Back to the drawing board

Just when I think that I know a thing or two about B&W I realize that I know nothing. I've spent the last 3 days in the hole looking at different techniques and trying them out and literally just tinkering and experimenting. Curves, levels, blend modes, channels/layers, apply image... it feels like I've left no stone unturned but I know for sure that there's still a formula/combination I've not tried.

Which explains some of my recent funky B&W images. I need images to experiment on so understandably, I would mock up some sample pictures that would provide me a little playground to work in. Unfortunately sometimes those results prove less than pleasant as you've seen in my last 2 B&W images.

That's why it's back to the drawing board.

Surprisingly I'm still at the computer. 3 days later. Still trying to figure stuff out. Maybe I'm doing it all wrong. Maybe I should just pay someone to show me what I'm missing? Maybe I'm crazy.

Or maybe I'm just a day away from figuring stuff out? I truly believe what separates a good photographer from a great photographer is not front-end results but back-end results. No editor cares how well you shoot "out-of-the box".

It's the final image that matters. Yes, you can take that to the press.