In the last rays of sunlight during the autumn of 1963, Guildford Shed's 'Cofferpot' No. 33019 briefly lets off a good clag as it heads west after a water stop at Basingstoke.
Those who follow me on Facebook will have seen this photo, I find it like with this blog a useful tool to show off photos, especially now that the new Facebook layout allows much bigger less compressed photos to be displayed.
This photo seeing I don't have a time machine is one of my frequent lash ups in the studio using the customised Hornby Q1 I discussed in my last blog post earlier in the week. The photo took about 5 minutes to set up and shoot, just using a single light source off to the left with the angle allowing light to reflect off the loco straight into the lens. The sky and smoke; I have to confess to using Photoshop to laminate an early morning West London summer sky and smoke from a full sized GWR Pannier tank taken on some photo-charter a few years ago.
Purists would of course take their model outside in the correct weather and photograph it against the sky 'live', they'd then hide behind the loco smoking a cigar puffing smoke upwards. But no, it's too cold and I don't smoke, so prefer this method especially for this time of year!
About Me
- Chris Nevard Model Railways & Photography
- Professional Photographer, Model Maker, Writer & Pretend Musician
Showing posts with label photoshop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photoshop. Show all posts
13 December 2012
03 December 2012
Black & White
 |
| Brewhouse Quay; the strong graphic quality means that colour would add little if anything. Red and yellow channels were lightened a little during B&W conversion to add mid tone contrast to replicate how B&W film would record such a scene. CLICK TO ENLARGE! |
I think much of the time why modellers prefer B&W to colour is because their white balance is so far out, so converting that shot to monochrome gets around that issue. We've all done it I'm sure, especially if trying to shoot something at a show with all the mixed lighting casting different colours on everything, or if you're a bloke, simply not reading those new camera instructions to work out how to set the white balance!
Tip: shoot RAW and write your white balance later at home if your camera allows!
Very occasionally I do get that shot which gets more B&W hits than colour, this is probably something to do with the lighting and composition. Those shots tend to have a strong graphic quality, any colour adding little or no value. Luckily these lazy days we can make that choice in the virtual darkroom at a later stage. But if shooting a B&W shot specifically, it's always good to 'see' in B&W at the taking stage, concentrating on those aspects that make a B&W shot work by ignoring the colour aspect. Google Colin Gifford or Bill Brandt and you'll see what I mean.
 |
| Tide out at Le Touquet - originally a colour shot, but the blue channels darkened and yellow channels lightened during B&W conversion to replicate the effect of B&W film shot through a red filter. CLICK TO ENLARGE! |
The most popular filter was yellow, the yellow filter brightening yellows and green in a landscape (or the yellow end to a loco) and darkening the blues, great for a summer days when wanting to separate the fluffy white clouds from the blue sky. For more extreme effects orange or even red filters could be used, red in particular darkening the blue sky to almost black and lightening the yellow/red end of the spectrum to make these colours appear white in monochrome. For railway photographers this could give the most most bazaar effect to a BR Blue loco on a sunny summer day!
 |
| A Midland 3F on Catcott Burtle, originally in colour, as before the yellow and red channels were lightened a tad and the blue channel darkened a bit at the B&W conversion stage. The effect is similar to what you'd get shooting outside on a summer's day with a yellow filter on the camera lens when using B&W film. A simple grey scale conversion of the colour photo would be lacking in contrast in the grass and sky, yellows and reds in particular becoming far too dark and muddy during a straight greyscale conversion. CLICK TO ENLARGE! |
To celebrate B&W in miniature, I have created a Flickr collection of some of my favourite B&W shots - they can be found here.
26 October 2012
Canon G12
Photographing model railways is a bit of a niche subject and requires odd techniques to get the best results. For proper commissioned shoots I use professional Nikon DSLR gear and studio lighting, but sometimes a tiny camera is needed for those hard to get and low angles when the more usual DSLR is simply too bulky.
