I've been a member of a photographic society at work for the last few years; and about a year ago, I was elected president of the society. Myself along with a committee of fellow enthusiasts, who've become good friends of mine arrange a monthly themed competition. The competition is judged by all members who decide to attend the judging evenings, usually around 13 - 15 people. We each vote on our favorite image against the strict criteria, and on technical and artisitic merits.

This months competition is machines, which must feature mechanical objects and properties. The brief we distributed was focused on machines as opposed to vehicles or cars or planes etc. We wanted people to think about jet engines instead of aircraft, or combustion engines instead of fancy cars, or typewriters and drill heads and other unusual and interesting objects.

A friend of mine is a racing car enthusiast, and has a workshop and garage which he kindly arranged for me to use. Over the course of an hour on Easter Sunday morning, Jason, Gav, Gav's girlfriend Alex and I, explored his workshop and thought about interesting idea's which would work for my brief. I used my tripod, ringflash and 2 lenses, and spent an hour and a half shooting, then about the same time again, editing and adjusting the photographs. In some cases, I have used digital black and white conversions, where I think it is effective. Being a bit of a photography purist and snob, I don't like the idea of creating false images; I would have preferred to use true B&W film, however with just 5 days before I leave for the Sahara desert, and limited time access a lab, it proved impractical, and I've had to suffice with my digital camera. Either way, I'm pleased with the variety of images, and it's been fun to try something new.