When you convert a photo to black and white aside from taking away the color you can do a few things to up the moodiness of it with your photo processing software. For starters, mess with the shadows and the lights. Obviously those two contrast with each other and you can really kick things up a notch by playing around with those two sliders. Next, and more related to this post, explore any options you have that affect texture and clarity. That is, you want to increase the texture quite a bit and clarity a tad. Doing so will make people look more worn and dogs more… dog? It’s easier to show then to explain. In the first photo with this post is a picture of a mastiff just grayscaled. The photo after it is the same photo except texture has been kicked up a lot. Notice how it affects the fur and wrinkles. The next few photos are further examples of texture increased as well as one of two kids (the little one was due for a nap at the time this photo was taken so we went with moody for these photos).
