B&W Horses

I just download the demo of Nik Software and had a play around with Silver Efex Pro and so far I am impressed with it that I may consider getting the full version.

However I am uncertain if I have done a good enough job at the conversion. Could I have some feedback on these please - both from the point of view of the conversion and on the photograph itself?

The white area near the nostril in the second was white and I guess I have blown it out a bit, so not too sure if it detracts from the image.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/rRYw​Ln

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/s9qD​1z

They look pretty good to me. The white areas can be fixed, especially if you shot RAW. It's just a matter of blending some tones in after you run the effects.
Photoshop CS6 Tutorial - Understanding Layer Masks

Overall I like the tonality of both of them. I have had the Nik Silver for a LONG time and it is my goto for monoconversions. Really like it. Never regretted buying the full version.

That being said - on both of these, I thing they present here as being oversharpened. Notices the upfacing edges on both ears on the first shot. See the thin white line between the dark ears and the grey sky? That is called a halo, and it is an oversharpening artifact.

You can redo these and dial back on the structure some.

As to the white being blown, well, there are some people who seem to have some sort of anaphylactic reaction to white (255-255-255) actually being in a black and white photograph. Well, my thought is this. Sometimes things ARE white. Does not mean they they are blown. Don't worry about it unless YOU (the photographer) doesn't like how it looks.

Rad