The channel mixer will give you very good control over your b+w conversions. But think of the intial conversion as a base. To that you will most likely need to dodge and burn and adjust to get the final image. For example, I converted one of your other color shots, then did some dodging and burning and contrast adjustments to get this:

http://upload.pbase.com/image/56823823.jpg

Before:
http://upload.pbase.com/pam_r/image/56823800.jpg
Here are some general tips for working with the channel mixer:
- Take a look at all the channels individually by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on 1, 2, and 3 successively to pull up each channel. Make sure the composite image is activated when doing this or you won't be able to pull up the channels.

- Remember that any color will appear lightest in it's own color channel and darkest in the opposite channel. That is, green leaves will be lightest in the green channel and darkest in the blue. Blue skies will look lighter in the blue channel and darkest in the red.
- Try to stay around 100 - 110% for the total mix percentage.
- The red channel usually has the most contrast and the least skin imperfections. The green will have the most detail. The blue will have the most noise/dirt/skin imperfections. The percentage of red/blue will dictate whether your portrait conversion will be on the glamour end (higher red percentage) or the "Dragan" end (higher blue).

- Portraits will usually require hefty amounts of the green channel, a smaller amount of the red and maybe a very slight touch of blue. Most of the time 30R and 70G or 40R/60G will give you a good start. Play around with the sliders from there. Blend in more red for a lighter skin tone and pull back on the green accordingly. A touch of blue will usually bring in a little punch but watch the highlights, as they blow out easily with too much blue. If you like the punch you get with blue, try pulling red back to rein in the highlights.

- Sometimes you'll find that parts of an image look great with one mix while other parts need a different mix. In that case, run the channel mixer twice and mask off the area in question.

For example, I might find that the trees in a landscape look good with a heavy blue mix but the sky looks great with 100% red. I'll run the mix for the trees and mask out the sky on the layer mask. Then I'll run the mix again with 100% red, while inverting the previously created mask to expose the sky. Remember that you don't need to commit to one mixer setting. Mix and match for the best results.

- I personally never use the constant slider. It seems to affect ALL tones, including shadows and highlights and ends up destroying the contrast. If you want to lighten or darken overall, use curves and pull the middle of the curve towards the top left corner (lighten) or bottom right corner (darken). This will leave the black points and white points in place and better preserve the overall contrast.


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Pam
http://www.pbase.com/pam_r
'art is working on something 'til you like it...then leaving it that way'