The Star

Uploaded: July 07, 2005 05:23:13

Description

The Mill Mountain star stands eighty-eight and a half feet tall. It uses 2000 feet of neon tubes and 17,500 watts of power, so it puts out a pleasant little hum. It's best appreciated at night, but before midnight, please, because that's when Roanoke goes to bed and turns the star off.

Since the Iraq War began, it has glowed red, white, and blue. It used to turn red whenever there was a traffic fatality or drunk driving accident in Roanoke Valley -- but that role has been ended.

Comments

Charlene Bayerle July 07, 2005

An awesome sight Darren....great presentation!!!! #274909

Laura Clay-Ballard July 07, 2005

love neon! this is a terrific shot! #1565124

Wendy Stevenson July 07, 2005

What an eye grabbing image this is Darren. Excellent composition!! Really interesting story about it's use also! #1565159

Donald K. Cherry July 07, 2005

Awesome capture of this great neon sign. If you ever get a chance, you shot try some in-cam zoom effect images with neon..they really look cool if done properly!! #1565230

Deb Holmes-Hatfield July 07, 2005

Very cool, Darren, wonderful comp and colors! Nice to know the story behind it! #1565326

Casey A. Hanson July 07, 2005

Wonderful image and story, Darren. Love the comp and colors! :0) #1565348

Candice C. Calhoun level-deluxe July 07, 2005

Perfectly composed and presented, Darren, the colors are so vivid. How cool is THAT? It means even more now that I know the backstory. What a great town you live in!

ccc #1565566

Linda D. Lester level-classic July 07, 2005

Awesome shot of this huge star! I love the story on it. Great shot, Darren! #1565676

Heather Harpel July 07, 2005

Wow, great photo! #1565722

Murry Grigsby July 07, 2005

Terrific crop and shot Darren! #1565735

Jill Flynn July 07, 2005

I like the angle and crop Darren. Great work on capturing these lights - sharp and vivid. And thanks for sharing the story. Puts it all in perspective. #1565753

Michelle R. Kovach July 07, 2005

This is awesome Darren! Beautiful site indeed! Great back story on it too! Thanks for the info!
Have a great day!
Michelle #1565797

Sandy Landon level-classic July 07, 2005

Love it. The composition is great!! Thanks for the story. #1566033

Kara L. Hendricks July 07, 2005

What a neat shot... Thanks for the info. on it... Makes the image that much more meaningful... #1566115

Larry Lawhead level-deluxe July 07, 2005

Super shot, Darren!!

      LarryL http://lsqrd.blogspot.com/

#1566219

Adilson F. Ferreira level-classic July 07, 2005

Fantastic image Darren!!! #1566235

Agnes Fegan level-deluxe July 07, 2005

Nicely composed image of this neon star!
Enjoyed the background story too! #1566244

Karen Bacon July 07, 2005

Terrific shot and exposure Darren! #1566455

Carolyn M. Fletcher level-classic July 07, 2005

Super shot and interesting history to go with it, Darren! Love it! #1566662

Donna J. Taff July 07, 2005

Great image, Darren!!! #1566735

Kate Jackson July 07, 2005

Looks great Darren! Love the angle you shot it at. Super story! #1566739

Ermanno Radice July 07, 2005

Beautiful image, great exposure and composition, Darren! #1566806

Stacey A. Bates July 07, 2005

Wonderful Shot Darren, exposure is right on, thanks for sharing the history and role of this wonderful star!! #1566977

Marsha S. Smith July 07, 2005

Spectacular shot of this really cool thing, Darren. I love the story behind it. #1567012

Bobbie Davis July 07, 2005

I LOVE it!!!! Such a great angle Darren and the narrative is very touching! WOnderful image! #1567299

William C. Raco level-classic July 07, 2005

Wonderful color, line, shapes, contrasts and narrative.
Well done, Darren

bill #1567471

Terry R. Hatfield July 07, 2005

Excellent Colors Darren!Love The Prespective!I Need To Put This Place On My List:-) #1567736

Jill A. Johnson July 07, 2005

Fantastic Work Darren!!!

Jill :) #1567773

Kerby Pfrangle July 07, 2005

Darren

This is a beautiful light show all by itself.

Totally amazing.

Perfect image for the fourth of July season.

Kerby

#1567939

Terry L. Ellis level-classic July 07, 2005

This is amazing, Darren! Wonderful exposure and fabulous colors! I love the angle, too! You're night shots are great! #1568124

Dan Holm July 07, 2005

Awesome composition, gorgeous color and geometry!! Excellent work as usual, Darren!! #1568130

Laura E. OConnor July 07, 2005

GREAT image! Thank you so much for the background information. It makes the image even more special! Great shot! #1568135

Brenda W. LaFleur level-deluxe July 07, 2005

This is great, Darren. Perfect exposure and a great story. #1568165

Stan Kwasniowski July 07, 2005

Daren, wonderful image #1568181

Carol Brill July 07, 2005

What a jazzy image with those electric neon colors, Darren, and I like how you composed this so our imaginations could fill in the rest of the lines! #1568399

Tammy Scott July 08, 2005

Great shot and composition, Darren! I love the way the one point reaches all the way through the shot! #1568926

Lori Carlson July 08, 2005

Very neat image and neat story Darren! :0) #1570270

Marcie A. Fowler July 08, 2005

Awesome image indeed my dear friend. Looking forward to getting the chance to shoot it myself one day!! Excellent composition and exposure!! Thanks for the history lesson as well! #1571710

Serena Pierce level-classic July 08, 2005

Great job Darren! I especially like the composition! #1572097

KHAWLA Haddad July 09, 2005

Great image Darren!!!
really wonderful job on your comp !
love the history of this star well don!!!!1 #1573784

Tammy Scott August 20, 2005

Congratulations on another great finalist! #1740394

Linda D. Lester level-classic August 20, 2005

Congratulations on your finalist! #1741441

Jenny Bosmans August 20, 2005

Congratulations again on your finalist, Darren! #1741488

Michelle R. Kovach August 20, 2005

Congrats Darren! Nicely done! #1741564

KHAWLA Haddad August 20, 2005

Congratulations on Wonderful finalists, Darren!!! #1741821

Cathy Barrows August 20, 2005

Congrats on your finalist!...so cool #1742213

Serena Pierce level-classic August 20, 2005

Congratulations Darren!! #1742542

Terry L. Ellis level-classic August 20, 2005

Congratulations, Darren! Wonderful! #1742610

Deborah Lewinson level-addict August 20, 2005

Congrats again, Darren! #1742659

Sharon Day August 20, 2005

Outstanding image, Darren!!! Another big congratulations! Good luck! #1743572

Jim Kinnunen level-classic August 21, 2005

Great capture, composition and finalist, Darren!!! #1744008

S J August 21, 2005

Congratulations on this wonderful Finalist, Darren!! #1744469

Tom Andersen August 21, 2005

Congratulations on this fantastic finalist, Darren! #1745217

Patty Razonable August 21, 2005

Congratulations, Darren!! #1745829

Debra Booth August 21, 2005

Cool capture, Darren! Congrats on another finalist!! #1747405

Carol Brill August 22, 2005

Congratulations on this radiant finalist, Darren! #1753952

Heather Harpel August 23, 2005

Congratulations Darren! #1756674

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