Partial view of an antique spinning wheel used in the production of silk thread. Notice the kewl bamboo spokes.



SMC Takumar 55/1.8
1/15 and aperture somewhere in the middle, I forget.

The town I live in used to be a major player in silk production and in the production of textiles of all sorts. Still a major producer of the silks used in high-quality kimono in Japan. One of the old factories has been converted to a museum of the machinery and processes used....and the place is a photographer's dream. Why? Spacious, lots of cool stuff, and best of all....practically nobody goes there. In the two hours I was there only one other visitor came through and I had the museum and guide entirely to myself. Practically all of the equipment is hands-on and still used in demonstration, so they don't have a cow about getting right up on the stuff with a camera. Nobody around means you can set up cameras, lights, or whatever to your heart's content.

I had never been there before because every time I've been by the parking lot has been deserted. And my kids, who got dragged there on mandatory school field trips assured me it was boring. Naturally, I ended up not taking the equipment that I really needed, but now I know what to take the next time I go back and spend the day in there photographing.

[Peter Zack]

That's cool! Like the spokes against the patterns from the rice paper wall(?) in the background.

[Mike Cash]

That's exactly what it is, Peter. And the limited extent of that background is why I chose to go with that composition. Anything capturing the whole wheel was going to get plain wall and some display placards into the bargain.