For some time for this purpose I've used a little Canon G9, which has lots of manual control, the all important RAW capture delivering results good enough for a published double page spread. But after 20.000 frame the little G9 has finally expired so a replacement was needed quickly in the form of the highly regarded Canon G12.
The little camera arrived about an hour ago so I thought I'd better quickly put it through its paces, and here are my initial thoughts.
The controls are the same as with the G9 so I was able to set up my custom own custom settings of self timer and other bits that waste time setting up from scratch; Macro, IS off, 80iso, RAW.
Observations are as follows.
The wide angle is good, it equates to a 28mm which gives a good depth of field without focus stacking at f8 and offers a wider angle of view if needed. It delivers a far greater depth of field than the old G9 at the same f-stop at the widest zoom setting (G9 equates to 35mm). This will save time in post prod much of the time and of course disk space storing all those RAW files used for making up just images if focus stacking.
Shooting RAW for maximum quality and processing in Adobe Photoshop CS5, image quality wise has maybe tad lower noise than the G9 at base iso (80), but the lens has greater diffraction at f8 than the G9, so a little more sharpening is needed which in turn ups the noise, thus negating any real difference. But it is very acceptable and should be OK for DPS with good technique.
High contrast objects towards the edge of the frame suffer quite severe chromatic aberration (colour fringing), but this can be totally eliminated at the RAW processing stage buy ticking the C/A tick box in the RAW convertor, one of the reasons for shooting RAW and converting to JPEG later. You'll need full Photoshop, not PS Elements to be able to do this.
Another tickbox in the Adobe RAW convertor gets rid of the barrel distortion seen on straight lines towards the edge of the frame, this is only really an issue with architecture and a feature of all small camera zooms.
Conclusion for those thinking of upgrading:
For G9 owners;The extra wide angle is very good, but that's the only real difference. Image quality wise the difference is not really apparent enough to justify an upgrade (unless the camera is broken!)
G10/11 owners:Save the pennies and wait for the next model, or go for a G1x (but useless macro for model makers), or change to a DSLR.
General conclusionsThe multi-angle screen is a winner and will save bending necks too much.
Better video in the form of proper 16x9 which is compatible with TV set aspect ratios. 720p is not full HD, but will offer better res than SD and more than adequate for good online streaming. If you're buying just for the video, you'll be better with a bespoke video camera or DSLR which will offer far more control when recording.
For some time for this purpose I've used a little Canon G9, which has lots of manual control, the all important RAW capture delivering results good enough for a published double page spread. But after 20.000 frame the little G9 has finally expired so a replacement was needed quickly in the form of the highly regarded Canon G12.
The little camera arrived about an hour ago so I thought I'd better quickly put it through its paces, and here are my initial thoughts.
The controls are the same as with the G9 so I was able to set up my custom own custom settings of self timer and other bits that waste time setting up from scratch; Macro, IS off, 80iso, RAW.
Observations are as follows.
The wide angle is good, it equates to a 28mm which gives a good depth of field without focus stacking at f8 and offers a wider angle of view if needed. It delivers a far greater depth of field than the old G9 at the same f-stop at the widest zoom setting (G9 equates to 35mm). This will save time in post prod much of the time and of course disk space storing all those RAW files used for making up just images if focus stacking.
Shooting RAW for maximum quality and processing in Adobe Photoshop CS5, image quality wise has maybe tad lower noise than the G9 at base iso (80), but the lens has greater diffraction at f8 than the G9, so a little more sharpening is needed which in turn ups the noise, thus negating any real difference. But it is very acceptable and should be OK for DPS with good technique.
High contrast objects towards the edge of the frame suffer quite severe chromatic aberration (colour fringing), but this can be totally eliminated at the RAW processing stage buy ticking the C/A tick box in the RAW convertor, one of the reasons for shooting RAW and converting to JPEG later. You'll need full Photoshop, not PS Elements to be able to do this.
