Palm leaf B/W repost

[Jerry van Dijk]

Chris Korman suggested a B/W version for this image a few posts below. I gave it a try and was very pleased with the result. Thanks for the suggestion Chris!
Original specs:
Panasonic DMC-FZ18, handheld, 10 mm (60 mm eq.), F/3.6, 1/25 sec, ISO 200, -0.3 EV, RAW. ACR5.0: WB, curves, blacks, clarity, sharpness, vibrance.

B/W conversion:
Black & White adjustment, using the red filter preset. Levels adjustment, unsharp mask. I added quite some contrast to emphasize the nice patterning.

Hope this comes across well. It's my first edit on my new laptop.

[Ken Childs]

Hey Jerry, while I prefer the color version, this edit does look good too. The black spot and the vein in the LRC are still there. :w3

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Ken, I have been very lazy.....:e3

[Norm Dulak]

Sorry Jerry, but this does nothing for me. I'll stick with and enjoy your color version. :bg3:

[Kaushik Balakumar]

This image has some nice artistic feel to it. Very nicely processed frame.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi all, thanks for responding! I must admit I prefer the color versioin myself as well, but I thought that the B/W nicely accentuated the textures and made the image more abstract. Maybe I should push the contrasts to the limit and produce an OOTB image.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jerry,
I think that going with more contrast will give this more impact. Try doing it in selective color on the white-neutral and black channell.......to see if that gets it going into a bolder direction before taking it OOTB! Just another option for you to explore. Nice job exploring the possibilities in this image!!!

[Julie Kenward]

I think it's gorgeous but then I'm a black and white freak so of course I like it! I will say I think you could take it even further and really pop the whites and blacks even more. I did an "auto" adjust on this in curves and then added a high pass filter and chose soft light blend mode. I do still really like your softer version - this would just be another way to go.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jerry. First off, let me say that I'm a big fan of the wonderful greens in the OP. Having said that, I think this B&W version can stand on its own. I like the more contrasty look of Jules' repost. :S3:

[Chris Korman]

Interesting conversion. Regarding the red filter, did you also try an infrared filter? Depending on your mood, low or high contrast ways both work. Though I think low contrast would work more with an image with some OOF elements.

[Brendan Dozier]

The B&W does bring out the textures, and had I not seen your color version I would probably like this much more. Still very nice image.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi all, thanks for commenting! Jules, I just love your contrasty version of the image! This is kind of what I had in mind when making the conversion, but you did a much better job.
Chris, I did try the infraredfilter, which gave a little more contrast at the start of the process, but the difference was so small that it was lost in the levels adjustment and contrast addition I applied after that.