The Schumin Web - Photography

When I did The Schumin Web Photo Essay Blitz, it appeared that my weekends were cursed by rain. When I was in Northern Virginia the Saturday before, photographing the Newseum, Freedom Park, and the Survey of Metropolitan Advertising, I would have also done Old Town Alexandria, but it was raining so hard at that point that I had to scrap it because I'd be constantly wiping my lens and protecting the camera from rain, and thus the pictures wouldn't be all that hot. The Saturday after this, I went to Roanoke, with the main target being the famous Roanoke Star on Mill Mountain. It was actively raining during part of my trip down to Roanoke from Stuarts Draft, and I was hoping against hope that I didn't go the hour-and-change to Roanoke from Stuarts Draft to be rained out, since everything I wanted to do in Roanoke was outside. But as it turned out, it was actually not that bad. However, I was fiercely determined to get the star on 3½" floppy disks, and so despite a thick fog surrounding the top of Mill Mountain, I went up to the star, thinking, I'm going to get this photo essay even if I can't see it. It was completely deserted up at the star due to the fog, but in looking at the pictures later, the fog, while it completely obscured the view from the overlook, provided a sense of depth in some of the photos, because as you looked further and further away, you were looking through more and more fog, providing better pictures than would have been achieved otherwise. So let's visit the Mill Mountain Star, on this quiet morning before the fog lifted...

Welcome to the Roanoke Star, the world's largest man-made star. And here it is, peeking out behind the fog.

One hundred feet of steel, holding up a giant mass of neon tubing, wires, and more.

And the peak of the star stands tall, trying its best to show itself to me despite the fog.

The star itself is quite flat. The only depth in the star is in the steel support structure that holds it up.

On each of the star's three levels, there are three tubes - red, white, and blue. Normally, the star shines all white, and all red on days when there is a traffic fatality in the city. Since September 11, the star has been shining red, white, and blue.

Down below, foliage tries to hide some of the support structure in order to conceal the more functional aspects of the star, and improve the view.

Meanwhile, on the scenic outlook in front of the star, you can't see a thing.

In these views from behind the support structure, steel beams connect to the back of the star itself.

The entire structure comes to a point at the top of the star.

As mentioned previously, the fog provided an otherwise-not-available depth to the images. Such a complex support structure for a giant geometric shape.