Craig Meyer Loc: Sparks, NV

Au contraire, mon ami. There is BLACK in your posted photo. Look into the small dark spots between the bumps.

B&W is really monochrome with Black as the color. Another term is gray scale. In most post processing adding or subtracting contrast will get you there. Also, try playing with your exposure as you capture. You could use the bracketing function on most cameras, or just deliberately in MANUAL under and over expose your images in 1/2 stop increments. You will see a change.

Suggestion, try to get your camera settings to to display monochrome on your camera monitor. Visualizing a scene in B&W is a learned skill that takes time because of the variety of light and subject conditions. I shoot RAW plus jpeg for 2 reasons. FIRST is I see the image in Monochrome, and second, RAW gives me the extra control to convert to B&W in Post Processing. Film B&W is usually pretty flat and bland straight out of the camera (like digital jpeg). Monochrome is post processing intense to get it right--like you're used to seeing on walls and in Art books. The best B&W photos produced each represent many HOURS in the Darkroom. Honest!

Contrast is a product of the light. Soft diffused light like on a cloudy day or in the shade will get more light going every which was and fill shadows with enough that those dark spots will get enough reflected light to turn gray--like in your posted photo.

This is an absorbing topic. Google "B&W digital photo techniques" will yield a career of tutorials and articles and YouTube videos. Jamie Winter, a British photographer, has some good ones. Street Photography is a traditional B&W genre. There is a Street section (actually a few) on UHH and MANY on YouTube. Check them out. Voss is a master of great contrast in conversion. Others are very good, too. And enjoy how they used the available light, usually strongly directional, and often in the middle of the day.

You're off to a good start, B&W is never built in a day.
C

aellman Loc: Boston MA

The only thing wrong with this photo is soft focus. The term "black&white" does not literally mean only black and white. It normally means a combination of black, white, and shades of gray. It sounds like your issue is a lack of contrast. That's super easy to correct with the most elementary controls of any post production software.

MFTVGirl Loc: Baltimore, MD

Wow, that is a great image! Not even thinking of it as a yearbook photo - but those expressions on their faces could really be said to tell a story!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If looks could kill... And yes, there was a story behind it that you can probably guess! Mimi was a total flirt, and the other girl resented the hell out of it.

That was October of '69, after a football game, at the local McDonalds. A large number of us would land there after a game, and I could always catch a ride with some seniors.

I photographed everything in school back then. I bulk loaded Tri-X I got almost free from the camera store that wanted my business. I have hundreds of neat photos that never looked as good as they do now, with digital re-photography and processing from raw files. I use Negative Lab Pro software plugin for Lightroom. It was $100, but absolutely worth it.

Here's another from the same roll... which was processed in Acufine to E.I. 1280, sort of my standard 1.6 stop push back then for night scenes. It was a little grainy, but for 5x7s in the yearbook, who cared? Yes, I kept detailed records... and every negative I ever made, unless it was on a hopelessly useless strip of six.
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(Download)

MFTVGirl Loc: Baltimore, MD

That certainly came through in the image! And it's enhanced by the guy in the back looking directly at you, too. "Tales Out of School"!

The crowd photo has some things going on in it too. Definitely the creepiness factor with that pom behind the girl's head!

You must have quite a treasure!

baron_silverton Loc: Los Angeles, CA

Try using Silver Efex Pro. I think they are on version 3 - I have version 2. It is widely regarded as the best software for B&W editing.

Good Luck
-B

Bill_de Loc: US

I fooled around with brightness and contrast.

smf85 Loc: Freeport, IL

I went with a converted Nikon, slightly cheaper, but I could use my lens investment and I could get it with a fused quartz “cover glass” which enabled monochrome UV work at reasonable ISO speeds (its at least 6x more UV sensitive than a CFA camera) and can go below 320nm (into UVB). The detail level and dynamic range equal that of the best B&W film - exceed it at ISO 64 (base ISO). I maybe did better with Pan-X in Microdol-X 1:3 at optimum temperature. At an ISO of 25 and a fussy chemical process.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The in-camera B&W conversion is the least desirable method.

Here are 7 methods employing Photoshop that are flexible enough to suit your needs

http://vnf-west.nl/BlackandWhite/7BW_PS_Conversion.html

tarsen Loc: Minneapolis MN

I did some more work on the image with Luminar 3. Have a lot more to learn about the program.

SteveLew Loc: Sugar Land, TX

I am not familiar with your Rebel. Do not rely on your camera's meter for B &W shots. If you can adjust your camera to show a histogram and manually focus to the center right you will move out of the "middle gray" area and yor B&W photos will improve considerably. Experiment with your histogram.