Sandy Point B&W

I struggled with this photo a lot. I tried to keep as much contrast as

possible, but given the location of the sun that was quite difficult if I

wanted to keep detail in the foreground. If anyone has any

thoughts/suggestions, I would love to hear them.

This photo has an almost dreamlike quality. The tones are beautiful and you did an excellent job of keeping shadow detail. I wish the EXIF data was still there so I could see what type of exposure setting you used.

It's hard to know what specifically you are trying to achieve, but I think I might have an idea of what you are looking for.  

I hope you don't mind that I ran your photo through PS, please don't take offense.  For this I duplicated the background layer and changed it from Normal to Soft Light.  Reduced the opacity to 40%.  With a graduated brush I erased the part of the upper edge the frame where I thought it was still a bit too dark.

By no means am I trying to say my edited version is better, it is simply a guess as what you are looking for.

I like the sun rays you captured, and I'm quite jealous over your graduated ND filters.  They are something I have not yet managed to get my hands on.  As mentioned above, your photo has a dreamlike quality to it that I very much enjoy.  The way the rocks almost hit vanishing point and the off-center sun creates a lovely composition.  One thing I do notice though is there is an apparent squiggle in the water above the largest foreground rock in the water, on the right side.  It is lighter in shade that the water behind it.  I'm not sure what that is from, perhaps a scratch on your ND filter?  It's just something I notice.    

 

Best

 

PDE

Great monochrome sun light!