Photo Editing with Nik Software's Plug-in Suite

     Hello all, Tom has asked me to blog about Nik Software's suite of plug-ins that I use within Lightroom 2.5. The suite consist of several products, they are in order of Nik's recommended use: Define 2.0, Viveza, Color Efex Pro 3.0, Silver Efex Pro, and Sharpener Pro 3.0. These plug-ins represent a huge leap in simplifying post photo editing, working within Lightroom the plugins help create your layers in easy steps. 

After opening your RAW photo in Lightroom, and you perform your usual initial adjustments of white balance, exposure, contrast, cropping, maybe clonning, or spot removal, you can open these plug-ins. 

Define 2.0 helps remove excess “noise” from your photo, this can be helpful if you have used a higher ISO and the photo might show “grain”. This is a automatic function and all you have to do is sit back and watch it work. If you find the process isn't just enough you can tweek the adjustments to your liking. 

Next you would use Viveza, this plug-in is really my favorite because it has what is called U-Point technology, which allows you to do just what it says, “you point”. It lets you selectively lighten, darken or adjust contrast of specific areas of the photo and effectively helps make your subject matter “pop”. Like Mike said in his talk about layers you want to keep the viewers eyes focussed longer on what's important in the photo, and this really helps. 

Color Efex Pro 3.0 (for color adjustments) and Silver Efex Pro (for black and white) are plug-ins that have pre-configured effects that you can select for your photo, or you can create your own. These really allow you to be as creative as you want. Again U-Point technology is available for use to selectively adjust areas of your photo.

 Last but not least is Sharpener Pro 3.0. This plug-in does just what what the name suggest, it allows you to sharpen your photo prior to displaying it. It gives you options depending on how you plan on displaying it, print or video display, and sharpens it accordingly. Again you can selectively sharpen specific areas or let the plug-in sharpen globally. 

Well that's it, my first attempt at a blog, I hope it is helpful. Remember, and I'm sure this has been said before, that a photo is just a reflection of how a photographer sees the world, or wants to see the world. Edit it as much or as little as you want, just have fun doing it and feel satisfied when your done. 

ps. I believe all these plug-ins can be tried as a free demo from Nik Software's website. 

Peter Freeman