Another tickbox in the Adobe RAW convertor gets rid of the barrel distortion seen on straight lines towards the edge of the frame, this is only really an issue with architecture and a feature of all small camera zooms.
Conclusion for those thinking of upgrading:
For G9 owners;The extra wide angle is very good, but that's the only real difference. Image quality wise the difference is not really apparent enough to justify an upgrade (unless the camera is broken!)
G10/11 owners:Save the pennies and wait for the next model, or go for a G1x (but useless macro for model makers), or change to a DSLR.
General conclusionsThe multi-angle screen is a winner and will save bending necks too much.
Better video in the form of proper 16x9 which is compatible with TV set aspect ratios. 720p is not full HD, but will offer better res than SD and more than adequate for good online streaming. If you're buying just for the video, you'll be better with a bespoke video camera or DSLR which will offer far more control when recording.
18 June 2012
Combwich - 30 years ago!
Combwich is a lot older than most people think, the baseboards and track dating back to 1980. It was originally called Churchstanton, then Stogursey and finally the present Combwich when I rebuilt it in 2001-present.
The layout is still very active, in fact it's better now than it's ever been:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/sets/72157630183211760/with/7397034112/
Most of the stock seen here is still in regular use too over 30 years on. The signal box has moved 3 times, and some will spot the change of roof too!
Seeing these pics, which are neg scans is like going down memory lane, especially because most of them were never printed. On a couple of them I have been able to digitally remove my teenage bedroom walls which were in the background, that's something I could only have dreamed of at the time!
The layout is still very active, in fact it's better now than it's ever been:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/sets/72157630183211760/with/7397034112/
Most of the stock seen here is still in regular use too over 30 years on. The signal box has moved 3 times, and some will spot the change of roof too!
 |
| The track plan showing things are they are now, hopefully it will help place things. |
29 April 2012
Sunday Smog
Sunday morning's bit of silliness is the replication of a stretch of mainline in South Wales with an ex-GWR pannier tank in possession of a rake of empties just having left the mainline. The 9F flying along behind has a load of freshly filled wagons heading for somewhere distant or maybe just Cardiff Docks.
Sunlight has just started to penetrate the fog and pollution – also known as smog it was a typical feature of industrial Britain in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the western world we no longer have smog because we exported it to China and other far east manufacturing nations, they now do the dirty work that we used to perform because we became too expensive to make toy chuffers at the price we want to pay.
Back to the photo above, this little set piece is just a table bound mock-up using various rolling stock track photo thingies and a few of the coal industry buildings I have been building up over the last couple of years. The smog is of course Photoshop because I have no means generating smoke indoors unless I burn the toast, smoke a big cigar or hire one of those threatre fog making machines.
Sunlight has just started to penetrate the fog and pollution – also known as smog it was a typical feature of industrial Britain in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the western world we no longer have smog because we exported it to China and other far east manufacturing nations, they now do the dirty work that we used to perform because we became too expensive to make toy chuffers at the price we want to pay.
Back to the photo above, this little set piece is just a table bound mock-up using various rolling stock track photo thingies and a few of the coal industry buildings I have been building up over the last couple of years. The smog is of course Photoshop because I have no means generating smoke indoors unless I burn the toast, smoke a big cigar or hire one of those threatre fog making machines.
14 November 2011
'Doris' settling in
With the little Beattie Well Tank now in my possession I couldn't resist popping the little beauty on to Polbrock to see whether it fits in. On that note is 'it' a 'she' or 'he'? Presuming 'she' had a name, I think that 'Doris' would suit? That being the case, 'Doris' is all rather pristine and will in due course be given a little fake patina replicating a working engine rather than looking like a finalist in the X Factor. The trick with weathering is to create the effect of a working engine, but not make it look like it's been trashed and dropped in due-to-be-changed-cat litter - it's often a fine line. Maybe 'Kev' would be a better name for mucky engine?
