Recently I've been posting black and white shots of some photos I took while my wife and I visited Nantucket Island.  The reason for this is two-fold... One is because I'm looking for some new material to post and the other is because I'm channeling my inner David Nightingale.  If you've ever checked out his website, you'll see that he's a master at creating dramatic images. He's like one of my favorite photographers. Anyway, I'm trying to use some of his techniques to make my stuff a little more dramatic.  Of course it helps to have a good subject to start with.  His use of curves and masks really helps bring out detail in clouds and other areas of shots that may not be seen in regular processing.  Sometimes using curves can get similar results as HDR without having to take so many brackets.  And when converting to back and white, it gives the shot an extra dramatic/timeless appeal, at least to me.  That's what I've tried for here.  I can never tell if I've over done it or not, but I may have in this one.  Maybe that's what dramatic means? ;-)

(Roll your mouse over the image to see the original straight from the camera.)