MitchSevierPhoto

Thank you both Andy and MEB!!!

I was attempting some B&W conversion techniques and one of them I can't seem to find a way to do. If I convert the image to LAB mode I can see the image with just the luminosity layer like I want, but then I can't copy nor save that B&W layer by it self. I tried doing a copy then past into a second image but it copied the full color image, not the B&W luminosity mask. I also tried saving the file with only the luminosity layer turned on but it saved a full color image again. Any suggestions on how to make a luminosity based B&W image?

I am looking for a why to create or quickly fill a layer mask with black. I tried holding various control keys while creating a mask and it always comes filled with white. I made the layer mask visible with by alt clicking it then tried to fill it with the bucket of black and that didn't work. Any suggestions?