Machine Pictures

I snapped some pretty good fall pictures today, but I don't want to be stuck in a rut for a while, so I decided to try a couple of machine pictures.  I have seen some great machine pictures and these aren't those pictures.  I think the subjects could be interesting if I can figure out how to get some emotion into them.

This one is almost there, the feeling of antiquity.  I think the right lighting might make this one work.

I am not sure what to do with this one... the long shadows are ok, but maybe too bright?  This one could be forlorn  or something. I think I wanted to feel "ghost town" or at least hibernation in this shot. (For the curious this thing works great, I just parked it here the day before and it is an invaluable garden shovel for building flower beds.)

OK, while this thing makes a great wheelbarrow and I enjoy using it in my gardening projects, I really need to work on composition and lighting to make this interesting.  This proud old machine, born in Seattle while I was learning my basic cypherin' in grade school, still stands ready to serve. I sense potential here, but need to noodle on how to put some feel into this:

Tried a dash shot like the old Chrysler one above... you really have to stretch to build interest in this.  Rod Stewart insists that "Every Picture Tells a Story" and since I love that song, I have to agree.  This one just requires too much of the viewer.  The story I see when I sit behind the wheel of this fine old machine, is of all the hands of the people that came before me, nursing the truck through a days work, all the miles it has traveled, and the wonders it helped build.  I will think on how to reframe this shot because I would like to tell this truck's story.

All in all my foray into machine shots today is a bit disappointing and very exciting at the same time.  Disappointing in that they really are not compelling, yet exciting in that I learned by taking them and studying them what I really wanted the shots to do.  Now comes the creative part of figuring out how to do that.