Black and White

I thought I would share a few pictures that I converted from color to black and white using Silver Efex Pro and Topaz Labs plug in filters in Adobe Lightroom 2.5. First I have to say that the videos that you can see and use to learn how to best use Silver Efex Pro in Adobe Lightroom are very helpful. They explain the tools, interface and how to use them. They also explain how to apply old darkroom effects to your pictures.
I thought it might be helpful to see my results as a first time user and maybe to spark your interest in trying some of the techniques provided by these specialized filters. You can try these filters for free and they are worth the look. You might just enjoy using them.

This picture I cropped from a larger photo then applied the Efex Pro filter and adjusted the brightness, contrast and structure. I then used the topaz filter to smooth out the details before applying light to the lower right side of the picture.

This picture I used a preset filter in Efex Pro and smoothed out some of the detail the Topaz Labs filter.

A Sunday morning add on. I just thought that this black and white picture which has been processed to give it a look of antique solarization.

This picture was processed with Adobe Lightroom 2 and Silver Efexpro Filters. It took a rather plain photograph that I had rated as 2 stars and transformed it into a interesting 4 star picture.