On my last post on Solarisation presets for Silver Efex I thought I might contiune on and create some more presets this time around for Apple’s Aperture. In fact it’s not too difficult to create these presets for Lightroom, Photoshop or any other photo editor as along as the application supports curves.
Solarisation as I said previously has being around since the beginnings of Photography. Man Ray and Wynn Bullock which are two inspirations for Black & White Photography. Both have made use of this method in their work. Even their most important pieces feature this approach.
The post process effect lends it’s self very well for subjects with lines and shapes. But with that said it’s not always suitable for every image. I would suggest trying it out on straight forward uncluttered images which are easy to identify in their original format. The method can also produce a kind of a line drawing of the photographic image.
The three digital parts which make up the Solarisation are : The Curve, Brightness and B&W Filters.
The Curve
If you look at the characteristics of the curve to create the negative or solarisation effect it’s just a simple curved ‘V’ shape (see figure 2 below). If you flatten the bottom out so the curve is more ‘U’ shape this will darken the image – (see figure 1 below). If the curve is lift up this lights the image – (see figure 3 below)
Brightness
Brightness works in the opposite direction. It’s important to note that Exposure and Black value sliders in the RAW editor also work in the opposite direction too. But brightness is the one to play with, reducing it all the way down or all the way up to achieve the effect your are after.
B&W Filters
The filters for B&W red, blue and green will bring to the surface the elements in the image you wish to highlight. So try the basic ones first like Red, Orange, Yellow or Blue by adjusting the B&W filter sliders in the RAW or Photo Editor.
Download Presets for Aperture 3
So I’ve included some presets for Aperture 3 below feel free to download them and let me know how you got on.
Solarizaion Adjustment Presets for Aperture 3
More Read and Background
A good read by William L Jolly concerning the Solarization approach can be read here. http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/wljeme/SOUTLINE.html recommended even if it concerns film process.
Examples of the Aperture Presets
2 Comments
Gavin,
When I click on the link for “Solarization presets for Aperture 3” nothing happens. Where did it go? I like the ‘look’ this generates and would like to try it.
Thanks!
Eric
HI Eric,
The link to download the zip with the presets can be found on this page.
http://blog.glyons.at/2010/11/11/bw-solarization-presets-and-examples-using-silver-efex/
Once you’ve downloaded just upzip them to a folder and then in Silver Efex you have an option to import them.
Best,
Gavin