Eliminating ugly backgrounds

ge_rik

ge_rik

British narrow gauge (esp. Southwold and W&LLR)
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Partly a photography tip and partly seeking opinions.

As many of you know, I've been taking photos and making videos of my railway for quite a few years now, but I'm restricted as to which shots I can take because the house, sheds, garage, fences and other general garden carp gets in the way. For example, I have taken very few shots of my swing bridge over the years because in one direction I get a background of tatty sheds and in the other direction I get the house, garage and greenhouse as a backdrop.

I wondered about using blue screen chroma keying - what do you think?

Here's an unadulterated shot of one of my trains crossing the swing bridge with a background of tatty sheds.
IMG_7856.JPG

Here. I've erected some blue plastic to mask the background.
IMG_7855.JPG

And here I've used chroma key (using an add on to the freebie Paint.net) to add a slightly more realistic background
swing bridge view.jpg

OK, the doctored image is not perfect. I need to choose background images with lighting to match the model and to use heavier weight plastic sheet to eliminate creases, but I'm just trying to decide whether it's worth the effort for some photos and videos. What I have in mind is to use images of the locality in which my railway is hypothetically set (I've imagined the building of a railway to serve the villages and industries near where I live).

Do you think it's worth the effort, or should I just live with what Mother Nature has provided in my garden?

Rik
 
Backgrounds for me are; er, er, er, in the background! Some considerable time ago I got a couple of wide UPVC soffit boards and screwed them to the fence behind the platform of the Terminus. The idea being that they could have a suitable background painted on them. The 'round-tuit' proved to be too small and it got no further than the screws. I had wondered about getting a vehicle sign maker to print out some photos of suitable places on vinyl, and even got as far as taking some round Welshpool, but again it suffered from a very weak round-tuit.

P.S. Like it Rik!
 
ge_rik said:
Partly a photography tip and partly seeking opinions.

As many of you know, I've been taking photos and making videos of my railway for quite a few years now, but I'm restricted as to which shots I can take because the house, sheds, garage, fences and other general garden carp gets in the way. For example, I have taken very few shots of my swing bridge over the years because in one direction I get a background of tatty sheds and in the other direction I get the house, garage and greenhouse as a backdrop.

I wondered about using blue screen chroma keying - what do you think?

Here's an unadulterated shot of one of my trains crossing the swing bridge with a background of tatty sheds.
View attachment 238614

Here. I've erected some blue plastic to mask the background.
View attachment 238615

And here I've used chroma key (using an add on to the freebie Paint.net) to add a slightly more realistic background
View attachment 238616

OK, the doctored image is not perfect. I need to choose background images with lighting to match the model and to use heavier weight plastic sheet to eliminate creases, but I'm just trying to decide whether it's worth the effort for some photos and videos. What I have in mind is to use images of the locality in which my railway is hypothetically set (I've imagined the building of a railway to serve the villages and industries near where I live).

Do you think it's worth the effort, or should I just live with what Mother Nature has provided in my garden?

Rik
Click to expand...
I just love the outcome - brilliant for those that want to do it, and if you're really worried about the tatty background.

Personally, I can't be bovvered, until I see a photo of Green River shanty town with two plastic bunkers in the background.........................:swear::swear:

So I ditch the photo - but then my photography isn't up to much anyway :shake::shake::shake:
 
-Hi Rik.... for what it's worth....1......remove the guff leaning up against out buildings..result 'a la naturale' (not too sure of the spelling) more like many rail nuts set ups, family back yards etc..........2....rather tatty ..looks faked..... 3....great shot for posterity,advertising etc.......
Must have a look at this paint.net site.....Regards, mardy.
 
I like the end result but can't help wondering if you couldn't achieve the same result more quickly in photoshop - select the bits of the image you want and superimpose on the background of your choice. No need for the blue sheeting and no problem with creases.
 
Just a personal preference, I like to create the big picture by creating a suitable 'environment' when building the railway... always thinking of 'how will this look in a photograph'.
I generally achieve this through judicious planting of shrubs etc as a total picture.
 
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It’s very effective. Just like image manipulation (sorry, can’t bring myself to use Photoshop as a verb, and there are other similar programs available!)

It all depends the effect you’re going for. I’m more into trying to avoid the background by using the natural vegetation etc., but I think it’s a nice idea and an interesting concept.
 
I'd like to use natural vegetation, but can't here because I need access to the sheds to get the trailer tent in and out. Aso, there's no way I can hide the house and garage in around 50% of the shots, they're too big. I think the missus would object to covering them in virginia creeper ..... but it's a thought.

Rik
 
ge_rik said:
I'd like to use natural vegetation, but can't here because I need access to the sheds to get the trailer tent in and out. Aso, there's no way I can hide the house and garage in around 50% of the shots, they're too big. I think the missus would object to covering them in virginia creeper ..... but it's a thought.

Rik
Click to expand...

Pot plants....
 
I understand your desire to shoot more than this 50%. I am also thinking you could investigate to see if more plants at strategic places would help create a better background. Not big ones, just ‘in scale’, so not much space is needed.
And zoom in to the max! Try to take the picture as perfect as possible right away. Then not the whole length would fit in the piccy, but you loose lots of garbage in the background when zoomde in.

I take most/all of my railway pics like this.
 
When you’re on your knees, camera at 10cm above the ground, a 25 cm high row of plants will show as a huge forest in the background.

DF569333-767F-4AE4-B128-09F4D17E179B.jpeg
The house is visible in the background, so is the Rabbit hutch on the left.

4919239C-C229-4102-B83F-B8F10CB8A234.jpeg 129B53C3-4550-484E-9ED2-C31C036F3A43.jpeg
Same point as first picture.


85691D94-D2F1-4C22-A659-BE03B7361A0E.jpeg 07999E95-0BD3-4146-9E1F-9CFC29424CAA.jpeg
Overview of the whole layout. I can photograph from North to south in detail and close up. Plants are the perfect background. And from left to right, the row of plants to the right are a perfect cover for all behind it, like the fence.
 
It generally isn't a problem . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . I don't do selfies!


:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
I feel your pain but you need to learn to embrace the carp. The bluescreen picture is quite effective though. Max
 
My preference is to keep it natural and use depth of field to hide background (so it is out of focus).

The smaller the aperture the greater the depth of field so perhaps try taking some shots wide open perhaps adjusting the light levels with a scrim or tarp over the set with some additional lighting?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field
 
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Loved the finished photo.. but...
Not for me.. I'd rather see the shed/fence ..the joy of this hobbie is we are all doing it differently...I have things on my line that spoil a view... but I try differnt shots to hide the things I don't want in view...rather see the swing bridge in all its glory...
 
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