Leaning

Fantastic Harley.  This is perfect for B&W.  Love the sharp details and the lovely tones.  I think I would rather see this more centered however as the blackness on the left attracts my eye and the tightness on the right does the same.  If there were equal doses on blackness that would be great, but the scene may not have allowed that, of course.  Either way, an attractive scene and great processing.

Beautiful tones and textures, Harley. I agree with Bill's comment, but cropping the dark area does not work well. How about experimenting with bringing up the detail in the very dark areas? I love the leaning trees.
--P

I like the lattice work effect of the branches, Harley, and the hints of the distant trees deep in the forest.  Excellent tonal range too.

Harley,

Great and obvious choice with the b&w.  Nice balance of tones with the lights of the grass, mid tones of the trunks and the darkness of the bg.

I can see what Bill is seeing, although I agree with Preston about not cropping.  The smaller trunks in the left half receed front to back in a diagonal leading to the darker forest in the bg.  I like the tone/detail back there as presented.

My only small nit is the bright snapped off trunk; a definite eye magnet for me.  I'm torn though.  On the one hand, it could be seen as a focal point and part of the story of the forest. But could also be a distraction.  Just an observation.

Oh, did you know there was a CW rotation in the front set of trees?  And the ones in back are straight?  Not sure how you're going fix that.    Just razzin' ya.  It's those leaners that add some dynamics to this and takes it beyond the static.

Lon

I can see you had your inner John Sexton working here.  I love this one Harley.  The dark area on the left, to my eye, works fine as the image progresses right to left.  I might burn the small tree (center right) a bit, but that's a very small nit. 

Hi Harley, I would suggest painting in more contrast in the foreground grass.  And agree the black space to the left can be a bit distracting.  Overall I like the lines and a great choice for B&W.

I agree with Dave about the fg grass. If you could burn it in and add contrast it would help a lot. I'm not sure how easy that is because the grasses and bushes overlap the trees. 

Excellent one, Harley. The repeating trunks and radiating branches make for strong BW subject matter. I like Preston's suggestion to try to lift the shadows on the left side as I also don't think a crop works.   

Love the simplicity and stark lines in this.   Even without the ground it might make a fine abstract.

The contrasts, patterns and textures make this an excellent choice for B&W.  I find myself wishing there were just a bit more to see on the right side, to balance the darkness on the left.  Also, that darkness on the left seems to accentuate the broken tree a lot, making an otherwise interesting break in the patters kind of distracting.  In fact, it drew my eye so quickly that my first thought was "the beaver feeding up there is a good indication of how deep the snow was." 

This is a really strong image Harley. I love the tonality, the composition and of course those leaning trees.