“reflects”… that might be referring to highlights?
I would agree that they should be pulled down a bit, the sky is definitely over-exposed. See if you can bring down the highlights without affecting the contrast so much. I like the contrast in the original, it just needs the highlights adjusted.
Maybe something like this… (See attached)
The problem with that is, now the image lacks the “punch” that it had before. I read somewhere that a B&W image should always have some true blacks and true whites in it. Many B&W pictures only have shades of grey, and therefore, they lack something. If you adjust the blacks and whites a bit, it will often improve the image.
