Getting it to look real - Again!

the rusty tank is an LGB porter
  repainted with Tamaya german army grey- which i used on an LGB rail truck with great success) -and which i regret due to the blue-the contrast with the red rust looks wrong to me 

-cab is stock LGB-but I scraped off the panels molding and added wainscoting like the prototype  (thats the lighter bit on the side of the cab below the window) -then as i monkeyed with washes and weathering and dull coat -the damned paint changed hue a bit on the real wood panel-  

-i washed it with Floquil 'rust', which is basically like a burnt sienna, diluted- and i think i did a sloppy job as there are parts that are not rusted making for a stark contrast-like the stack below the funnel -ill get back to it when i feel like fixing it-and have a clear idea how to deal with the wood-stripping paint is a royal pain -i may be able to come up with a dusty overspray which will hide my mess  

i like your second photo set a lot -and i love the lights on the engine and the foreground of the ballast -very cool  -like the close up -makes the subject the focus of the viewer

-the angle of shot being upward and the control over the contents of the background make a huge difference !  

english or american yard-

i have learned that small railroads provide as much joy as empires-and are easier to detail and manage-my plans for something longer are due mainly to having a couple of live steam which i would like to watch running with somewhere to go other than the next corner!  and the ability to watch my amtrack train on R3s and travel a straight stretch longer than the consist

the guys on this forum have some jewels that dont seem to take over the glorys of their gardens-im trying to learn from them- i want something integrated among the flowers-in fact id just love some flowers and moss-hard to do in Colorado-im either in the shade-and nothing lives very long-or the killer sun-so lush like england is something i covet-cactus and thyme are nice too tho
 
This post is for the guys who are just getting started. It might just save somebody a lot of wasted shots

Unless they're shot from an overpass, we rarely see the upper parts of the train. Try shooting from as low as possible. And frame as tight as possible if there is junk you don't want people to see. This is obviously toys
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A great shot ruined by background clutter
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Trying to get rid of the clutter resulted in meh framing. And I was losing the light, so I'll have to try something else some other time.
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Shooting in B&W can add drama to a scene - and remove garish toy hues.
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Softening, blurring, or fuzzing the edges is a time honored portrait effect, and can help hide that pesky stuff that you can't get rid of.
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I usually take about 2-3 pics for every one I get that's worth sharing. Sometimes you try everything and it doesn't quite work, and then you get a keeper just by plain old dumb luck. I didn't pose this one, a loose rail joiner cause it to stall right there.
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Looks very good Casey.

Only one comment, The rain drops are over size:bigsmile:
 
Except shots like that emphasises the ludicrous Piko scale.
Buffers should be approximately just over the rail, and also shots like that makes the chassis look way to narrow.
The real thing looks like this, notice how the buffers are much closer to the rail and to some extent "ride over" the rail.
http://www.railman.cz/obrazky/vozpark/d_br218/d_br218_p09.jpg < Link To http://www.railman.cz/obr..._br218/d_br218_p09.jpg
The Piko scale problem is glaring in those shots, shots that are otherwise great I must add.
 
hagen said:
Except shots like that emphasises the ludicrous Piko scale.
Buffers should be approximately just over the rail, and also shots like that makes the chassis look way to narrow.
The real thing looks like this, notice how the buffers are much closer to the rail and to some extent "ride over" the rail.
http://www.railman.cz/obrazky/vozpark/d_br218/d_br218_p09.jpg
The Piko scale problem is glaring in those shots, shots that are otherwise great I must add.
Click to expand...

Absolutely right. Fortunately we don't normally see the locomotives from this low down. I will try and lower the snow plows, can't do much about the narrow gauge bogies, they are very pronounced in the pictures.
 
Looks mighty fine to me:thumbup:
 
Another photographer friend made a really good suggestion. To avoid the shaky blurs, use a sandbag/beanbag/sock filled with small stones as a tripod. And use the 10 second auto timer.... might just have to try that.
 
Mik said:
Another photographer friend made a really good suggestion. To avoid the shaky blurs, use a sandbag/beanbag/sock filled with small stones as a tripod. And use the 10 second auto timer.... might just have to try that.
Click to expand...

Now that's a smart tip, sounds a lot easier than steadying the camera on a bunch of rocks or the random piece of wood.
 
I decided to play with some filters from my photo programs tonight, tell me what you think... More 'real' looking? Less?

Approaching the crossing on the high fill, original photo from this morning
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And in sepia... a little better?
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Same pic in B&W with colorsplash effects... gives it a whole different character, like a hand oiled old timey photograph
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This effect is called 'old photo'... I like this one best.
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Crossing the trestle this morning - original photo, I like it well enough, but it IS rather ordinary.
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Again in Sepia, a definite improvement, I think
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Again with the colorsplash.... IMO, NOW it's a keeper!
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And with the 'old photo' filter.... I think the colorsplash was better
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Comments? Suggestions? Other tricks?
 
Only one, when converting to b/w or sepia lower the contrast, the high contrast is a dead giveaway of a colour shot that has been doctored. Incidentally, if your photo retouching program has a 'desaturation' control use that rather than a b/w conversion. Finally if your photo retouching program has filters try using gaussian blur or film grain to get the olde worlde film or plate look.
I haven't got any shots of my bomb site under weeds, but just to show you here is a shot treated as described above. I use PSE 5.

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Hi
Depth of field is mighty important as well as getting in 'tight' to the subject. A wide angle lens, although will distort, allows for great depth of field and also to get closer. Figures are also really important as they lend a reality to the scene but of course if the photos are viewed really large then the imperfections in 'little people' do tend to stick out!

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Well.....not the best way. If you have control over the aperture on your camera....stop the aperture right down to the furthest it will go F16 to about f32 is the usual range. This will let less light in and cause the shutter to make a slower (or very slow) release. If the shutter speed is below 1/30th then (unless you have an image stabilisation system) use a tripod a soft bag or anything to set the camera on and use a remote release or the self timer. You can also change to a higher ISO setting but this introduces grain (digital noise) into the picture when set above 200 iso.
By stopping the aperture right down you will extend the depth of field. If the camera has enough allowance it will make a slower shutter speed and the exposure should be fine. If it is a little underexposed then you can play with the 'levels' in Photoshop to bring exposure up again.
 
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