Grand Prize Winner: Jim Golden, 38, photographer, Portland, OR

Rob Roy, a friend of the photographer, has been collecting these scissors for 20 years. Sourced from all over the world, “they tell the tale of trades in which they have been plied,” Jim Golden says. The meticulous arrangement was an ambitious undertaking; Golden found himself spending hours preparing the shot only to scrap the arrangement and start over. His final shot is breathtaking, if paradoxical; a completed puzzle of distinct yet similar objects. Golden says he has been shooting apparel and footwear in this style commercially for years (jimgoldenstudio.com), and wanted to try the technique on his friend’s collection.“I like to photograph surveys of objects or people, then take a step back and look at the images as a group,” he says. “It’s my way of exploring a subject.”

Tech specs: Hasselblad H3D2-39 with 50mm f/3.5 II Hasselblad HC lens, tethered to 27-inch Apple iMac with Hasselblad Phocus; 1/160 sec, f/8, ISO 50. Profoto D4 2400 pack, Acute/D4 head, and Giant 7-foot umbrella bounced into white cyclorama, mounted on Avenger C-stands; PocketWizard Plus 2, Really Right Stuff L bracket and Arca mounting system; Majestic geared tripod head on 10-foot Foba Asaba stand. Retouching and five-shot bracket combined in Photoshop CS5.