Whenever I need to change a photo from color to black and white or I want to create a photo effect, I turn to VirtualPhotographer by optikVerve Labs.  This free downloadable program available at http://www.optikvervelabs.com/ provides a wealth of one-click ways to alter your photos in seconds.  It is easy to use and compatible with most major digital imaging programs including Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro and more. 

VirtualPhotographer offers virtually endless possibilities for editing photos.  Installed like any other plug-in, with one click you can create hundreds of different looks for the same photo.  There are 53 different presets and 22 different built in effects that can be used to modify the look created by one of the preset choices.  Presets allow photos to be edited to reflect common photographer settings such as landscape, natural portrait, dreamy, hightint, moonlight, sunset and more.  In addition, it includes a color picker which allows you to tint the photo to any color tones.  And, like all other filters, terrific effects can also be created by running the same filter twice or a slightly different one the second time on the same photos.  

Below I have compiled eight (8) different ways that the same photo can be altered to black and white and different effects applied.  These samples do not even begin to touch upon all that VirtualPhotographer can do to edit a photo but do at least provide a small representation.

                                             

Virtual Photographer Possibilities

1. Classic B/W Preset with Soft Effect
2. Ambience Preset with Soft Effect and B/W
3. Sepia Preset with Aged B/W
4. Rosy Outlook Preset, Soft Effect with Color Picker tinting
5. Original photo
6. Dreamy Preset, Softer Effect and Normal B/W
7. Glamour Preset, Soft Effect and Normal B/W
8. Flashback Preset, Blur Effect and Normal B/W
9. Fashion Preset, Softest Effect and B/W - Red Wine Filter