Silver Efex Pro: a different approach

I attended Vincent Versace’s class on “Practical B&W Conversion for the Common User” at Photoshop World 2009 Vegas. I’ve said it a thousand times, Versace is a GENIUS!  I’ve been using Silver Efex Pro, a Photoshop plug-in from NIK Software, for years. It’s main use was to give me that perfect black and white. At the seminar, Versace showed us a totally different use for it, to enhance COLOR. Yes, a black and white plug-in for color. The simple trick; after converting your image using Silver Efex change the layer blend mode to Luminosity. If you don’t have Silver Efex Pro, you can still get better color by using Adobe’s built in Black and White adjustment layer. Although you don’t have as many creative options, it does a pretty good job. This simple tip casually said by a modern day Art Master has given me another tool in my creative arsenal.

I spent less than 5 minutes on this sample. I’ve included the original, (right out of the camera no adjustments), cropped and the Silver Efex versus Adobe’s Black and White adjustment layer.