Need your opinion on this Sangre photo

I need help with this one. How does this image feel to you.

Personally, I like the shot more for its mountain symetry, which is unique looking for Colorado. In all my mountain travels I can't remember seeing this kind of mountain ridge layering. However the perspective seems almost too busy to my eye. Also, I had to do it in Black and White because the color image is horrible.

BTW, this image is a zoom shot of a very busy area of the Sangre Range. It was taken from the summit area of UN13,490. This peak resides inbetween the Rito Alto drainage and the Wild Cherry Drainage. It's a view south, over my favorite Sangre drainages, the North and South Crestone drainages where Mount Adams, Kit Carson and various 13ers reside.

http://c0278592.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/original/617747.jpg

I like the idea, but it feels a little busy/muddy to me too. I honestly just think the light isn't working here ... that later (or earlier) in the day would make this work better. It's one of my favorite views/areas too, and I have similar shots from Hermit.

I remember hanging out on the Hermit all afternoon to make this type of shot work, to get more separation/definition in the peaks and ridges.

Anyway, maybe try various colors filters in your b/w processing (to expand the tonality in the darker portions), or just reshoot it someday.

You have a lot of different tonalities (darks and lights) here which is what you want in a good B&W. Whats missing in your image is a focal point. My eye wanders the picture looking for something to focus on. Leaving the sky out confuses my eye more. Another definition for a focal point is a center of interest. It could be a lake, a tree, an interesting set of rocks, layering of different ridges with different light and so on. The image does have feel to it, it just needs that added element. You could also choose one interesting mountain out of the area and focus on it as your main subject. Shows its form, texture, shadow and highlights. Hope this helps.

Jesse and Dean both have it about right, but I think there's a killer image hiding in there. I'm just not sure how to bring it out. It's classic Sangres. Like Jesse, I sat on top of Hermit Peak one sunset and was enthralled by the cross-cut nature of the geology. That's something you've captured well here, it just needs some as yet unspecified help.

Any chance of posting the color version? Might be a wider variety of workable options.

I agree with Todd. I think it might be the overall darkness, which makes it more foreboding when it should be inviting. Id try a lighter toning.

Thank you for the excellent critique, all of you. I thought was making a bit of a stretch with this one. Todd, the color image is not fixable, due to the fact that I didn't shoot the image in RAW. I think I had the Active D-Lighting on Auto when I shot the zoom image which renders the shadows as a very blue cast. Nikons attempt at assisting with high dynamic range is A D Lighting. It works fairly well when set at Low. I'm going to go back and have a look at a few others from that hike and assess their comp value.