Good Morning all, and allow me to wish you all a Blessed Christmas and joyous Festive Season, one that is safe and secure!
Thank you for your submissions and making life difficult. Onto the judging exercise.
aaacb-Untitled- Well. I am confounded as to what this is- space alien, ironing board, funky steam cooker or out of this world barbecue gadget


? In any event, wonderful opening shot, dominated with that cool pink background, minimalism and a lovely composition!
Kerrowdown-finished for the day- beautiful shot, beautifully composed fill-the-frame and dominated by the dull color of metal, which does make one appreciate those bits of pastel browns and pinks. I like the “emerging out of nowhere” element. And lots of metallic textures too!
Lev- Cables- Cables I presume? Solid selective focus technique, with matching composition. And an ever so appealing color tones to this, tungsten lighting I believe it is called. Add some Bokeh balls, other interesting things like a loop and nut, all makes for a great entry!
Ramseybuckeye-Silos- Fantastic industrial landscape image, great composition, and the monochrome choice adds a lot of weight to this. Wires, trucks, poles, metal galore in this. Excellent DOF-and wonderfully sharp! Well done!
Atupdate- with a little Chrome- another monochrome rendition, and I’m learning here, these monochromes seem to add a lot to metal images. The tonal range here is super! And another fill-the-frame composition used to good effect, giving you a sense of the power of that V8. Chrome can of course be quite problematic with reflections and glare-very little of it evident here, so a well-controlled exposure. I’m tempted to say- these Americans are Crazy, but given your location – Dayton, I’m a little more sympathetic
Vaskebjorn-Skeleton beach umbrellas- Lovely, and I had wondered if we would see some rust. Abstraction, contrasting colors, super composition, and would have made a great “mystery” image if you had not informed us of what it actually is. Great storyline should be added then. Well worth having a look at this enlarged, to get a sense of the textures, Great shot!
fdooch- Hand grenade- Here we go again, with a monochrome rendition, fantastic minimalist image, volumes of textures, good technique employed in the use of available light (or was it a deliberate compositional choice to use side lighting) and a somewhat darker tone has enhanced the ominous nature of this terror! Such metal as you can find—well I hope you throw it away. Or have it destroyed in a suitable way.
JGSmith-Drum kit- Quite agree- nothing says metal quite like this one, huge, complicated, noisy and dominant! Good grief, I’m used to a more sedate and basic drum kit. Is it being used? If so, must require some skill! I like those background images of music men peeking in on the scene as it were. Lovely color contrast here, exposure well handled with all that reflective brass and silver. Consider removing those ceiling lights, though they do not distract from the overall impact of the image, I suspect it would enhance. One of those lights has given one of those peeking men a nice enough, but unnatural halo. Music lovers and Drummers rejoice! Super shot!
CedrusMacro- Tin man and Toto- "Oz never did give nothing to the tin man that he didn't already have", (as I reveal my age with America- Tin Man) Really nice catch of a statue you got here, lots to appreciate-shadows, lovely bits of reflection on tin man’s jacket, a street scene with a difference, good composition, and DOF. Not 100% sure, but I think that tilt should be corrected with some perspective tool. As it stands it looks like he is in a hurry on a downward slope to get to OZ. Which makes it sort of OK. Lovely textures too!
Cooks333- La tour Eiffel- Presuming it is the Eiffel Tower. Yeah, been there and over-awed at the sheer amount of metal. And yet another case for monochrome rendition of metal-with fantastic details, composition that makes good use of the angles of that masterpiece. But especially using a partial composition has given more than a hint of the sheer weight and size of this. Lovely memory of a special place to visit!
Yaki- heavy armour- Well yes, heavy by anyone’s standard. Super use of available light while yet retaining some of the austerity that goes with museum pieces, Museums are difficult places to take photos in, lots of inevitable clutter, but very well handled here, all of it adding interest. Specially appreciate those stained glass windows that add some color to the overall browns of the image. Again, use of a perspective tool to straighten some of the lines. Wonderful textures, wonderful composition. I’m just glad I was not born in the Middle ages
Turbo_bird-Pedestrian bridge- well spotted, well taken it is too! Some wonderful elements to this -stunning composition, repetition, light, flare, sharpness and DOF. And oh, those bits of snow make for some great contrast and juxtapositioning. Top notch photography.
Hattifnatt- Metal- LOL! Nice take on the theme, and once again, I’m learning about monochrome rendition for metal. Solid composition, capturing all that energy of the musician. Focus where it should be complemented with fantastic use of available light. (Exif says no flash used) Pretty amazing, given the details here!
jchorst – metal in the landscape- Here we go again with the monochromes

. Excellent landscape, excellent composition, excellent DOF. Looks a bit like the open air gym equipment that dots the landscape around here, or as I prefer to call it, self-torture devices in public spaces

. Looks like a piece of farmland and agricultural equipment. Fill us in on the exact nature of this beauty! Like the bits of shadows
Well it is rather apparent that I’ve missed something somewhere along the way-none of my examples posted here are monochrome, and I’ve learned it is well worth considering that option when it comes to metal. Thank you all! And thank you for making this a NOT-SO-EASY EXERCISE. It has been too difficult to choose winners. .
And onto the judging exercise
1st spot to Turbo_bird-wonderful photographers eye to see and capture a scene such as this!
2nd spot to jchorst- marvellous landscape
3rd spot to Ramseybuckeye –another marvellous landscape.
HM’s to kerrowdown, fdooch and cooks333
Over to you turbo_bird.