Winter @ Blackwater Falls

I had o convert this to B&W more out of necessity than anything. The light and the snow resulted in a shutterspeed that was too fast for my taste. The only nd filter I have is a 10 stop 100mm square. I don’t have a holder for the lens I was using, so had to handhold for 30 seconds, which resulted in some light leakage and weird color banding in the photo that as impossible to get rid of in PP.

The conversion may have been from necessity, but I think it would have been a great choice regardless. Great tones and contrast. I might use some artistic license and remove the viewing platform, but not a deal killer as is. Beautiful winter scene.

Beautiful scene that works very well as a b&w. Nice tonal range and it portrays the coldness of winter and the beauty despite, or maybe because of, the cold. I definitely would take out the viewing platform. Print it large!

I think B&W was the right call, Mike. I converted all my images from the trip to B&W also as there was no color to speak of. The platform does not bother me as it is a nice sense of scale to the scene. I took some images with the platform and some without; each tells a different story. My only suggestion would be to add just a little canvas on the bottom so the boulder had a little more room. The 10 stop filter produced a nice effect with the water.

This is a fine look at a very snowy/icy Blackwater Falls, Michael. I like the textural contrast between the snow covered trees and the flowing/falling water. I agree with Ed that a bit more room at the bottom and possibly on the right would be nice.