Thank you all for your submissions, as usual top notch quality entries, and a pretty tough job having to judge this one. My usual subjective thoughts:

M-for Marriage- Kerrowdown- an hilarious opening salvo, and good to get some of that in these Covid troublesome times. Whatever is wrong with that Best man – Does he need to answer the call of nature?  Such a nice composition, DOF and wonderful documentary shot for history.

M is for Moon- SD_Bob- WOW, what a fabulous shot of the moon and some stars to boot. Love the color rendition, solid IQ. One for the records of Eclipses!

Mt Rushmore-SpecialK- Glorious light here, opportune moment well taken, wonderful angle too on this iconic landmark. Wish I could get to the EXIF data on this one, perhaps you can share that with us. Particularly interested in the time it was taken – seems around dusk or just before nightfall. As noted by another Forumite- wonderful sense of scale to this. Some might have a problem with the tones and color rendition, but that is to be expected given the artificial light which I assume was available here. Great shot!

Monkeyknot-atupdate- cracking minimalist shot, fantastic details, and reflection to boot. Texture, composition, color-all there! Using that black background has enhanced the knot so much more!

Mission Church-Gump- love this bit of tourist-attractions shot. Breathes history, ambiance, and mood! Nicely rendered in B/W, though I would love to see this in color. Good composition, and excellent use of contrasts. Thumbs up for this one!

Macro of a Poppy –Vaskebjorn - What a beauty! So glad you submitted this one-amazing details and DOF, colors, composition and contrasts are used to good effect. And delectable Bokeh! Quality image!

Mushroom-Rod_grant- A quick research on this one- Tipplers Bane it is also called. Good spotting, very nice contextual shot, no issues with the color rendition and composition!

Metal Musician-Yaki – What fabulous play with light here, and hardly any noticeable noise for ISO 3200. DOF is very good, as is the composition. Another lovely contextual image, though others may think it has too much clutter! But the use of the light makes this image- have a look at that glowing ear! Nice touch including that bottle.

Moon over the mountains-Hattifnatt – Another beautiful moon shot, this one positively glowing and casting some glorious light with its halo. That light is beautifully contrasted with the almost monochrome blue that dominates this image. Solid composition, solid landscape shot!

Mandevilla-Ramseybuckeye- another stunning flower image, this one with an out-of-the-box composition, backlit, with elements of softness all contributing to the beauty of this one! Love all the pastel colors in this! Nice Bokeh too!

Mushroom-Fdooch- And another shroom, one in which I am struck with the selective focus, well achieved, but also the contextual aspect in the image. Lovely colors, lovely Bokeh, lovely composition. Good spotting there!

Pacerr- MG TD- What a beauty, and equally beautiful capture to do justice to it. I’m thinking “advertisement” for this one, crisp with a solid composition with little clutter to enhance its beauty. “Falling in love” with it comes to mind, and a friend of mine (long time ago) had one of these, it was somewhat enhanced, but fun to have a drive in it- so some memories coming to the fore. That one was red, and not near as appealing as this one. The old perception- Yellow is the color of happiness- who wouldn’t be with this one! One for the wall!

Well, onto the judging exercise, and as usual, vacillating between all these images. Which is why I opened the judging with the comment “subjective” thoughts- all have merit, all are appealing to the eye.

1st spot to Vaskebjorn for an image that touches the aesthetics with its details and colors.
2nd spot to Pacerr-while I am not a “petrol head” that beauty easily makes me fall in love with her. Any chance you can arrange a drive”
3rd spot to Hattifnatt for that glowing moon over the mountains.
HM’s to SpecialK, Yaki and Gump.

Over to you Richard for Challenge #579.

[gump]

Noel,

Thanks for the HM and kind words. I have attached a "mostly unedited" color version of the mission church per your request. Ansel Adams shot here a wee bit before me.

[pacerr]

Any chance you can arrange a drive”

But of course. Climb aboard. Close your eyes an' . . . hope it doesn't rain?

[noelcmn]

Noel,

Thanks for the HM and kind words. I have attached a "mostly unedited" color version of the mission church per your request. Ansel Adams shot here a wee bit before me.

Fantastic, and the broom makes the shot, though I agree about removing it for the B/W. TFS.

[noelcmn]

But of course. Climb aboard. Close your eyes an' . . . hope it doesn't rain?

Thank you, with my luck, it will surely rain. I like the angle of this one even more! These nostalgia images tug at the heart hey! TFS.

[pacerr]

I like the angle of this one even more!

An interesting example of the subjective compromises we make in selecting topical images to submit. Each of these four potential images of an MG has a different approach to the overall statement which was, in this case, the topical 'M'.

As such, the first image HAD to be the choice to minimize ambiguity even if it might not be (subjectively) the most emotionally interesting presentation.

E.g., is it the 'guitar' or 'musician' . . . 'Moon' or 'sky/clouds' . . . 'MG or 'bright yellow car'? That choice may be clear only within the understood context of the challenge.

Not everyone would recognize three of the four pics as an MG.

[Vaskebjorn]

Thanks for the challenge and the win Noel. I certainly did not expect that, hence my somewhat belated response .
I will come up with a challenge hopefully later today.