I am new to PSE, and have the PSE 11 that recently came out. For you who use it, I don't have to tell you that it is not user friendly.
I was trying to work with a photo in editor, and looking to see what different tools would do...then, without my knowledge, the file extension changed from jpg to PSD. I cannot get it to be normal file again. I don't know anything about a PSD, only that I cannot use my picture anymore...it only opens in PSE. It shows as an icon in my "pictures" on the computer, and has a "PSD" in the center. What happened? What did I do to make it happen? There is no instructions...It's a total Adobe "bad" not to give us more information! Can anyone help?

Black and white conversions comes in three flavors:

1) Simple conversion--- Bad -- Desaturate -- Grey Scale. B&W PS converstion. -- Results in a very flat non contrasty image.

2) Middle conversion -- Nice general conversion method. Similar to what CLiff's corrected example shows. includes:
A) Plugin conversion -- NIC Silver Effex Pro -- Really good for the average Photographer.
B) Conversion using the channel mixer or B&W conversion manipulating mainly the (Red and Yellow) for portraits.

3) Advanced Conversion. Using a combination of 12 or so methods to convert to black and white. Can take 10-30 layers in photoshop. BLack an whites are "Pulled apart" by using the underlying color and contrast using levels and curves adjustment layers. No plugin needed. This method is as much art as it is photography. Beautiful Black and white images are made --- they are not taken!

Below is a B&W of mine posted on 500PX.com. It made it to the "Popular" category for a few weeks. Advanced conversion techniques by creating separation in the blacks and whites. Cropped tight to help show the detail.
35 Layers in Photoshop.
It's not just a one click technique. You need to go to school. Then you need to be able to catch an expression. You need to know what method(s) to apply to what image.
Here's the link to the uncropped 500px photo:

http://500px.com/photo/24622449

Desaturation within an image works nice for color photos when the desaturation is slight and you add back color overtones.
Here is a photo I took Wednesday using a desaturation with overtones method. I learned this method from a Russian photographer friends of mine. It is still in the popular category on 500px.

http://500px.com/photo/26114491

The experienced photographer will always visualize the finished product before making the exposure. Thus, if the scene will require extensive post processing, the photographer is prepared. That, of course, is what you did in your example.

I always teach my students that the best images begin in the mind of the photographer.

This Day in History

Jan 26, 1788

Australia Day

On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip guides a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales, effectively founding Australia. After overcoming a period of hardship, the fledgling colony began to celebrate the anniversary of this date with great fanfare.

Australia, once known as New South Wales, was originally planned as a penal colony. In October 1786, the British government appointed Arthur Phillip captain of the HMS Sirius, and commissioned him to establish an agricultural work camp there for British convicts. With little idea of what he could expect from the mysterious and distant land, Phillip had great difficulty assembling the fleet that was to make the journey. His requests for more experienced farmers to assist the penal colony were repeatedly denied, and he was both poorly funded and outfitted. Nonetheless, accompanied by a small contingent of Marines and other officers, Phillip led his 1,000-strong party, of who m more than 700 were convicts, around Africa to the eastern side of Australia. In all, the voyage lasted eight months, claiming the deaths of some 30 men.

The first years of settlement were nearly disastrous. Cursed with poor soil, an unfamiliar climate and workers who were ignorant of farming, Phillip had great difficulty keeping the men alive. The colony was on the verge of outright starvation for several years, and the marines sent to keep order were not up to the task. Phillip, who proved to be a tough but fair-minded leader, persevered by appointing convicts to positions of responsibility and oversight. Floggings and hangings were commonplace, but so was egalitarianism. As Phillip said before leaving England: "In a new country there will be no slavery and hence no slaves."

Though Phillip returned to England in 1792, the colony became prosperous by the turn of the 19th century. Feeling a new sense of patriotism, the men began to rally around Jan uary 26 as their founding day. Historian Manning Clarke noted that in 1808 the men observed the "anniversary of the foundation of the colony" with "drinking and merriment."

Finally, in 1818, January 26 became an official holiday, marking the 30th anniversary of British settlement in Australia. And, as Australia became a sovereign nation, it became the national holiday known as Australia Day. Today, Australia Day serves both as a day of celebration for the founding of the white British settlement, and as a day of mourning for the Aborigines who were slowly dispossessed of their land as white colonization spread across the continent.

This Day in History

Jan 26, 1788

Australia Day

On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip guides a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales, effectively founding Australia. After overcoming a period of hardship, the fledgling colony began to celebrate the anniversary of this date with great fanfare.

Australia, once known as New South Wales, was originally planned as a penal colony. In October 1786, the British government appointed Arthur Phillip captain of the HMS Sirius, and commissioned him to establish an agricultural work camp there for British convicts. With little idea of what he could expect from the mysterious and distant land, Phillip had great difficulty assembling the fleet that was to make the journey. His requests for more experienced farmers to assist the penal colony were repeatedly denied, and he was both poorly funded and outfitted. Nonetheless, accompanied by a small contingent of Marines and other officers, Phillip led his 1,000-strong party, of who m more than 700 were convicts, around Africa to the eastern side of Australia. In all, the voyage lasted eight months, claiming the deaths of some 30 men.

The first years of settlement were nearly disastrous. Cursed with poor soil, an unfamiliar climate and workers who were ignorant of farming, Phillip had great difficulty keeping the men alive. The colony was on the verge of outright starvation for several years, and the marines sent to keep order were not up to the task. Phillip, who proved to be a tough but fair-minded leader, persevered by appointing convicts to positions of responsibility and oversight. Floggings and hangings were commonplace, but so was egalitarianism. As Phillip said before leaving England: "In a new country there will be no slavery and hence no slaves."

Though Phillip returned to England in 1792, the colony became prosperous by the turn of the 19th century. Feeling a new sense of patriotism, the men began to rally around Jan uary 26 as their founding day. Historian Manning Clarke noted that in 1808 the men observed the "anniversary of the foundation of the colony" with "drinking and merriment."

Finally, in 1818, January 26 became an official holiday, marking the 30th anniversary of British settlement in Australia. And, as Australia became a sovereign nation, it became the national holiday known as Australia Day. Today, Australia Day serves both as a day of celebration for the founding of the white British settlement, and as a day of mourning for the Aborigines who were slowly dispossessed of their land as white colonization spread across the continent.