I have had adobe photoshop for years now, however have done very little except brightness, contrast and some included filters.  I am however taking a udemy course – tip here – when getting close to Christmas (November timeframe) I have found groupon gives great deals like$15 per course, on getting the best out of black and white.   So I am trying different things now, using layers to have repeated effects, taking those pictures and using multiple software – like photomax essentials to enhance further.  So my next couple of posts will be photos that have been enhanced.   This first one was of an iris I had.   I used a layer to removed the color, then a gradient layer to get more crisp blacks and white, then did a mask to delete a color portion of the photo.   Hope you like it.  Constructive feedback is always welcome!