From Silver Efex Back to Lightroom

Google/Nik's Silver Efex Pro is a popular application for processing black and white digital images. It includes a variety of film emulators and presets; unique editing tools such as dynamic brightness and soft contrast; and, a set of conventional (albeit limited) exposure and retouching tools. I've used it extensively over the past couple of years with generally good results.

Though I was mostly satisfied with the output I was getting from Silver Efex, there were times when I wanted more control over global contrast, micro-contrast, and sharpening. In Silver Efex, micro-contrast and edge sharpening are simultaneously manipulated by what is called the "structure" tool. Its functionality is similar to the structure tools in HDR applications. Increasing structure can add clarity and "punch", but it can also quickly introduce noise and banding in smooth gradients and areas of solid gray. This issue often forced a compromise between optimal clarity in detailed areas, and smooth transitions in areas of flat tone. Also, the global contrast controls in Silver Efex are not as sophisticated as those found in Photoshop and Lightroom. 

These issues with Silver Efex prompted me to go back and re-process some of my older images using only Lightroom 5.4. In the past I've mostly used Lightroom for RAW conversion and cataloguing, but with the newer versions becoming ever more powerful, I felt it was time for another look.

I think the results in the screenshots below speak for themselves. The image on the left in each set was processed 100% in Lightroom, the image on the right was converted from RAW in Lightroom and processed to completion in Silver Efex. The Lightroom image has much better mid-tone contrast and clarity, smoother transitions from gray to white, and overall it's just a richer, more subtly toned and detailed image.

Lightroom on left, Silver Efex on right (click to view full size).

Lightroom (on left) showing improved detail and micro-contrast (click to view full size)

Lightroom (on left) showing improved mid-tone contrast (click to view full size)

Lightroom (on left) showing smoother transitions from gray to white (click to view full size)

A single image does not provide a definitive answer to which application produces superior output, so I also re-processed a number of other images in Lightroom. In each case I ended up with similar results; the images processed in Lightroom showed cleaner details, smoother gradients, and improved contrast.

The takeaway? While I still feel Silver Efex is a decent tool for quick conversions, from here on out I'll be doing all of my black and white processing in Lightroom.

California Fine Art

I was pleased to learn that my print Summer Storm Over Fallen Oak was accepted into the California Fine Art exhibition at the 2014 California State Fair. Details as follows:

California Fine Art
July 11 – July 27, 2014
California State Fair
Cal Expo, Expo Center Building 7, Sacramento, CA
More Information →

Summer Storm Over Fallen Oak

New Tools, New Possibilities

Creativity and inspiration come from within the artist, but the tools determine much of the character of the finished artwork. Oil painters have their bristle brushes, canvas, and linseed oil; watercolorists have their sable brushes and handmade watercolor paper; relief printmakers have their wood blocks, carving knives, and brayers; and, photographers have their cameras, lenses, and software.

It could be argued that the camera and sensor are equivalent to the artist's canvas, and the lens is equivalent to the artist's paint and brushes. The characteristics of a particular paint and brush combination do more to determine the character of a painting than the canvas. Likewise, the characteristics of a particular lens do more to determine the character of a photograph than the camera and sensor.

My initial collection of three zoom lenses were chosen based upon my desire to develop a body of work documenting the open spaces near my studio in South Placer County, as well as the nearby counties within the northern third of the Central Valley of California. The set is well tailored to capturing everything from classic wide angle scenics to mid-distance vignettes.

The one missing piece has been a lens to capture intimate details of the landscape, from near-distance abstracts down to the macro level of small objects such as individual rocks and plants. To fill this gap, I've added a macro lens to my tool kit; the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM.

The Canon 100 L Macro is a pro level, mid-telephoto macro with 4-stop image stabilization, ultrasonic auto-focus, 1X maximum magnification (0.3 meter minimum focus distance), and extremely high image quality. This lens will enable me to drill down and document the environment on a more intimate level than in the past. I'm very excited about this!

You'll be seeing some of this new, more intimate imagery on the site this summer.

Wild Lupine, Pleasant Grove Open Space

In the Details

An overwhelming majority of photographs are now viewed on small screens. I don't know if anyone has the numbers, but I'm guessing that less than 1% end up as a print. Being a person that loves the Fine Print, this saddens me. Smartphones and computers are great, but the experience of viewing a photo on a small screen is nothing at all like looking at a large, detailed print, up close and in person.

Some photos are best viewed as large prints. Others work best in smaller sizes. Highly detailed images tend to work best as large prints, whereas high contrast images with stark compositions work best on small screens and in smaller print sizes. This may at least partially explain the popularity of simple, graphically punchy images on photo sharing sites such as Instagram, Tumblr, and 500px.

