The well-received British television series Peaky Blinders occasionally referred to the expression ' In the bleak mid-winter .' I hadn't realized it was an 1872 poem by the English writer Christina Rossetti, but it always struck a chord with me. It says so much in so few words. 

During a brief photo trip to Long Island’s Jones Beach with my brother, the temperature was sub-freezing, and the wind was howling. The seashore in the harsh off-season weather further conveys a bleak feeling. 

The colors of this scene were pleasing. There are soft yellow grasses against an overcast but colorful sky. However, black and white further capture the feeling of emptiness. Softening, rather than sharpening, the details also felt more ethereal than expected for harsh conditions. 

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There is more room for creative post-processing when working with black-and-white images. While there was a dome of dark clouds, the vignette is perhaps heavy-handed, but projects like this are an opportunity to experiment.

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f8.0 1/60 sec ISO 320 Jan 17, 2022