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McPHEE  LUMBER  COMPANY’S

MAINTENANCE SHED

 

"WORKING OVERTIME"

 
I was attending the 24th Narrow Gauge Convention in Santa Clara, California in 2004, and was taking over a diorama to enter in the modelling competition. It was called "The McPHEE LUMBER COMPANY "MAINTENENCE SHED" (click to see the article on the diorama) I had no room for another model, but could include a large photograph to enter in the Photographic Section.

The entry had to have real impact, as entries are voted on by the attendees to the convention (as against a panel of judges). As I was taking over the "Maintenance Shed" I thought it would be good to use that as my starting point. And, as the building was lit with micro globes, a night shot seemed like a good idea. Having never taken this type of photograph before I started to experiment. After a few aborted attempts I used t outside blue party globes in desk lamps, turned them on and the room light off. I used my fully automatic SONY 'Cyber-shot 3.2 mega pixel' digital camera, pushed the shutter button and hoped.

The set up for the photograph can be seen opposite (with the room lights on).

The first shot came out remarkably well considering. Having made a few adjustments to the lights I re-shoot the scene again, and was surprised at the quality and appearance of the photograph. I did enhance the photograph with a small computer program that brought out the colours more and sharpened the image.

This image can be seen below.

The stars in the finished image were added as various sized dots of white using a 'Photoshop' type program. As well, the edge of the diorama in the foreground has been removed.