Picture's with sunshine!
- Thread starter Herc Driver
- Start date
. No question about it, you can't beat natural sunshine when you want your trains to look real.
I'm in the middle of moving and my layout is in five sections in the basement waiting for the movers to move it into the new house next month. What I think I'll do is before I glue it all back together (ha, ha, glue!) I'll take one of the more attractive sections and have my wife help carry it back out, put some appropriate engines and cars and try some natural sunshine myself. Fortunately the new place has a walk-out, sliding door basement.
God, I'll be glad when the move is over!
I'm in the middle of moving and my layout is in five sections in the basement waiting for the movers to move it into the new house next month. What I think I'll do is before I glue it all back together (ha, ha, glue!) I'll take one of the more attractive sections and have my wife help carry it back out, put some appropriate engines and cars and try some natural sunshine myself. Fortunately the new place has a walk-out, sliding door basement.
God, I'll be glad when the move is over!
Deano and Allan - thanks! I get sunlight after 3pm across the layout, so as the season changes to fall, I'll get more and more light. Hopefully, that means better picture quality too. I'm still "wiring" the telephone/power poles...(what was I thinkin') but the overall effect looks pretty good. When I take a close up, you can see the twist of the fibers that make up the thread I used as wire. I just might take every pole out and use the EZ plastic line that everyone recommended, it would probably look better when pictured in close ups. But when looking at the layout - standing right next to it - the thread looks pretty convincing. I tried to give each section of line various amounts of tension to give a more random appearance of the way the lines hang. I've painted almost all of the poles but need to add some tension lines where required. I've even attached some of the lines to the buildings to complete the look. (My apologies...I posted the pictures of the P42 prior to number boards, hoses, and front light installation.)
That natural light looks great in photos! I especially like all the light and shadows in the first pic.
Ralph
Ralph
abutt said:
One trick that can be used to get photos in natural light when the layout is inside is to build a small portable "photography diorama".
WOW! Your photos are lookin' GOOD, Herc... how is the t-pole stringing coming along?
Bob :thumb:
Bob :thumb:
I musta needed my head examined thinking it would be a quick thing to accomplish. I've got wires on every pole, sort of happy with the result. Need more poles though in a few areas. It does add a nice touch of realism to the overall layout when the line hangs just right. Too loose - and it looks really fake, but jus the right amount and the results look good. Hard to get a picture of though...since taking a shot of just the poles and lines doesn't convey the "total" look. When you look at the train, or layout as a whole, your eyes see past the lines yet you know they're there and it adds something. Check out this picture...you see the lines above the train, but hopefully you'll agree that they don't take your eye away from the focus of the shot. I do notice that with thread, in a closeup shot, you see too much tiny fibers. Next time, I'm going to use that EZ Line.
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nice pictures herc and excellent work on those telegraph wires---i can relate to the learning process in your picture taking as i've been trying to improve the quality of my photos as well---the manual settings and proper lighting play a key role and if you're like me,trial and error---thank goodness for digital cameras---keep those pictures coming,thanks---nutbar
It is actually HO Scale on a woodland scenics module, that I took outside on a nice day. The loco needs to be weathered before this looks real, lol.
You guys are right about getting just the right digital camera settings. One click here or there makes a difference in a good picture looking great or terrible. Thanks for the wire/pole compliments. Spent what seemed like hours and still not done yet. I agree too that an small diorama might be just the ticket for great outdoor shots. Sometimes it would be great to just have a few cars and an engine photographed...hmmmmm maybe that might need to be the new project.
cn nutbar - I'm still trying to approach the quality of your pics! You're inside shots are great studies on lighting.
Iron Horse - that WS scene turned out really well. I really like the rock work and culvert. If that is modeling southeast PA - where are the groundhogs?
cn nutbar - I'm still trying to approach the quality of your pics! You're inside shots are great studies on lighting.
Iron Horse - that WS scene turned out really well. I really like the rock work and culvert. If that is modeling southeast PA - where are the groundhogs?
