Some things I've learned about Adobe Photoshop ~ channels.

Heck, I never knew what a channel was before.  
Never used that aspect of PS or CS as it is now called.

I figured I was doing great using Topaz plugin filters to get what I needed.

Along with Photomatix, Dynamic Photo HDR, and anything else I could get my hands on for processing...well,
Post processing.

I read a tutorial by Christopher O'Donnell on the use of luminosity layers.  It is a hard concept to initially grasp but I decided to look up as many tuts as I could.

Obviously it has been around for quite some time.  Tony Kuper has a good tutorial also.

I'm not one that will follow a tutorial to the letter.  I usually open the program and start experimenting on my own.

Here is the original shot.  Shot with a .9 ND filter.  f22 at 8 seconds.  I shot it at 400 ISO because it was so overcast.

The water appears as I wanted it to, but what could I do to make this 'better'?

I decided to try Topaz.  This is what I always go to.  Great plugins.  

Well, more detail, more contrast, more color.  I thought it was pretty darned good.

Then I decided to try some 'luminosity work'.

The Layers look like a mess right?  But I started seeing a more true to life version of what I did shoot that day.

The whites are a bit blown in this shot and it was an overcast day.  Perhaps if I'd shot in RAW format and converted it, ...it could be better.

Lastly I tried to convert it to Black and White using Topaz BW Effects.

I decided to have a bit of fun and go with a preset I had made on my own.

So there you go.  Luminosity.  Channels.
Things I had not studied before I joined the Google+ Community called 256SOG or Shades of Grey.

Just goes to show you.
You can always learn more things to try if you want to.