BW Rose

A rose a photographed in my mother's garden. It was photograhped with a Kodak EasyShare DX4530, in Macro mode. The original was shot in full color, and converted to black and white in Photoshop. I did not simply choose Image > Mode > Grayscale; I used the Channel Mixer (Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer). This is a great way to create black and white images, based on the three color channels. By adding up the three colors (red, green, blue), to 100%, and checking the Monochrome box, you'll be able to create a much better grayscale image, than simply selecting Grayscale from a menu. It takes practice to do, but the reults are quite worthwhile.

I'm very happy with the sharpness and texture of the image. By removing the color, I attempt to focus the viewer's attention on the minute details of this wonderful structure. I'm very happy with the tonal range of the image, too. I can see a few hotspots, but I don't think they distract from the photograph as a whole.

The only thing I did to the image was minimal cropping, converting to grayscale, and possibly some sharpening. Therefore, it is not a Photomanipulation, and more approriately belongs in this category.