I purchased the new Creative Black and White Photography course and have watched the Intro videos (The deal is still available here) and one of the major benefits of the course is it will take us in detail through several different programs you can use to convert BW images.
In the intro it took us through using Lightroom – I have used LR via the Presets but they are pretty basic so never bothered to explore it any further. Turns out there is a lot that can be done once you know how and where 🙂 I was actually quite surprised at how adaptable LR was to process a BW image and how good the outcome was. It still lacks a lot of features you get in dedicated software like Nik, but if you had no other option, you could still produce a stylish quality BW image via LR.
This first image above from my Decay series was editedg in LR as a colour image as per my usual process and then I edited it further as a BW image.
This second image, also from my Decay series, was also edited in LR as a colour then BW image. Once completed I then took it into Nik Silver Efex for some finishing off tweaks – changing the colour tone to slightly warmer, adding some grain and lens fall off.
Click on either image to view a larger version
One of the reasons I like BW so much is it distills the essence of an image into texture, light and emotion.
I am curious, what do you feel when you see these images? What do they make you think of?
Learning to See Light 
Lovely Stacey. I do love monochrome work. I have used LR extensively for my B & W processing in the past. There is definitely a lot more to do with it than one originally thinks. I do love your images. The monochrome really does convey the feeling of decay. Very gothic