I just installed the Nik Software collection into Lightroom, and have been having a ton of fun ever since. This is just the first out of a few more posts that'll come with featuring my results. This particular post is about Silver Efex Pro. The software mimics the black and white developing process. It features film types (choose a specific film and see what it would look like had you shot that photo on that film), colored filters, a number of fantastic presets, and well just everything you'd need to make your black and white images look wonderful. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who loves black and white film photography and desires that look on their photos.

The first 2 images are of some graffiti I found over a year ago in Minneapolis, MN. The first image is just edited in Lightroom. The second was opened in Silver Efex Pro and had the Kodak ISO 32 Panatomic X film effect applied to it. Along with a little shadow/highlighting adjustment.

These next two images were from the outside/upstairs of an underground (both literally and figuratively) book store we found, again over a year ago in Minneapolis, MN. I stitched it together, but since I didn't have a tripod at the time you'll notice a few little problems...Anyway, again, the first image was edited in Lightroom, and the second in Silver Efex Pro. This time I applied the Ilford PAN F Plus 50 ISO film type.

Overall, I'm really pleased with the software. It allows me to have a lot more fun with black and white photography.

Tagged: bw black and white urban cities city minnesota minneapolis graffiti