The 'set' is of course my latest micro Polbrock, which is far from complete, but finished enough to use it as a prop to photograph stock on. Recent work being to tidy up some of the static grass around and between the rails. During application I over-diluted the PVA glue a little too much making some of the grass fibres fall over through lack of support, over thinned glue being limp like a manager promoted beyond his or her capability. It was an easy enough job to rub the almost horizontal fibres off and re-apply with some less diluted PVA about 2 parts glue to 1 part water. Now the freshly applied fibres stand up boldly unlike limp management.
Interestingly enough the grass fibres between the rails have no effect on running performance as long as they don't stray between the loco wheels and rail surface. A disposable razor run along the rail top is a good way to remove any stray fibres followed by a good vacuum and dusting of hair spray to keeping everything in place - you don't really want the little fibres getting in to engine mechanics.
For the shot here, the camera was resting on the level crossing and the scene lit with natural window light. A large pale blue board and my rolling stock photo plinth thingamajig were then placed in the background to hide the lack of proper backscene and domestic furniture! Later in Photoshop I replaced the blue board with a de-focussed actual sky because the pale blue wall had some shadows on it. The smoke is the only other embellishment. I'm looking forward to sorting out the proper backscene which will have a fuzzy, misty Cornish inspired landscape which will negate the need to mess about with bits of board and computer editing too much.
The 'set' is of course my latest micro Polbrock, which is far from complete, but finished enough to use it as a prop to photograph stock on. Recent work being to tidy up some of the static grass around and between the rails. During application I over-diluted the PVA glue a little too much making some of the grass fibres fall over through lack of support, over thinned glue being limp like a manager promoted beyond his or her capability. It was an easy enough job to rub the almost horizontal fibres off and re-apply with some less diluted PVA about 2 parts glue to 1 part water. Now the freshly applied fibres stand up boldly unlike limp management.
Interestingly enough the grass fibres between the rails have no effect on running performance as long as they don't stray between the loco wheels and rail surface. A disposable razor run along the rail top is a good way to remove any stray fibres followed by a good vacuum and dusting of hair spray to keeping everything in place - you don't really want the little fibres getting in to engine mechanics.
For the shot here, the camera was resting on the level crossing and the scene lit with natural window light. A large pale blue board and my rolling stock photo plinth thingamajig were then placed in the background to hide the lack of proper backscene and domestic furniture! Later in Photoshop I replaced the blue board with a de-focussed actual sky because the pale blue wall had some shadows on it. The smoke is the only other embellishment. I'm looking forward to sorting out the proper backscene which will have a fuzzy, misty Cornish inspired landscape which will negate the need to mess about with bits of board and computer editing too much.
- Bigger version of the above photo here.
23 August 2011
Cheery pic for a dull old day!
Looking across the Avon towards the Marriott, Dent & Foster Brewery in Bath, Johnson 1P 0-4-4 No. 58086 is spotted shunting on what would appear to be a lovely summer's day. Note in the distance the little privately owned Sentinel 'Mendip' which can be seen resting in front of the grainstore.
Reality; in the UK today it's the height of summer supposedly, but as most are no doubt aware it's a dull, wet old day and more like something we would expect in the middle of November! To slightly balance reality, here is a rose-tinted reminder of how all summers used to be - well, as we like to remember them anyway!
Model; the quayside has been embellished with a little more undergrowth after seeing something similar week before last during a waterside afternoon walk on one of the few sunny days we've enjoyed this summer. The bright-ish green is more of a feature of my RAW conversion than the actual colour - it was rather late in the day when I sorted out this photo! And (yawn) again for all those sceptics who think that all photography these days is 'Photoshop', they will be disappointed to know that the only 'addition' is the light waft of steam as 58086 blows off.
