Sparks fly

This was a pretty disappointing weekend for taking pictures. I didn't get out to shoot like I usually do. So I was pleased to find this guy with the grinder to play with.

Most of these are better in black and white I think, but I'm pleased to have learned a really intersting lesson in the process of making them so.
Since I use a digital camera, all of my photos are color, so the black & white happens in post production. Heretofore I'd done them using the desaturate feature, but recently I read that setting them to monochrome is a better way, preserving more of the grays. It turns out there's a really big difference, but monochrome is not always the best way to go. Monochrome made some colors indistinguishable from their surroundings, particularly light blue. Desaturate kept the color fields distinct.