Monochromatic Ranunculus, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

Sometimes old-fashioned black and white works best. Not that there’s anything really old-fashioned about digital monochromatic imagery. As I explain in Creative Black & White: Digital Tips & Techniques, monochrome in the digital era amounts to a simulation. For the most part, I avoid grayscale files—my black and white digital images are saved and reproduced using RGB or CMYK color.

As with the Ranunculus Asiaticus, this shot was taken down on black velvet. I combined five captures in post-processing using hand-HDR techniques. Each exposure was made on tripod using my 85mm macro lens at f/21 and ISO 100, with shutter speeds from 1/6 of a second to 1/60 of a second.

I converted the color Photoshop image to simulated monochromatic using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro filter plug-ins, and used Silver Efex to add a small amount of virtual selenium toning.