Most people who use Photoshop will already be aware of plugins by NIK software, including Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, etc. I’m generally in two minds about their plugins – on one hand I’ve seen them put to fantastic use, with photographers creating wonderful post processed images… on the flip side, like some Photoshop techniques which are easy-to-use-but-hard-to-master, I’ve seen them horribly overused.

Well the other day I did a quick search for a free processing plugins for Photoshop and came across OptikVerve Lab’s virtualPhotographer, a free filter plugin for PS.

This will only be a quick write up – but over the past couple of weeks, I’ve really grown to like this tool. Although I enjoy carefully processing a handful of my best images, I tend to try to stick to a “60 second rule” where I spend no longer than that processing for most of my work. Because it has a a couple of hundred preset effects built in (and a good / fast preview tool), virtualPhotographer fits me perfectly for this. It’s very quick to scroll through the processing choices and apply filters and I’ve been very happy with the results. Processing speed on my dual core laptop on CS4 is fine – on my faster desktop it obviously moves v quickly. There is a bug in the software that requires you to rerun the plugin under certain circumstances to get a preview (which I wish they’d fix), but otherwise it’s extremely simple to use and very fun.

Here are a couple of examples on some random photos I pulled off my laptop tonight and then ran through a single virtualPhotographer filter.

Original (Olympus E-P1 + Switar 26mm):

virtualPhotographer version using a Cross Processing filter:

Original (Olympus OM-4 on Fuji 160s Pro):

virtualPhotographer version using a “Classic3″ B&W filter:

Original (Olympus E-P1 + Switar 26mm):

virtualPhotographer version using a “Fall Colors” built in filter (depending on your monitor this may look overcooked):

Original (Olympus OM-4 + Fuji Velvia 100):

virtualPhotographer version using “Hammer” BW filter:

Original (Olympus E-P1 + Switar 26mm)

virtualPhotographer version using a “Filmnoir” BW Filter

So – a few examples of what is possible very quickly using this handy free plugin. For me, it’s not a plugin I run all your images through, nor is it something that I’ll use when I want absolute / fine control over the output… however, when I’m looking for something fast and effective or for something unexpected, I regularly find myself using virtualPhotographer. For CS users, I recommend checking it out – it’s a great tool and lets not forget, it’s free !

You can download from OptikVerve’s site.