martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

I'm not much of a portrait guy, more wildlife, landscape, macro shooter, but when I convert I shot in color and use Nik Software call Silver Efex Pro2 for B&W, Works Great for all types of photography.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Russ -

These are perfect. Just the way B&W should look.

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

Now if I could just match the vibrant colors of your photos on your website, I'd feel a lot better! I'm workin on it.
:cry: :thumbup:

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

You have really opened a can of worms here. The answer to your question is that there is not one way to do a B&W conversion that is best. What you have to do is to play with different ways and find one that works for you. People here will give you a different answers on every post and this can be very confusing for you. There are books on the subject and there are many youtube videos about this. A really good book on this subject is Amphotos Guide to Digital Black and White Printing-Techniques for Creating High Quality Prints. This book discusses the ins and outs of digital B&W both creating B&W files and also preparing for digital printing. This book is good for the beginner its easy to read and has many illustrations.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

silver is right - there is no one way. There are some terrible ways like just changing to grayscale, or just desaturating, but there are some great ways with lots of control over how the colors are rendered in the B&W image.

Arguably the best overall solution is NIK Silver Efex Pro 2. As Scott Kelby has stated, he does not know a professional who does not use it.

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

Hey Captain.
Scott Kelby doesn't know Lee Jeffries. That's how I shoot and process my B&W's.
I had to dig you on this one.(LOL)
The Homeless method doesn't work on Senior portraits.

I still use Silver EFEX PRO, just not on portraits anymore.
I use some of the techniques I learned from Vincent Versace.
He's a professional and does use Silver EFEX PRO. Scott Kelby knows him. Vincent shows how to use the Multi-Channel mixer in PS and in Silver EFEX and compares the two.

At one time I lived near Scott Kelby in Florida. I don't know him.

;-)

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

I still use the Channel Mixer method occasionally, but overall, I do prefer the looks I get from Solver Efex since the control of all the channels is so great. But I do agree there are some real advantages to other methods. I also use the gradient layer method once in a while. I do know Versace and he has some great techniques.