlight. The image at the top of
this column illustrates the difference with the inset photo
being the original rainy day photo and the larger showing the
sunshine effect.
All of these filters can be used in mixed
combination with some very unusual results, often the addition
of unwanted noise. nik Color Efex Pro! handles RGB, CMYK, LAB
and grayscale images at $299.95. An RGB-only version is
available fro $139.95. More detail is available from
http://www.tech-nik.com
or read my product review in the special Spring Edition of
Photoshop User
magazine.
A Two-Bit Macro Solution
Digital photography demands experimentation. We
digital photographers can mess around with ideas that film
photographer would be loath to was the rest of the roll on. We
can place our cameras in weird positions and use the self-timer
to try images that conventional photographers would never even
think about. Here's a perfect example from reader Chris Parrish
of Temple, Georgia.
"I was playing around with my (Nikon} 990 this
morning and came across a neat trick for doing Macro shots of
very small objects! Actually, I had just finished taking a nice
walk to enjoy the sunshine and take some pictures and had sat
down at my computer to check out my catch of the day. While I
was waiting for it to boot up I get bored so I'm fiddling with
stuff on my desk. Well, I had an empty 35mm film canister (The
semi-opaque white ones that Kodak film comes in) sitting there
and it occurred to me that the mouth of the canister appeared to
be close to the same size as the lens on my 990!
"Sure enough, it slid right on with a slight
interference fit, just right! The material that the cannister is
made of makes a perfect "soft box" when lit from outside. Also,
when you put the film cannister on a flat surface with the lens
facing down, the object that you are shooting is just about as
close to being parallel to the lens as you could get. This trick
also eliminates the worry of camera shake during slower macro
shots."
If your camera's lens is bigger than a film
canister, I would suggest checking out a sporting goods store
for open top Nalgene containers. They come in a variety of
sizes, just as if they were designed for various digital lenses
and macro capabilities.
Another dumb digital trick...
If your camera has a front mounted flash and you
want to use an inexpensive slave strobe for fill or bounce
light, you may find the on-camera flash overpowering the
subject. Try playing around with a piece of white paper over the
flash to diminish its already low power. Or some have used a
piece of opaque tape (photographers' black masking tape) to
obscure part of the flash head.
It may take a little experimenting to cut down
the direct flash and still have enough light to fire the slave. |