B&W conversion take 2

[gregj1763]

Moving on from my B&W conversion lesson from Donald and Geoff I thought I would try something architectural.
This building is at Soverign Hill in Ballarat an old mock up mining town which I visited a few years back.
After running the image through CC to crop and sharpen I opened it up in Sliver Efex and used the preset neutral with an orange filter which I found highlighted the lettering much better.
From there it was back to CC and selected the light post and roof on the left and the roof top right of the image to tone down the highlights.

C&C welcome.
Greg

[Donald]

Good stuff, Greg. Well done.

[gregj1763]

Thanks Donald

[billtils]

I like these Greg. Nicely done.

[gregj1763]

Cheers mate, quietly pleased with the result

[Geoff F]

That looks OK.

Just a thought, Greg. Instead of working from a preset effect do you ever do a full manual B&W conversion? Starting by examining the image to decide which colours require strengthening then adjusting the brightness levels before doing the conversion.

It is a great learning experience which can also help in learning to look at a colour image in different ways. I still do my B&W conversions like that, plus some masking etc to give a personal conversion effect.

[Donald]

Silver Efex Pro is not a pre-set. It is a filter that has a number of pre-sets within it.

It is an add on that allows the users to a 'full manual conversion' and make all the decisions as to colours require strengthen, should you wish to do that. It allows for brightness and contrast to be adjusted according to taste. It allows you to do all all that one does by a 'full manual conversion' + an awful lot more. And then when you take it back to Photoshop, you can then apply masks.

[FootLoose]

Nice work, Greg.
I think there are probably as many ways of creating a black and white image as there are photographers / photographic artists. I recently purchased a tutorial from this guy: http://alteredspacephoto.com/ Following his method can yield dramatic results.
I can't see the link to the course on that page but if anyone is interested here is a link to it: http://alteredspacephoto.com/black-white-artistry/

[xpatUSA]

This building is at [Sovereign] Hill in Ballarat an old mock up mining town which I visited a few years back.
Greg

Cool. I am an avid watcher of the "Miss Fisher Mysteries", and 1920's Ballarat was where her fine Victorian mansion was at . . . in the movies, of course.

[gregj1763]

Cool. I am an avid watcher of the "Miss Fisher Mysteries", and 1920's Ballarat was where her fine Victorian was . . .

Glad you like the image Ted,
I'll see what other photo's I have from there