Black and white adjustment layer sample photo - a snapshot turned into character portrait

I'm already quite a far way into my Photoshop refresher this summer. I thought I'd start off the blog with a sample of a colour photo that became black and white following some tips in the book Photoshop CC: The Missing Manual. This photo is a portrait of myself leisurely enjoying the Saanich Fair last year, taken by my mom or dad.

It's a chance to get to know me better! And it was a quite colourful photo indeed, which I thought would show character more eloquently in black and white.

First, the colour version:

Notice how the photo is full of colours, textures, highlights, and shadows. I also had a broken foot at the time and wanted to diminish the attention that lands on the walker, if possible.

After applying a black and white adjustment layer:

I adjusted the adjustment layer's sliders to allow shadows in the green foliage with limited highlights for that spiky plant, but also to maintain a healthy complexion in my skin. I wasn't trying to look younger - it just turned out that way because of adjusting greens and reds for the plants. As it turned out, my skin looks paler and I like that look for its contemplative qualities, rather than a more realistic texture, with flaws and all.

I was wearing a black camisole, and I believe it helps keep attention on the curved highlight on my arm, leading up to the face. The viewer's gaze, in my opinion, scatters into the nearby interesting plant life, and hopefully wraps around to the face again.

When I look at this photo, my eye occasionally glances over to the walker but quickly back again, to a focused gaze on my face. It's like I wonder what the story is behind the walker, and my eye looks back to ... my eye I guess... to find the answer. But it doesn't get resolved in this photo. I don't look unhappy here, which is my typical character despite having a broken foot at the time.

Meanwhile, I'm pleased with this black and white treatment of an otherwise busy snapshot. The black and white adjustment layer offers help for distinguishing a point of interest and for highlighting a limited portion of its environment. In turn, this helps the viewer enjoy the photo, and explore pieces in sequence, and maybe more deeply each time.