58086 photographs really well from this angle, its elegant lines suiting side profile views. This is my oldest loco in regular use, it being the first 'proper kit' I built as a teenager. Interestingly, although it's from brass, quite a bit of superglue was used in its construction, and surprisingly almost 30 years on none of those bits have failed which very much bucks what the heavy-rimmed bespectacled tweed clad 'experts' with yellow flux-stained fingers told me all those year ago!
Reality; in the UK today it's the height of summer supposedly, but as most are no doubt aware it's a dull, wet old day and more like something we would expect in the middle of November! To slightly balance reality, here is a rose-tinted reminder of how all summers used to be - well, as we like to remember them anyway!
Model; the quayside has been embellished with a little more undergrowth after seeing something similar week before last during a waterside afternoon walk on one of the few sunny days we've enjoyed this summer. The bright-ish green is more of a feature of my RAW conversion than the actual colour - it was rather late in the day when I sorted out this photo! And (yawn) again for all those sceptics who think that all photography these days is 'Photoshop', they will be disappointed to know that the only 'addition' is the light waft of steam as 58086 blows off.
58086 photographs really well from this angle, its elegant lines suiting side profile views. This is my oldest loco in regular use, it being the first 'proper kit' I built as a teenager. Interestingly, although it's from brass, quite a bit of superglue was used in its construction, and surprisingly almost 30 years on none of those bits have failed which very much bucks what the heavy-rimmed bespectacled tweed clad 'experts' with yellow flux-stained fingers told me all those year ago!
- See Brewhouse Quay at Model Rail Live, 17 & 18 September 2011
- A BIGGER version of the above photo can be seen HERE!
20 August 2011
Brew-up at BQ
The Bull:
It's brew up time at Brewhouse Quay for Sentinel 'Mendip', ex-L&YR 'Pug' 51202, Planet 4WD 'Fleur' and 'Radstock' an Austerity tank recently purchased from the National Coal Board. The Ford Popular wasn't parked that well from a photographic point of view, but now 55 years on it adds to the scene.
The Model:
The Sentinel is a Model Rail/Dapol Sentinel which has had a change of identity, having been detailed up and is now in private ownership. The Pug a detailed, renumbered and repainted Hornby model - it runs a dream too which is much to my surprise - widening out the back to backs to 14.7mm may have helped here. The Ford Popular in the forground is from Oxford Diecast and has been reglazed with Krystal Kleer liquid glazing, muckied up and finished off with Testor's Dullcote. The little green diesel is a Planet from a Roxey Mouldings kit, and finally the Austerity a fiddled with Hornby 'Harry'.
The photo:
Taken on a little Canon G9 shooting RAW under the layout's built in flu-lighting, 7 exposures were stacked and processed with Helicon Focus to increase the depth of field to match what the eye sees. The only CGI is the faint puff of smoke from the engines - which I like so there! The backscene is nice and high so, no need to mess about there.
It's brew up time at Brewhouse Quay for Sentinel 'Mendip', ex-L&YR 'Pug' 51202, Planet 4WD 'Fleur' and 'Radstock' an Austerity tank recently purchased from the National Coal Board. The Ford Popular wasn't parked that well from a photographic point of view, but now 55 years on it adds to the scene.
The Model:
The Sentinel is a Model Rail/Dapol Sentinel which has had a change of identity, having been detailed up and is now in private ownership. The Pug a detailed, renumbered and repainted Hornby model - it runs a dream too which is much to my surprise - widening out the back to backs to 14.7mm may have helped here. The Ford Popular in the forground is from Oxford Diecast and has been reglazed with Krystal Kleer liquid glazing, muckied up and finished off with Testor's Dullcote. The little green diesel is a Planet from a Roxey Mouldings kit, and finally the Austerity a fiddled with Hornby 'Harry'.
The photo:
Taken on a little Canon G9 shooting RAW under the layout's built in flu-lighting, 7 exposures were stacked and processed with Helicon Focus to increase the depth of field to match what the eye sees. The only CGI is the faint puff of smoke from the engines - which I like so there! The backscene is nice and high so, no need to mess about there.
