Need Some Help

[Pugs]

A red filter can really emphasise black and white contrast. Have you tried that?

Why are you converting, don't you adjust the settings to shoot black and white from the beginning.

Photo editing software could easily bring up the dark shadows to provide a more even colour.

I am new here so please excuse me if I am telling you stuff you know.

Rather than setting the camera to do the post-processing for you and converting it to B&W in camera (which results in a .jpg file), I prefer to shoot in RAW and then convert to B&W because I have more direct control over the conversion process.

To the OP, a quick look at your pic suggests that the levels or curves adjustment will likely even out those blacks for you.

And for the record, I LOVE Nik Silver Efex Pro. It's what I use for all my B&W conversions. It's not the end-all and be-all, though, and further tweaking is generally needed after applying it.