So, I used Silver Efex for the 15 day trial putting it through it’s paces and it’s definitely now a solid part of my work flow, and has pretty much replaced Photoshop now. Silver Efex is just so intuitive, and it streamlines the entire process of dodging, burning, adding contrast, adjusting levels, etc. You can adjust everything on the whole image, i.e. set your base, but then you can place control points on the image that allow you to further fine tune the brightness, contrast, and overall structure in a set diameter, which gives you incredible control. This feels so much like being back in the darkroom, cutting holes in cardboard to burn, or waving your hand over the image to dodge, except it’s so more accurate.

When you buy the full version (thanks, sweety) you get both the Aperture, and Photoshop plugins, and while for the most part I’ll be sticking the Aperture version as it creates smaller files, it does leave you with a flattened image, that you can’t go back and rework later. The Photoshop version on the other hand does allow you to save the file, and then go back and revisit the image with the same settings, control points, etc. that you last saved. The trade off is file size, I did a test last night, and the Photoshop file, for the same general treatment was almost five times larger than the Aperture version. Given how simple the whole process is I can’t really see the need to revisit much, perhaps when creating final print images, at which point the extra file size is fine.

I reworked the above image this morning, an image I took of some Evangelical Christians praying on the top of Santa Maria, a local volcano. I processed the original in Photoshop, and I can remember spending a long time trying to balance everything, bring the faces (small) out as much as possible, etc. With Silver Efex I got the exact same effect in a matter of minutes, and was able to tune everything to a much finer degree. The images end up looking similar, but the Silver Efex version was quicker to produce, and in the end a better file.

So, while it’s not cheap, $199 US, it’s definitely worth the money, in my honest opinion.