Trouble converting to B&W

John Little wrote:

I’ve never been a “Black and White person” but I’m trying to convert some color portraits and I’m having a little trouble getting in to it. I’ve tried several methods of converting from color, which I found on some web sites; I’ve tried a couple using the channel mixer, and one I found on cambridgeincolour that uses 2 hue/saturation layers.

My problem is that these methods each yield a different “look” to the photo and, while I can process a color photo until I feel like it’s “right” (I know there’s really no “right”, but it’s right for me.) with the B&W I never really feel like I’m there.

I know we have a lot of people here who are really experienced with B&W, and if some of you wouldn’t mind showing me how you would convert this picture, I’d really be interested in seeing what you come up with and how you do it.

Thanks a lot.