Entrada Formation in Monochrome

I managed a very brief but fruitful trip to Moab this past weekend. The conditions were perfect the entire time with snow on the ground and great clouds overhead. One bad part was no sign of LaSals but the sunset light was pretty incredible with the clouds. I am still processing some images but I figured I share a few of the B&W ones.

BTW, I just got Nik Silver Efex Pro (rebuilding a computer pushed me to finally invest in some software) and WOW I'm in love! Obviously these two shots were processed using it so let me know what you think as I'm just getting used to the tool and might not know my limits.

Here is another shot from that day

And if you have a minute check out my blog as I could always use some constructive critique
http://www.thelightwithinphotography.com/wordpress/

Aleksandra,
Love these two images in BW. Fantastic. I just got Nik Siver Efex Pro myself and have just looked over the interface.....can you recall any details as to how you processed these two?
Joe Rogers

I like your BW conversions. Great tonal range.
Looking forward to seeing more from the trip.

Well done Aleksandra, great range of tones (as Bill said), quite dramatic. #1 is my fav.

Love everything about #2! #1 is nice, but something seems strange to me. Maybe it has to do with how the lightest tones are in the foreground snow while the darkest are in the sky; feels sort of tonally inverted, or like the B&W equivalent of too much HDR. I'm not really a black and white guy, though, so take my impression with a grain of salt. Both are beautiful scenes!

Are those clouds for real?! Cool shots! Esp. like #2. Great tonal values.

Very nice indeed. Good choice to go BW given the harsh mid-day light. As everyone has said, the tonal range is wonderful. The compositions are really good too. I prefer #2, but it is a tough call.

Well aren't these an adverstisement for Nik Silver Effex Pro! Both are excellent but the comp on the second one puts it in a class all by itself. That is a huge wall hanger for sure.

Great stuff Aleks. White Elephant?

Both of these are extra nice. Well done.

I really like both, but I'll give the nod to #2. They both have a slight HDR look (not a bad thing). Is this from the Nik software?

Thanks for the comments and helpful critique. I guess just like with any new software there is a learning curve and a big possibility to push too far. So I'm glad I asked and will try to address some of the issues. I think the fg snow and the sky might be a bit too dark in the first one and I'll try to tone down the HDR look of both which might be some artifact from adjustments in Nik (neither of the images was a blend). The clouds were real, Tod ;) and I had a hard time beliving I could get this lucky. I did get a lot more lucky at sunset and I plan on posting that shot later.

Thanks again!
Aleks

Theyre both nice, but #2 is a cleaner comp and its the winner for me. Tone down the HDRish look and it will be great!

Fantastic b&w's. Couldn't ask for better shots.

I've never done a BW conversion but if I saw these in a gallery they would really catch my eye. Nice work.

I like both of these. Fantastic clouds for sure. I think your instinct about lightening the highlights is the way to go Alex. The range of midtones is already wonderful though!

That second shot is very powerful... awesome comp and dynamic take on those arches. The first one seems a bit busy to me and not as striking in comparison. I look forward to seeing more from your trip!

Aleks both are beautiful comps and impressive coversions. I might be tempted to burn down that bright area in the lower left center just below the forgorund arch. It might be my monitor though. This has definitly pushed me over the edge on getting this software though. Nice job!

I agree both are great compositionally. The sky in the first bothers me. The clouds have a weird unnatural appearance. The sky in the second almost looks like it was cut/pasted in there. I would guess this means they both need backing off a little in the processing adjustments, whatever they may be. Looks to be a pretty powerful tool! Wonderful work though and anxious to see what else ya got

I like 'em both, but the 2nd is the far better image. Perfect tonal range (coming from a BW neanderthal, no offense to neanderthals), and a really well-composed image. The 1st is a bit busy and the snow could be more white to make it pop.

Hey Aleks,

Your second photo might be the best image I've seen of Double Arch. Gorgeous! Processing looks really good, too. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to Moab. Really wish I would have been in town so we could have met and photographed together a bit. Next time...