Frozen in Black and White

I struggle much with black and white photos. I realize that simplicity and intimacy seem to work the best when one is trying to use black and white in a photograph.   At least that is what works for me in my mind. But the great outdoors with its complicated scenery just does not seem to fit in my version of black and white. Ansel Adams was a bit of a genius.  I do think that true photographic talent shows up much better with black and white photos.

Winter is mostly black and white.

This above was taken as the sun bounced above a ridge cloud with the angle of the morning sun. I converted it to black and white. (Note the bird feeders covered in snow.)

This shows the real color of that morning.  It is almost a black and white without me changing saturation or color in any way. (Our compost bin.)

This is "almost" black and white, yet I brought up the saturation of the sunset.  That was the feature in the photo anyway.  (My deck still has snow on it, although much has been melted everywhere else.)