- Brewhouse Quay will be at Model Rail Live for its very first outing on 17 & 18 September 2011
16 August 2011
Marriott, Dent & Foster Celebrated Ales
'Marriott, Dent & Foster Celebrated Ales' is now displayed on the roof of one of the brewery buildings at Brewhouse Quay.
Various serif type faces were also tried, but the real Messrs Dent & Foster chose the sans serif 'Trebuchet' type face for that immediate post-war look. It was created with Photoshop and coloured cream with a maroon drop shadow, it was then printed out at my local 1 hour lab (my colour printer inks have dried up!) and bonded onto a plastic card frame.
The loco is a Roxey Mouldings kit of a Planet 4WD, the old milk van is from a Kays kit and is at least 40 years old.
 |
| www.modelraillive.co.uk |
The loco is a Roxey Mouldings kit of a Planet 4WD, the old milk van is from a Kays kit and is at least 40 years old.
- See Brewhouse Quay at Model Rail Live 17 & 18 September 2011 www.modelraillive.co.uk where you'll be able to meet the real 'Marriott, Dent & Foster'.
15 August 2011
What if.....
S&DJR 7F No. 53809 passes the Anchor and Hope at Midford with an Evercreech to Bath goods train.
This shot a few might recognise from a black & white BIG PICTURE in the August issue of Model Rail which was dedicated to various aspects of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. It is of course a spoof and not pretending to be anything more, for trains have not passed through here for 45 years. The loco a model from Bachmann has been unashamedly super-imposed onto a present day photo taken at this delighful spot just south of Bath.
On a light-hearted note, really serious railway enthusiasts tend to be a 'very matter of fact' brigade with a glass that is nearly always half empty, and a few hot under the collar readers since publication have pointed out that the double yellow lines would not have been around in 1959, and another commenting on some period technicality with the telegraph pole (?). To be really pedantic of course, back in the days of steam the pub and viaduct were not covered in Ivy, and the pub sign to the far left used to hang from the wrought iron bracket seen protruding from the pub wall top right. In those days it was a Courage pub rather than a freehouse as it is now. The 1960's sports car was however really there, and would have probably left the factory when steam still ruled supreme on Britain's railways - with hindsight though, I wish I'd grabbed the car a little closer to camera, but I imagine the owner's present day attire and lack of period tweed would probably add additional heat to an already baking red-hot raw collar.
Of course Photoshop and a degree of skill might be able to address such, but that is not really the point of a photograph which is simply about trying to imagine what it would be like if trains ever run through Midford again with preserved 53809. Computer altering the image to such a degree to address the onslaught of time would simply turn it into an electronic painting and be rather pointless, as I might just as well have published a period photograph from the era.
So, moving on from 'glass half empty-ism' to a fully charged fresh foaming happy pint; maybe I should do a version with a FGW class 153 DMU or Virgin Voyager?
 |
| Model Rail 159 |
On a light-hearted note, really serious railway enthusiasts tend to be a 'very matter of fact' brigade with a glass that is nearly always half empty, and a few hot under the collar readers since publication have pointed out that the double yellow lines would not have been around in 1959, and another commenting on some period technicality with the telegraph pole (?). To be really pedantic of course, back in the days of steam the pub and viaduct were not covered in Ivy, and the pub sign to the far left used to hang from the wrought iron bracket seen protruding from the pub wall top right. In those days it was a Courage pub rather than a freehouse as it is now. The 1960's sports car was however really there, and would have probably left the factory when steam still ruled supreme on Britain's railways - with hindsight though, I wish I'd grabbed the car a little closer to camera, but I imagine the owner's present day attire and lack of period tweed would probably add additional heat to an already baking red-hot raw collar.
