I drive by this scrap metal yard several times a week, and I always thought to myself that I could get some good images with plenty of contrast in the highs and lows. It was a warm (relatively) and sunny Sunday morning yesterday so I finally made a stop. I am a creature of habit who likes symmetry and would normally square up the above image a little better. However, shooting through chain link fencing made for awkward positioning at times.

The M Monochrom (Typ 246) is getting its paces, and this was a test of its dynamic range. I am very pleased with the results. Plenty of shadow detail, as I shot most of my images slightly underexposed to preserve the highlights.

I was making my way to the right to get shots of these I-beams when—surprise—these two curious siblings emerged from their hiding spot to see just what the heck I was doing by their yard. I was looking through the rangefinder at the time, concentrating on the cat that was stepping down to the ground that I did not even notice the second one at the bottom of my frame.

The smaller one of the two was the also the shier one, preferring to keep an eye on me from a distance. I missed focus on this one, as the cat was just slightly out of range of my focus (I was at either f/5.6 or f/8).

The larger one was still unsure of me and moved around from spot to spot to watch me shoot. Here, I chose not to edit out this shot from my series, as the blurred out piece of chain link fence added an element of interest to the image.

I would have been happy with the shots of the metal in this yard alone, but having the cats in the shots made them much more interesting. There was abundant highs and lows in the images, with great textural details in the different metal materials. I will return to this spot to shoot some more soon.

Click images to view on black.

I have seen this parking garage at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for virtually my entire life. This is the first time I have ever taken any pictures of it. O’Hare is a rather busy airport, but there was not much traffic going up and down the spiraling ramps so I was able to get a few clean shots.

I particularly like the texturing of the peeling and cracking as well as on the surface of the ramps. The garage is fairly old. I did a few different edits to change the mood a bit. The top image is very harsh. This one above is quiet.

A change of tone plus a change of angle here. The spiraling ramps remind me of the metal platter on my turntable. Too bad there were so many cars on each level. A completely empty lot would have been pretty neat and eerie.

Click images to view on black.

A Curious Surprise

Ramp Study