Yes, there are still a few real, functioning blacksmith shops around. This one is located near the railroad yards in Grapevine, Texas.
Thomas is an apprentice blacksmith, working part time in this shop, learning the art. In this shot, he is pounding on an old railroad spike. He explained to me that he was making a replacement door handle for his car out of it. Bill, the full time blacksmith, was busy making some custom door handles for a new restaurant. You can tell these guys love what they are doing here.
I like how this compares to the very similar shot from the same session that I used in "pieces of the human form". That one focuses on the blacksmith's hands, while this one draws the eye to the shower of hot sparks.
I think this may get blasted for flaws, but it may also do well, for what I did capture. I have no real feeling about what to expect from this entry.
Anticipated critiques/comments:
-I expect some will not like the motion blur and may perceive it as unfocused. (I had a number of other shots that were crisp and clear, but they also looked like he was casually resting the hammer on top of the spike)
-Too busy
-The mortar in the background is a distracting element. (If this was advanced editing, I would have darkened it a bit.)
-Should have cropped closer. (Tried it that way, didn't like it.)
Post-challenge notes:
As expected, this garnered more low votes than my very similar, but blur-free entry in "Pieces of the human form"
Despite not doing as well as it's non-identical twin, this still ended up in my happy zone. The commenters average was very high, considerably higher than it's higher averaging twin. A successful entry.
Statistics
Place: 26 out of 83 Avg (all users): 5.5880 Avg (commenters): 7.8000 Avg (participants): 5.8333 Avg (non-participants): 5.5498 Views since voting: 1118 Views during voting: 402 Votes: 267 Comments: 7 Favorites: 0
I gave this a 9. I thought this was a great image for the challenge; red hot iron, sparks, and motion blur of the blacksmith. It has it all. Much underrated.
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
