Tail Stock - Engine Lathe

[Manfred M]

We spent a few minutes wandering through a friend's machine shop. I had my camera in hand and with the relatively low light, I thought it might be fun to try a few very shallow DoF shots. These shots are a natural for B&W conversion too.

[Donald]

These shots are a natural for B&W conversion too.

I agree. Machine parts like this were just made for B & W photography. Lovely bright, clear image.

[Mike Buckley]

Nice shot! Consider cropping considerably on the left to provide more focus on the handle. If you're thinking that I'm obsessed with tight crops, you're probably correct.

[Dusty]

I would personally leave the image the way it is as it shows the viewer what the handle belongs to, a lathe, good image.

[Manfred M]

Nice shot! Consider cropping considerably on the left to provide more focus on the handle. If you're thinking that I'm obsessed with tight crops, you're probably correct.

Mike - I understand where you are coming from, but my thoughts align a bit more with Dusty's, without the context of the tail stock body, there is no context and it would could be any old handwheel. I'll try a tighter crop to see what that gives me.

[Mike Buckley]

I wonder if part of the choice of using a tighter crop or not has to do with understanding what the machine is or not. I don't know what kind of machine it is or what it does. So, for me, most of the image's information to the left of the wheel is meaningless. Due to my ignorance about that, I tend to see the photograph as a display of the handle and wheel, mostly because their shape and tones are so interesting and less so because I understand that it is a handle.

On the other hand, I wonder if people who can identify the machine find the information to the left of the wheel especially enjoyable because of the context that it provides.

[Wavelength]

This is what a wide aperture meant for..... lovely
Regards