waves on rocks and B&W conversion

Love to get your ideas on these two shots and the B&W conversion.
What do you prefer?
Suggestions for improvement?

#1

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/ni77​mY

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/ni6Y​wZ

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nka3​r6

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nioC​St

I usually favor color. But there's something about the color shots that doesn't seem right. Maybe too much saturation or over-sharpening. I'm not sure. Zooming in a bit on the wave I think would be more dramatic. It feels like the foreground is drawing attention from it.

I prefer the color version of #1, although I don't love either version. I feel like the crashing wave is kind of an afterthought in the picture. If there was a super strong foreground element, it would add some extra "oomph" to the image. The foreground here though, is sort of flat.

#2 on the other hand, I really like both versions, but I think the moodiness of the B&W makes it my favorite. I'm curious to see what #2 would look like with a slight warmer WB.

davidmtml wrote in post #16856335
I prefer the color version of #1, although I don't love either version. I feel like the crashing wave is kind of an afterthought in the picture. If there was a super strong foreground element, it would add some extra "oomph" to the image. The foreground here though, is sort of flat.

I agree! I would crop out the green at the bottom of the photo, it just doesn't add to the image. There isn't anything that really pulls me through this image. One thing is the camera height is rather low so it's difficult to see the depth in this image. This makes the image feel rather flat and uninteresting. This is why having something to get "up on" so you can photograph downward a bit can make or break photographing a scene.