Half Dome and the Merced River in Winter

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Canon 5D MK II
f11
1/60 sec.
ISO 100
22 mm with a 17 -40 L
RAW
Some PP with curve adjustments.

First Snow in Yosemite Valley December 7, 2009
I made this image at 2:49 pm as the cloud cover opened up briefly to reveal a surreal scene...The light was amazing...It was as if I was transformed into a moment of Black and White...I hope that I captured it here !
This is what I saw and it is a color image, I have not converted it to black and white, but it might be a good image to try...

All comments and critiques are welcome !

Jerry

[Dave Mills]

Hi Jerry, Your composition is nicely handled. At first I thought it was a B/W until I read your explanation..I then looked closer. This would work very well as a B/W(doesn't take much to imagine it as such) but I thought I would tweak the colors and see what I could bring out. I pushed the sat up alot and used NIK Graduated ND filter to see if I could bring out more in the sky. Above is what I came up with. Another way of looking at the image but the B/W is strong...
Very often the most dramatic images can come from lousy or changeable weather...

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jerry,
I like the way the NIK grad ND filter brought up the sky some.....but the color isn't my cup of tea here....go with the B&W as it is almost there anyway and see what other details you can eek out of the sky! Nicely done!

[Lance Warley]

What a beauty. The reflections in the glass-like water are just riveting.

[Bill Ragan]

I'd have a Cokin 122 on the camera if I'd have been there. It would add a gradual blue color to the sky.

[Ed Cordes]

I like the OP better. The B&W appearance is unusual but striking.

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Thank you all for the comments and advice...I went back to other images taken at the same time. The sky has very little detail as this was a fleeting moment. The snow stopped falling for a short time and the clouds opened up around Half Dome momentarily and then would shroud Half Dome. This image is in between that interval.
I will post some other images from my two days in the park.

Jerry

[Stu Bowie]

Well spotted Gerald. Its amazing how a full coloured image appears almost B&W. Lovely reflections in the water, and I like the mist in the BG. Dave's repost looks good, and Im sure you will try a B&W version.

[Robert Amoruso]

I agree with the B&W conversion recommendations. As I am on a laptop, I cannot judge subtle tonal graduations well but I do know that I would work to bring out tonal variety in the darker trees and perhaps the water.

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Thank you Stuart and Robert for your comments...