Thank you for the kind words. For years I used the channel mixer to make B&W/monochrome using Paint Shop Pro and then when I switched to using Photoshop CS2 around 2006 I continued using it. It gave me control over how different colors were converted to shades of gray. Then a decade ago I started using Lightroom and I continued using the channel mixer HSL/Color panel. The channel mixer in Lightroom is even better though because you have 8 color sliders to work with rather than just 3 (red, green, blue) and that gives much more control to easily target colors.
As for how I do the actual conversion, well, on one hand it is all quite easy and on the other hand it isn't something that I can make into an easy recipe. Although I am sure programs such as Silver Efex are wonderful I have always been happy rolling my own.
1. I usually work first on the color image getting the basics looking pretty good in the Basic panel along with cropping, sharpening, etc. Then I make a virtual copy which is one of the fantastic features in Lightroom (darktable has it too and probably ACDSee, On1, and Exposure X6 have it also). This virtual copy is my B&W version.
2. I select the virtual copy. Up until a year or so ago Lightroom only had one B&W profile called Adobe Standard B&W. I would use that and then usually tweak the Basic settings some more. I rarely bother with the Tone Curve panel in Lightroom although years ago I used to use curves in Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro sometimes. There are times though when the Tone Curve panel can be helpful, but I find that the various Basic panel settings almost always do the trick for me.
3. Now is about the time I start fooling around with the channel mixer HSL/Color panel. I can move the 8 color sliders to brighten or darken certain colors to taste.
4. I also sometimes adjust the white balance settings too since they change the colors which in turn changes the look in B&W.
5. On rare occasions I may use an Adjustment Brush to make local adjustments.
6. I often then go back to the Basics panel and tweak things a bit more.
You can easily head down into a rabbit hole though. Change the channel mixer or the white balance and that makes things look different so then you go back to the Basic panel and adjust and then go back to the channel mixer/white balance and on and on and on. You have to know when to quit.
I would say for most photos I can get it all done in 5-10 minutes.
Starting a year or so ago Lightroom added 18 new B&W profiles to add to the old Adobe Standard B&W so now there are 19 in total. So, what I do now in step #2 above is hover my mouse cursor over the B&W profiles in the Profile Browser and that changes my photo so I choose the one that looks the closest to what I want. Then I continue with the rest of the steps. This usually saves time and gets me there a bit quicker. With all of these B&W profiles it may possibly be easier to choose one before making any of the Basic panel adjustments in step #1. There is no right way though.
Most of the photos in the Japan album were made some time ago so use the Adobe Standard B&W profile, but some of the photos use some of the new profiles.
I use Lightroom and most definitely prefer using a non-destructive editor than editors such as Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro that I used until a decade ago. Of course, I also very much like having the built-in DAM too. Almost any software can do these sorts of B&W conversions though. DXO, C1, On1, ACDSee, Exposure X6, darktable, Photoshop, Affinity, Paint Shop Pro, Gimp, Rawtherapee, ART, etc. There isn't much or anything unique about Lightroom in this context. Editors such as Photoshop, Affinity, Paint Shop Pro, and Gimp can give you even more control, especially for making local adjustments, if you need that. I have the current Photoshop also, but I pretty much never use it for anything.
I just adjust until it looks good to me. Having said that, I sometimes tweak a photo at a later date. One of the great things about a non-destructive editor! Sometimes I even start over because I want to change the look. Although lots of deep black and bright white with not so many shades of gray seems to be popular these days it is not usually what I want. I like having a range of shades of gray.
I almost never shoot using the B&W jpeg mode of my cameras because I have little to no control over how different colors are converted to shades of gray like I can get using the channel mixer and white balance adjustments.
I hope this helps.
