Gray

[Ptax]

This may not be the correct forum, but. . .
I took several pictures of our nephew shortly after his 1st bday. I shot in color, but used CS4 to change to b & w. Or more accurately gray and gray. What do I need to do to get crisp b & w images? Is it a lighting issue? Post processing? HELP!:mad2:

[wfooshee]

I'm no B&W expert, I've never even shot B&W film, but I've learned that there's more to B&W than desaturating.

One thing that was suggested to me some time ago is to view the color channels separately. Sometimes one of the channels by itslef makes a nice B&W version.

[geraldb]

Not every soft image is bad. I like the softness and timeless feel in these, I wouldn't do a thing to them.

[Ctn]

First off, I for 100% agree with Gerald on this one. Maybe a little bit more sharpening, but not even sure about that. Great subject and well captured.

On a general note:
There are several ways to boost the contrast or get more tones in a B/W photo.
I usually adjust mine in Adobe camera Raw convert to grayscale there and play around with the "color" sliders untill i get the result i was after.
To increase contrast you could just adjust the black/white point (cant think of the official name of it now). I know many people look at the diffirent color channels in Photoshop (labmode or something?) find the best color channel and work from there.

I am sure other can give much more in-depth advice. Go search on youtube and you will find loads of tutorials aswel.

And while you are doing that, i would leave these photo's as is .

[GB1]

The shots are good as they are. The top one is the best because it's sharper and REALLY like the lighting on the kid's face, looks very professional. I do wish that the long shadow wasn't directly behind him, but that's slightly more than a nit pick. The tonality is very even here but I don't think it's bad in these shots. Less contrast makes for more harmonious image IMHO, and I like what you produced.

But if you do want to add a little more zing, I would consider upping the contrast and/or, as wfooshee stated, independently adjusting each color's level of grey. You can do this in both PS (CSx) and in Corel X5 and above (not sure about other apps).

[Ptax]

I appreciate the kind words and suggestions. I will get in and try out some of the techniques. Thank you for taking the time to comment.