Michael Kenna is a highly regarded landscape photographer known for his high contrast, compositionally strong images. For over 25 years he has printed most of his images at 8" square. The images on his website are presented small as well. His work emphasizes abstract shapes, with little regard for surface detail or textures - perfect for displaying in smaller formats. 

My image Ferrari Ranch Wetlands, Study 2 (below) works best as a large print. Viewed at what is now the typical screen size (under 12") it doesn't have a lot to offer. The composition is static and the detail gets lost on a small screen. But, printed in gelatin silver at 20” square, the rich detail and subtle tones make for a totally different (and satisfying) viewing experience, particularly up close at “pixel peeping” distances. It clearly demonstrates the idea that images do best when displayed in their ideal medium and proper scale. 

Ferrari Ranch Wetlands, Study 2

Ferrari Ranch Wetlands, Study 2, Detail

Ferrari Ranch Wetlands, Study 1

The beautiful Ferrari Ranch Wetlands parallel the Auburn Ravine on its east bank as it passes through Lincoln, California. The area is home to abundant wildlife including dozens of bird species (Cinnamon Teal, Wood Duck, Stilts, Avocets, Egrets, and Swallows, to name a few), deer, squirrels, and even mountain lions. We took a walk there this afternoon for the first time and we're looking forward to going back soon to explore the area in greater depth.

Ferrari Ranch Wetlands, Study 1

Stormlight Over Meadow

Fast moving springtime storms sometimes create abrupt transitions from light to shadow that sweep across the landscape. These dramatic moments can serve to remind us of the never-ending movement of weather, the Earth, and even the cosmos.

Stormlight Over Meadow

Pleasant Grove Creek

I posted a pair of new photos to the "Recent" portfolio. Both were captured on a walk last night in the Pleasant Grove Creek open space in west Roseville. The late afternoon light was particularly beautiful...

Late Spring Wetland

Evening at Pleasant Grove

Sufficiency

“The fact is that relatively few photographers ever master their medium. Instead they allow the medium to master them and go on an endless squirrel cage chase from new lens to new paper to new developer to new gadget, never staying with one piece of equipment long enough to learn its full capacities, becoming lost in a maze of technical information that is of little or no use since they don’t know what to do with it.”

– Edward Weston

There is a lot of hand wringing going on in the camera industry right now. Overall sales are down 40%, promising new camera technologies such as mirrorless can't seem to gain traction, and cell phone cameras continue to devour the compact camera market. Every company except Canon seems to be scrambling, offering new form factors at a blistering pace (retro, mirrorless, compact full frame, “budget” medium format, etc.), while a majority of consumers continue to purchase low- to mid-level DSLRs from the big two (Canon and Nikon). In fact, even with the proliferation of new camera types, DSLRs are the only segment to show any growth at all over the past few years.

So what's going on here? My take is that what we’re seeing in the camera industry is the same thing we’re seeing in the larger tech industry. After a rapid, and arguably, unsustainable period of innovation spurred by the transition to digital, we've reached a point of sufficiency in cameras. In other words, most of the cameras that people already own are far more than good enough for everything they want to do with those cameras. We've reached a point where the costs of upgrading every year or two are hard to justify for anyone other than collectors and wealthy camera enthusiasts. 

For example, take my Canon 5D Mk II camera body. Introduced in 2008, it’s a dinosaur on the technological time scale, but it's a lovely camera that produces beautiful, high-res digital files that are still well beyond sufficient for the type of work I do (which is not undemanding). I could upgrade to a 5D Mk III, or perhaps one of the newer generation 36 MP full frame cameras such as the Nikon D800 or Sony a7R, but what would I gain? Resolution certainly, but arguably it would be lost at the sizes I print (no larger than 20"). I'd also gain faster and more accurate auto-focus, which would only matter if I was shooting fast moving subjects, which I'm not. The disadvantages include much larger raw files (putting greater demands on my computer and storage/backup systems), and of course, the significant financial hit I’d take in the currently flat camera resale market.

The one upgrade that might (just might) make sense is a switch from my current DSLR system to one of the so-called “mirrorless” systems. A few of these smaller cameras are just now finally reaching a point of semi-pro to pro-level performance. Their diminutive size would certainly be an advantage on long hikes. The nagging question though, is whether a 16 MP sensor that is approximately 25% the size of a full frame sensor will provide the image quality required for the type of work I do. If I only posted my images to the web, a switch to these smaller cameras would be a no brainer. But for gallery prints (which naturally put greater demands on a camera), I'm not yet convinced.

So for now, I'll do what it seems a lot of people are doing. I'll use my phone camera for causal snap shots, and I'll continue using my more-than-good-enough big camera until it either wears out, or a company produces a camera system sufficiently advanced to motivate a switch.

Beyond Sufficient

Spring Grass and Oak

This image is from an outing this morning. The sky was slightly overcast which created perfect light for capturing the subtle tones of the fresh grass and oak leaves.

Click to Enlarge