Hammer and Strings
by sbeaumont

Comment:
Very beautiful. Maybe a hair too yellow. I feel like if the large, diagonal bar were angled so it landed a bit further left, this would be better, but that would level the score (not good) or obscure the posts and soem of the red (not good) so....

Black Beauty
by Albireo

Comment:
This is exceptionally nice. I'd like to see a slightly more agressive tonal range (a little denser in the dark-but-not-black areas), and I'd have been inclined to 'shop out the light rub-marks above the wheel.

The Pratice Issue
by graphicfunk

Comment:
I very much like the play this makes on the concept; not only have we the metronome, which is a purely mechanical device, but we have the idea of the musician practicing the mechanics of his craft. I'd quibble with the cropping left (needs a tad more space) and fore (I don't want to lose the tiny bit of the metronome cover that's missing).

1920's cash register.
by jimsapp

Comment:
I love the matter-of-fact serenity of this shot, and the total lack of embellishment on the register.

Mechanical lock gates
by geewhy

Comment:
This is really, really sweet, the tonalities are so pure, the composition is so locked-in, the flow of the water is so palpable. I appreciate also that this one is outside the box, not just one more of the same thing. There's a LOT of gears, sprokets, and clocks in this challenge...

Mechanic mobile... in perpetuum
by alithenake

Comment:
Extraordianry image, if a trifle loud for my tastes.

The Perfect Machine
by Terramar

Comment:
Very sweet, in the main. I am not 100% sure of using the foot as an example of "mechanical", which I take to be non-organic, but of course the foot is a system of levers. Anyway maybe the shoe's your machine? Whatever... My problem here is I really like the softness of the lighting on foot and step, but can't stand the very unnatural-looiing cutout on the claf, and I think overlaying the border is gimmicky...

Just an old puncher...
by LevT

Comment:
sharp as a tack, appealing image. It's a little pat, it's hard to get excited about, but it's well-shot. The hot spot ont he tabletop may be a hair too aggressive.

Mechanical Meter
by Alipio

Comment:
Virtually flawless image. Wonderful lighting, fine use of negative sapce. I'm not sure I'd opt for such cool tonalities on the flesh but I'm sure the decisionw as a conscious one and it IS eerie. I love how the concept "mechanical" is placed in opposition to the electrical component that, while the most brightly colored element in the pic, is NOT the subject of the pic.

kite surfing
by whiteroom

Comment:
Goodman,

This is an exceptionally nice image, perfect for the challenge. I didn't view or rate all the images in "wind" or I'd surely have ranked this right near the top.

I'm going to come right out and disagree witht hose who advocate cropping top and bottom. IMO this would be a serious mistake; the square framing is optimal for this image. It's all about this absolutely palpable tension between man and kite/wind, and this is taking place on an almost pure diagonal that could only be weakened by the cropping. A square format is very good at highlighting such internal, push me-pull you tension.

Likewise, is trongly believe the monochrome is right for this image. I'd have to see the original to be sure, but as I visualize it in the original you have two large gields of color top and bottom competing with each other and the kite popping out and up from that conflict. I see the color fields introducing an unnecessary element to the competition between man and wind. In this monochrome version, the values of sky and sand are so similar, so down-key, that they provide a more neutral field on which the conflict may evolve. Your choice of sepia-like tonality is optimal to my eye, as it introduces a vaguely "dated" look to the image, making it somehow emblematic of an eternal battle man has always fought.

So this is all good.

What's not so good? For one thing, the collapsed kites on the beach under the figure's feet are distracting. Absent the basic editing rules, I'd brush them out or at least burn them down (how we would have done it in film days) so they are less distracting. Almost as problematical is the scimitar-like edge of the seconf kite rising from behind the subject kite. I'd also brush that out, absent the rules.

Finally, in an ideal world this kite might be a tad more airborne, so the bottom curve was actually clearing the skyline behind. That's about it for nits. This is an exceptionally fine entry and I'm a little surprised it didn't place higher.

Nevertheless, a very good showing for a terrific challenge solution.

(robt)