Help with this B&W conversion

Hi All,

I took this in RMNP last Friday and tried converting from RAW to B&W, but I'm not terrible happy with the conversion. The tone seems to be too neutral and if I darken it, the whole this darkens. I'm looking for the whole tonal range from black to white, but I think part of the problem is that the tree trunks are about the same tonal value as the shadows. Maybe this just isn't a good candidate for the conversion, but I thought I'd put it up for the experts to throw darts at. Suggestions would be welcome...in fact I don't mind if someone would take this shot and see if they could improve it.

Thanks, Ken

I just used threshold to find the black and white points, then used curves to set them to darker and lighter. A method from Nick.

This might be a little heavy-handed, but I just brightened the whites and darkened the blacks, then eliminated the effect on the tree trunks.

Ken,
You might take a look at Nik's Silver Efex Pro. I have used it a lot and it offers a lot of options that can be tweaked to the Nth degree. You can check it out on a 15 day trial basis before you commit to purchasing the package.

I'd imagine there is some blue in those shadows, so you could play with the blue levels in your b/w conversion process. Would help emphasize either the shadows, or trees, more than the other. Tonal value can be completely altered through a combo of white balance and b/w color filter settings - even it situations like this.

Posting the color version might help, for 3rd party attempts.

Good idea Jesse, here's the original converted from RAW to 8-bit JPEG. If you'd like to work on the 16-bit psd or TIFF, just drop me an email. I did a bit of homework in Lightroom and will try another attempt by adjusting the color sliders more.

What I'm trying to achieve is to lighten the trunks a lot more, while darkening the shadows a bit more and keeping the snow from blowing out.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

I believe I've achieved the effect I was looking for. In Lightroom, I boosted the yellow and red channels all the way up to lighten the trunks. I added some contrast and set the black/white points...hmmm, I guess listed here in reverse order.

I also like the samples by Bill and Todd, maybe just a bit more contrast.

If anyone else feels like taking a crack at this, feel free.

Thanks guys.

I think you nailed it, Ken.

What language did you all use :) Ohhh I have lots to learn!

Great image, I do think I enjoy that last one the most.

Your last version is the best!! Great composition to begin with....

The last one has more impact for sure. Nice work.

I really like Lightroom's capabilities for BW conversion.

If you do it in Lightroom, try adjusting the White Balance AFTER making the initial conversion.

Tweaking WB really opens up a wide range of possibilities for BW conversion.