Just sharing the series I shot today while driving home from work. I passed my favorite array of rusty farm machines and noticed the light was just right for B&W shooting.

Man, something about rusty metal and green grass really does it for me. I had 3 lenses with me: M 50mm 1.7, DA 16-45mm, DA 18-55 (with fisheye attachment). Here's what I got:

#1. Wagon Wheels


User Photo Gallery - Machines and Vehicles

#2. John Deere Plow


User Photo Gallery - Machines and Vehicles

#3. Plow (closeup)


User Photo Gallery - Machines and Vehicles

#4. Wheel Spokes


User Photo Gallery - Machines and Vehicles

Despite these photos, the day was anything but monochromatic. Check out these vivid colors (using Hoya circ pol to darken sky):

#5. Fertilizer Spreader


User Photo Gallery - Machines and Vehicles

As I am still very much a beginner, your feedback is always welcome - thanks.
I hope you enjoy these. I sure enjoyed the serenity of the location.

[Rense]

Mike, I like these a lot! #3 is the best for me.

[FruitLooPs]

Yeah they're all pretty cool mate but #2 and #3 take the cake for me. Nice job!

[jezza323]

the wheel spokes photo is fantastic all great shots though

[netuser]

My favorites are 1# and last one (color one)

[daacon]

Good time to stop and smell the rust so to speak - nice series.

[mikeSF]

Mike, I like these a lot! #3 is the best for me.

thanks - that is probably my fave too. i liked the texture of the rust on the teeth of that gear.

Yeah they're all pretty cool mate but #2 and #3 take the cake for me. Nice job!

Most appreciated - i experimented with tinting the BW for a sepia effect and especially liked how the stenciled "John Deere" popped out in the light.

the wheel spokes photo is fantastic all great shots though

thank you! that was the kit lens w/fisheye attachment. the color shot had massive fringing but i loved the lens flare that was produced.

My favorites are 1# and last one (color one)

right on! This is at a golf course, and i had to wait for golf carts to get out of my background in order to take the shot. would have killed the vibe, haha.

Good time to stop and smell the rust so to speak - nice series.

So far, it has been trains, barns, & windmills for me...old creaky things...i have become hooked by shooting B&W, for sure.

[AlphaGAK20D]

Excellent series - really enjoyed looking at all of them! If somebody made me pick just one, I'd go with #3 - really neat shot!

[mikeSF]

Here are a couple more showing those really interesting mechanical parts. The first reminds me of an old bed i used to sleep on... The other is a bokeh shot using f/2 on the M 50mm.

[ajuett]

#3 and 5 are my picks, good captures!

[Venturi]

#3 in the first batch is the one that grabbed my attention as well.

[gawan]

Very nice! Your toning suits well to the subjects, I like the compositions!

[FHPhotographer]

Good stuff Mike, #3 in particular. What settings did you use to get that duotone?
Brian

[8540tomg]

Ah. The romance of rust. Nice series. Reminds me of my time on the prairies.

Tom G

[mikeSF]

Good stuff Mike, #3 in particular. What settings did you use to get that duotone?
Brian

thanks. i am surprised you picked up on the toning on that #3 photo because i thought it was the most subtle of all the shots. good eye!

Well, since you asked, i'll first admit i didnt know how to use the "split toning" feature in Adobe Camera Raw, so i was experimenting. Despite the warm rust colors of the true image, i wanted to get a slight blue tone to give the image a cold feel.

I saw that i could tone the highlights separately from the shadows and so applied a deep indigo to the shadows (hue=248, sat=15) and then a very warm amber/red to the highlights (hue=48, sat=21). i left the balance right in the middle. the result looks like a "warm" blue to my eyes, but it is pretty faint.

the other images used just a single tone for either the shadows or the highlights...i repeat, i didnt do anything on purpose, just experimenting.

so glad you liked it!

[edit: that last shot i posted of the bokeh spring uses almost the same combination of two tones as #3...i did them all at separate times just by eye and surprisingly almost matched it to the #3 toning exactly - i must have been drawn to that combination. i will write it down for next time]