I'm all in favour of high contrast work like this and it looks like this must have taken a great deal of time to produce. Sadly I feel that the overall image is a little fussy in that it seems over detailed and fragmented. Maybe it's because you follwed the initial picture too accurately (imagine! getting stick for being TOO acurate!) The trick to making high contrast like this really kick out is to simplify into large areas of bold black and white, while leaving deatils only in areas that really need them, the areas in the picture to which the eye is drawn, for example in this picture, the boat on the left which is mostly white against the dark tree is a good area to concentrate detail. The shoreline and skyline might be more dramatic if reduced to more definate area of colour.

I hope I don't sound like I'm being too negative on this, but the potential is there for a great image while I feel the result doesn't quite mesure up to that potential. You attention to deatil is fantasic, now all you need to do is learn when to say "no" and you'll have a talent to be envied!

Ever as always,

-K-