Submitter's name:	Steve Goss
Title:	Carbarn at night
Gear used:	OM2n + 50mm f 1.4 + table top tripod + a roll of ribbed rubber flooring + Sunpak 433AF flash and zoom adaptor (hand held)
Diaphragm:	About f5.6
Shutter speed:	Long. It was on auto.
Film used:	Kodakcolor Gold 100 ASA
Technical information:	I forgot to bring my normal tripod, so I tried just using the table top tripod on the sidewalk across the street and on the hood of a parked car across the street, but it worked best when I put the tripod on an up-ended roll of ribbed flooring. The flooring was about three feet wide, so it gave a slightly better view. (not so much of the ceiling) I used the flash to try to lighten up the MATA logo on the wall. I could only give it two shots with the zoom adaptor zoomed out to 135mm before the exposure ended. It could have used a bunch more.
Subject information:	This is the carbarn of the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority in Dallas, Texas. I wanted to do a night shot with a car in front of the Hard Rock Cafe, or some other fancy location, but the city is reconstructing the street and the cars haven't been out for a couple of months. For more information about MATA, you can try my unofficial MATA website.
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Comment left by: Hans van Veluwen (hcvanveluwen@chello.nl)

This picture almost looks unreal - like a drawing. Nice.

Comment left by: Wiliam Wagenaar (wiliam2@wish.net)

I really like this shot. The light on the rails doe draw the eye to the cars. The use of a star filter first bothered me, but after looking a little longer I am starting to like it.

Comment left by: John A. Lind (jlind@netusa1.net)

Very good photo! Liked your subject information . . . the challenge of wanting to create one image and having to let the subject material create a different one. The man-made lighting gives an artificial feeling as if it's detailed dioarama. Good leading lines with the tracks to draw the eye into the barn. At the same time they give a feeling of impending action, as if you'll have to get out of the way or get run over. My first impression was the point light sources were "starred" by stopping down to f/5.6 and having distinct corners where the aperture blades meet. However the 50/1.4 has eight blades and the stars have six points leading to a a conclusion that a star filter was used. I've used one only a couple of times, and took one with and a second without it to see which looks best. In this case the points are modest; for me, they do not overwhelm the subject matter and look fine.

Comment left by: Siddiq (siddim01@student.ucr.edu)

What's the cause of those red trails (like long exposure on a street full of cars) on the left side?

Comment left by: The absent minded photographer (anon@amous)

William & John- No, there's no star filter. The star effect is from the aperture blades. Since the 1.4 has eight blades, and the lens I used obviously has only six, I must have used either a Tokina 28mm or Vivitar 28-50mm. Acer- those red trails (and the white ones below them) are car tail and headlights. The self timer started the photo when a car was almost through the frame, and during the the photo, a car or two left the parking lot behind the camera, and turned right onto the street. I would have liked more traffic, but didn't get it.

Comment left by: Norm (normc@writeme.com)

Great atmosphere to this one. Count me in as another who likes the stars.

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