Of course Photoshop and a degree of skill might be able to address such, but that is not really the point of a photograph which is simply about trying to imagine what it would be like if trains ever run through Midford again with preserved 53809. Computer altering the image to such a degree to address the onslaught of time would simply turn it into an electronic painting and be rather pointless, as I might just as well have published a period photograph from the era.
So, moving on from 'glass half empty-ism' to a fully charged fresh foaming happy pint; maybe I should do a version with a FGW class 153 DMU or Virgin Voyager?
17 April 2011
Busy Quayside
Brewhouse Quay: Bristol Barrow Road's 'Pug' 51202 propels a few casks along the brewery quay.
For the sceptics who think this malarkey is all cgi - the only addition is the fake smoke.
For the sceptics who think this malarkey is all cgi - the only addition is the fake smoke.
13 April 2011
Get a high backscene to cover those kebab stains
Brewhouse Quay: The stone on the Scenecraft Oak Hill Brewery buildings out of the box is very light and correct for such a building when new. But a 100 or so years on and the Bath stone will have darkened with algae and pollution; to address this, the stonework has been dry brushed with various Humbrol matt enamels and darker washes to help blend theme in with the areas of the scene. Since taking this snap (under hazy sunlight in the garden), I have repainted the slates on the hopstore to a darker, bluer shade and without the skid marks!
Forest in a Box' Sea Moss from Greenscene (though any make will do) has been sprayed and treated with various flocks for the trees. The trees were then sprayed again with some Ford Laurel Green to get rid of the playground colours. A dusting of the wife's hairspray further fixed everything in place once stuck down.
Hopefully this scene illustrates the importance of a high backdrop - essential if the layout is to photograph well without having to resort to 'Photoshopping' a sky in for publication. There is a bonus with this too especially if you take your layout to shows, that high backscene will be very useful on the Sunday to hide beer bellies and doner kebab stained railway monogrammed polo shirts from the the mark of overindulgence the night before whilst checking out the town's Good Beer Guide Pubs and fast food vans.
Forest in a Box' Sea Moss from Greenscene (though any make will do) has been sprayed and treated with various flocks for the trees. The trees were then sprayed again with some Ford Laurel Green to get rid of the playground colours. A dusting of the wife's hairspray further fixed everything in place once stuck down.
Hopefully this scene illustrates the importance of a high backdrop - essential if the layout is to photograph well without having to resort to 'Photoshopping' a sky in for publication. There is a bonus with this too especially if you take your layout to shows, that high backscene will be very useful on the Sunday to hide beer bellies and doner kebab stained railway monogrammed polo shirts from the the mark of overindulgence the night before whilst checking out the town's Good Beer Guide Pubs and fast food vans.
- More photos here.
- See this layout at Model Rail Live.
08 February 2011
The 6.05 pm Service from Evercreech
BR Std Class 3 MT No. 82005 slows for Catcott Burtle with an early evening service from Evercreech Junction during the late summer of 1964.
The layout lights were turned off and the natural north facing window light was allowed to stray in. Clunk. The only addition is the fake engine-clag and some pillock called Chris leaning out of the engine. The Morris traveller has been sprayed with a little matt varnish to kill the toy like shine.
Oh yes, before I go - here's a 1280 x 800 pixel version..
The layout lights were turned off and the natural north facing window light was allowed to stray in. Clunk. The only addition is the fake engine-clag and some pillock called Chris leaning out of the engine. The Morris traveller has been sprayed with a little matt varnish to kill the toy like shine.
Oh yes, before I go - here's a 1280 x 800 pixel version..
06 February 2011
Digital Photography with 1960's Tech.
Click on the photo above for a 1024 sized version.
Of more interest to photographers, might be that this photo was taken using a Nikon Nikkor 35mm focal length prime lens dating from the mid-1960's. We tend to think of digital photography as throwaway, but this need not be the case, many makes of digital SLR allow the use of wonderful older lenses - and 'vintage' is so cool! So, if you have a limited budget, the smart money will always go on a good lens, the chances are that you or your kids might still be using it 45 years later like here - whereas that expensive camera body will be down the car boot sale with all the knocked off tat in just 5. And the real bonus is that 'camera make' prime lenses are frequently optically far better than mid-priced zooms and go for pennies on Ebay! Of course that smarmy salesman in the out-of-town megastore will not tell you any of the above for obvious reasons.
