From time to time, I will get a question like “Oh, can you just switch this photo to black and white for me quickly”. Well, the answer is yes AND no. I can definitely convert it to black and white, but not quickly.
Take the below photo, for example. A very lovely photo straight out of the camera, but I thought it would look best in black and white.

Here is the result with just clicking on my little “black and white” converter in my editing software. It is fine, but in my opinion, nothing special.
It needs a little more punch, doesn’t it?

I edited this next image in a variety of ways. I adjusted the contrast and sharpening, to help make the clouds appear more dramatic. I applied a bit of vignetting which I typically don’t use much but works well for this particular photograph. I darkened it up a bit and bumped up some of the colors to add more contrasts in the blacks.
In all, to achieve this photo, it took me 12 different steps aside from just switching it to black and white.

And there you have it!