lakeshoreclick.com
 

Original Image:
ISO100 RAW format - 1/320th at f/8
12-24mm zoom set at 20mm

Final Image:
Photoshop CS2
RGB channel conversion to black & white

There are many ways to convert an image to black and white in Photoshop.  Perhaps the easiest is to simply choose the desaturate command in the adjustments menu.  This is not my favorite way, however, as it often produces an image that lacks the punchy contrast we typically see in B&W.  The method I prefer is based on Scott Kelby's high contrast technique found on pages 192-195 in his "The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers".  These steps are specific to CS2, but you should be able to apply a similar sequence of steps in the imaging software of your choice.  BTW, Kelby's book is the best Photoshop book for photographers I have read (and I have read several).  I consider it required reading!

For the conversion above, I used the following steps.

1. Open your image in Photoshop - if a raw file, you can tweak camera raw settings if you like.  For this image, I didn't need to do this as the in camera image was exactly what I was looking for.
    

2. Use the levels command (IMAGE --> ADJUSTMENTS --> LEVELS) to adjust the contrast of the image to your liking.  In this example, I moved the black point to the right to darken the shadows a tad.  I did not move the white point at all, as I did not want to lose detail in the clouds.
    

3. Set your foreground color to black (press the D key) and then add a new gradient map adjustment layer (LAYER --> NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER --> GRADIENT MAP...) and click OK on the next two dialog boxes.
    

4. Create a new channel mixer layer  (LAYER --> NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER --> CHANNEL MIXER) and click OK on the first dialog.
    

5. The channel mixer dialog should appear.  Check the MONOCHROME box in the lower left hand corner.
    

6. The rest of the way it is up to you to decide what you like.  For the image above, I set the CONSTANT slider to -10 and the RED slider to 60%.  I then moved the BLUE and GREEN sliders around until I got the image the way I liked it.  This image was particularly challenging - I had to pay very close attention to the clouds so as to not wash them out.

Notes:

• Where possible, always work in 16-bit mode.  You'll have extra levels of luminance to work with.
   

• You can add a red camera filter effect to your image in Photoshop to make your blue skies appear black in the final black and white form.  (IMAGE --> ADJUSTMENTS --> PHOTO FILTER...)  Just be sure to do this before you start the process of converting your image to B&W.
   

• Where appropriate, shoot with polarizing filters to help increase contrast and pop out the clouds.  Photoshop cannot easily (or accurately) create this effect.
   

• This image was taken in downtown Denver in June of 2006.