So, here we have a portrayal of the end of steam scenario, taken on a lens that was around when steam ruled supreme, well just!
Below, hopefully some of the answers to the blizzard of questions that will no doubt follow......
- Loco: Bachmann Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-2 renumbered, detailed and weathered.
- Coach: Hornby Hawksworth Brake Compo after a bit of fettling
- Van: Ratio (Kit) SR bogie van.
- Layout: Catcott Burtle.
- Toys: Nikon D200, Nikkor S 35mm f2.8 shooting RAW with the camera firmly mounted on a tripod.
- Exp: 3 sec at f16, using 6 exposures combined in Helicon Focus to extend the depth of field.
- Lighting: The layout's own fluorescent lighting.
- Cheating: The only computer addition is the loco-clag using 'Clouds' in Photoshop.
- Not-cheating: The sky is physically there, is actually part of the layout and was produced photographically - proof here for those that think everything is make-believe these days: http://www.nevardmedia5.fotopic.net/p57399245.html . I'm mid-way through writing an article for the popular press on doing such.
20 January 2011
Fake Himalayas, Photoshop and Marmite
When photographing a model railway for publication it is generally desirable to replace the garage or office wall with some kind of wishy-washy pale blue, grey or white background in the event of the layout having no or a very low backscene. This I’m sure most will agree quite acceptable practice, for even 100 years ago such photographs would be tidied in such a manner by painting out part of the negative. The only way to avoid this would be to make sure that the camera always points downwards, which to be honest is likely to be a very dull experience for the reader.
In the olden pre-digital days, for those layouts without backdrops, large rolls of pale blue coloured paper or cloth would be suspended behind the layout during the shoot; this could prove quite a slow process due to space and the ability to light the cloth or paper evenly. These days we can use photo editing software to achieve the same if not better result allowing the photographer more time to concentrate on new, creative angles and good lighting.
This is all good news all round, but I’ve noticed increasingly on the printed page a tendency for all sorts of non-layout things starting to appear behind or even in front of layouts, frequently this is in the form of actual landscapes pasted in, making it possibly quite tricky for the reader to work out what’s really there - or more likely not. Personally I won’t take this route because is not about me and how clever I may of may not be at photo editing, but about showcasing the layout and all the hard work that’s gone into creating it. And then, what is the exhibition goer going the think when they finally see that their favourite layout in print doesn’t have Chatsworth House or the Yorkshire Dales really lurking in the background in full focus?
However, recently and possibly controversially I add a little ‘clag’ to steam shots, though I hasten to add that I always make available a set of photos ‘without’ and leave the editorial team and layout owners to decide which set of shots they want to use (which surprisingly has been a ‘yes’ to clag most of the time). It’s a bit like Marmite I guess, you either love it or hate it? And I’m sure most readers will know that the miniature locomotives don’t really spout out smoke, not unless 240 volts has accidently been zapped through them. Maybe I’m just adding what the brain imagines when looking at our miniature world, bar and the hiss, chuff and clanking noises? Comment!
What’s the shot at the top of the page got to do with it all? OK I admit it’s taken on my layout – but shot-wise it’s what I like to aim for with other people’s layouts if at all possible, especially if there’s a nice high backscene to allow a low angle like here. I can safely say that if you ever see the layout for real, pop your eyeball out and rest it on the edge of the layout (I’ll even give you a blob of Blu Tac if that helps) this is exactly what the naked eye will see. But, if your layout doesn’t have a nice high backdrop, I promise never to add the Himalayas or the Massif Central if ever I’m lucky enough to photograph your pride and joy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)