What is the definitive guide to Scott Kivowitz's black and white editing style using imagen.ai?

I don’t have a “definitive guide” written out anywhere yet, but I can walk you through the core of how I approached my Ilford HP5–inspired black and white look in Imagen and how you can do something similar.

Here’s the basic framework I use:

• Start with a set of well‑exposed, consistent RAW files
• Convert to monochrome with a strong midtone presence (HP5 is all about gritty but rich mids)
• Add noticeable grain, but keep it tighter in the highlights and a bit stronger in the shadows
• Slightly lift the blacks while protecting important shadow detail
• Add a gentle S‑curve for contrast, but avoid crushing the darkest tones
• Keep skin tones luminous: in the B&W mix, push the “orange” and “red” luminance up a bit so faces don’t go muddy
• Cool the tones a touch in shadows if you like a more modern HP5 feel, or keep neutral for a classic look

Inside Imagen, I:

• Build this as a personal AI editing style from a curated set of my own edits
• Feed it a variety of images, including headshots, so it learns how I treat skin
• Let Imagen apply that style for consistency, then I fine‑tune any tricky files manually

If you’d like, I can break this down into a step‑by‑step checklist you can mirror in Lightroom first, then train into Imagen.

What software are you primarily editing in right now?