Recently my WB Joe stumbled across an article that Google had made their Nik Plugins free.

I rushed to the website and downloaded this collection of 7 plugins to play with immediately.

I thought I would give you a quick overview of some of the settings of these plugins, starting with the Analog Efex Pro plugin.

The description of this plugin from the website is as follows:

Get the photo you’re looking for, even if you don’t own the equipment. Let effects inspired by traditional cameras bring you back to the vintage age of photo development.

There are 9 default classic cameras you can start from and I’ll show you what those look like.

Let’s start with the original image from a gas station in tourist hot spot Cottonwood Falls, Kansas (photo assistant – Nate Miller).

Original Image

When I took this photo, this was my original vision.

Original Vision

Here is a look at the 9 default Classic Camera settings in the Plugin.

Classic Camera 1

Classic Camera 2

Classic Camera 3

Classic Camera 4

Classic Camera 5

Classic Camera 6

Classic Camera 7

Classic Camera 8

Classic Camera 9

But these Classic Cameras are just a jumping off point. Within this plugin you can play with roughly 50 different DIRT & SCRATCHES settings, 3 different LENS VIGNETTE settings, and roughly 50 different FILM TYPE settings.

I played with it a bit and came up with this image that feels like Cottonwood Falls, Kansas to me:

It is a cool FREE plugin to grab and add to your arsenal. Especially if you’re like me and love old and vintage photography.

Works with Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements (more or less), and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

There are several more plugins in this collection. We’ll be taking a look at those as well.