Rework with suggested changes:
Typical fall Oregon Coast weather. I was going through my older images from Bandon Beach, Oregon in preparation for a trip there later this week. This was taken in September, 2017. For me, the sky/clouds are what makes this image work. Otherwise, pretty boring.
Any comments appreciated.
35mm, 1.6 sec @ f/16, ISO 400
Really like this composition David. I struggle with how much to enhance images when I’m making black-and-whites. Seems like once you go B/W, a lot of rules against over-enhancement go out the window, given that “the masters” often went for outrageous blacks and contrast. I once got roundly criticized (in a good way) for having too much gray in my B/Ws. Have tried to keep that in mind. I’d go ahead and give this a stronger treatment, bringing up the rock details, improving sky contrast, strengthening the reflection, just to see what’s possible. The Face Rock has unusual potential to attract the eye. Why not edit to pull they eye to what could look like an emerging Titan? Attached for fun is one of my favorite rocks in Joshua Tree NP. In color, it was very pastel and washed out, the natural desert look. In B/W, I went for a lot of enhancement and thought it worked best.
David,
I too like the composition. It’s very solid (as opposed to being boring… ) 
I agree with @james7 on a couple points as well. Assuming you have all you need in the RAW file, I think there is plenty of room to up the contrast and drama in the sky.
And to this point exactly. Sure, there’s going to be a limit when you know it’s too much, and there will be some sort of balance between extra drama and what you’ll accept… Also - you’re more familiar with the coast conditions and I’m willing to bet seasonally, the clouds don’t really get any more dramatic than what you’ve captured (at least this time of the year…)
Anyway, seems there is more contrast in the waves and smaller rocks, than the rest of the beach reflection.
As presented, this works quite nicely. Any additional enhancing to the cloud drama - YMMV and personal choice!
Lon
Nice shot David! Good prep for this week. 
I agree with the others that there could be a lot more drama in the sky if you choose to push it. One other thought that came up when I viewed large was that I might also try and play a bit with cropping up from the lower left corner, keeping same aspect ratio. If the sky is really “the shot” for you, then maybe minimize the foreground some and position Face Rock a bit more to the left looking up to the sky…by cropping up from lower left.
Just some ideas…
Thank you @james7, @Lon_Overacker, and @John_Pedersen for your comments. Much appreciated.
It is fair to say that low contrast Black and White photography isn’t for everyone. B&W has a reputation for high contrast, dark shadows and boosted highlights. I have many such images in my collection. If the scene calls for it, a high contrast treatment works very well in B&W.
I never intended this image to be high contrast. The scene was low contrast, blue hour, soft twilight before sunrise. Here’s the raw image for comparison:
I know low contrast B&W is not eye catching, doesn’t have the drama, and this image will never make the cover of “Black and White Photography” magazine. It is not a popular choice, particularly among photographers. But that does not make it necessarily inferior. My goal for this image was to bring out the subtle tones of the middle range, not quash them by bumping the highlights and darkening the shadows. Did I accomplish my goal with this image? Maybe yes, maybe no. I like it personally, so I guess that counts for something.
Having said that, I took a stab at adjusting the contrast and tonalities. Not too much over the top though. More dramatic? Somewhat yes. But it doesn’t really give me the sense of what I felt when I stood behind the camera and visualized the image in B&W.
John, I played around with the crop quite a bit before posting the original and felt that the tighter crop with the rock more down in the lower left tended to constrain the rock. This rework does have a tighter crop though. Here’s the rework:
Thanks again for all your comments. An interesting learning process for me.
Regards,
David
Great points @David_Bostock . Thanks for the further info about your vision for the image. Makes perfect sense and I agree with the thinking. I like the reworked version a lot! For the crop, yes, just a smidge is all that is needed, which it looks like you did. I too don’t like things crowding the edges of the frame, they need room to breathe. This rework “feels” much better to me. Thanks for sharing!
Of course not, I totally agree. I think this boils down to what you (we) are trying to do with posting our images. Are we posting to please someone else, or are we portraying either what we want to say, or what we experienced. All of the above is perfectly valid.
Having said that, I like the small change in the repost, but also better understand it doesn’t match what you experienced and are trying to say. I think most of us who’ve been to the pacific coast know what the marine layer, foggy, hazy and generally blah conditions are like. You most certainly succeeded in capturing that atmosphere. The boosted contrast in the clouds? that was for the viewer, like me.
Great topic of discussion.
Of course, I like this one better David. (For what that’s worth!) Who knew the enhanced sky would reveal the zigzag in the clouds which act as a leading line to the face? Well . . . the camera knew. Otherwise you couldn’t have revealed it in the rework. Also, a print would probably reveal more detail in the rock. And if that print were hung in good light, this image would be very visually compelling, I’ll bet.
I totally agree not all B/W should be popped up – a friend of mine once shot white wind turbines in a fog near Palm Springs using a medium-format Pentax. The multiple grays and whites captured by that sensor were haunting and beautiful. I asked him about it and he credited the dynamic range of the large sensor for capturing so much variation in the B/W spectrum.
The great irony of B/W is that so many of us, including me, think of it as “real” photography, because that’s where it all started. But it is an abstraction from the start, a distortion of reality, because color, not B/W, is what’s real to our eyes and brains. I never get tired of working in B/W and I hope to see more of your B/W interpretations. And I will do a few edits to see what is revealed by reducing contrast, instead of pushing it.
