Taking pictures of layouts

[jhb171achill]

I've often seen photos taken professionally of high-end exhibition layouts in the regular monthly "comics" from brexitstan - and the level of realism, already stupendous, is enhanced even further by carefully posed, carefully lit professional photography. The end result can have the viewer wondering of they're looking at a layout or a real scene.

I cannot replicate the lighting, nor the professional photography, and I suspect I'm not alone; but here are two similar pics taken just with a bog-standard iphone, which as far as I am concerned is as good as it's going to get!

It's easy to focus on front or back, but not both. And the distortion of the lens, whatever way it's set up, means that things near the right and left hand of pictures have the vertical distorted.

Any tips on how to improve would be very welcome!

Two views of the same thing, the morning mixed from Castletown West to Dugort Harbour - one with the front in focus, one with the back in focus.

 

[dave182]

I'm not a photographer but you can do am awful lot with a good camera phone these days, and there are plenty of good youtube videos to get you started. Lighting is key, and a steady camera is a must for macro, close up shots. Again, there are many cheap phone accessories available such as tripods, flashes and remote controls. The remote controls are great! Of course then the next step up is a camera.

Composure is also so important. It is a simple thing, but cropping the picture correctly or zooming in a bit can improve a picture so much.

Edited February 12, 2022 by dave182

[jhb171achill]

Indeed - of the pics I've posted of this layout, virtually every one has been initially cropped within an inch of its life, otherwise you'd see shelves, a Christmas tree, suitcases and gawd knows what other junk looming behind the train!

[David Holman]

When I've had the privilege of my layouts being photographed for magazine articles, the likes of Tony Wright and Andrew Burnham both prefer using natural light, small apertures and long exposures, for maximum depth of field. Proper cameras of course, with big lenses and lots of megapixels.

 For photos on this forum, I have a little Nikon Coolpix, set to just 2 mega pixels and rely on cropping on the laptop to get the scene I want. Needless to say, the expert's photos are exponentially better....

[jhb171achill]

The photos of your own layout(s) that you post here are absolutely superb - but so is the subject matter - inspirational scenic surroundings too.

The way mine is, you've natural light on one side of the room only, as it is in an attic room with two velux skylights beside each other, but no natural light on the other three sides. The artificial lights are ceiling spotlights, which shine straight down above it. Neither are ideal, so I have a stock-in-trade four or five angles from which I take most images. Today as the daylight was just starting to fade I tried a combination - indeed, that was the case when I took the above. Using a proper camera it might have made some difference, but it was marginal with an iphone. I might get some sort of table lamp rigged up at a different angle some time, though it's going to be way down the priority list!

[Robert Shrives]

While a dinosaur in much I have read about layering which is a technique that requires plenty of computer time and taking a whole set of photos of the same scene with slightly differing focus points.  I had a quick look on google search and apps a plenty but it might as well be martian to me.  

 

Robert 

[David Holman]

Thanks JB, though your layout also has much to be proud of, while for me, the story telling adds another layer.

 Lighting does make a difference though and LED strip is very effective. Cool white seems to work best for cloudy days and warm white for sunny ones. Get the maximum number of LEDs per metre, because that minimises shadows. Ideally, you want a strip about 5-10cm in front of the front edge of the baseboard and another along the middle. The one along the front edge stops shadows from the middle strip forming.

 With my own photos, two LED strips like this mean I can use at least 1/60th of a second exposure and avoid using flash. 

 Where you place the camera can be important too. Getting it down to natural eye level can be very effective -often, just placing it on the baseboard surface is all that is needed.

 Ultimately, a camera with manual overide, so you can set a small apertures and a long exposure (five seconds or more), seems to work best.

[jhb171achill]

“……Ultimately, a camera with manual overide, so you can set a small apertures and a long exposure (five seconds or more), seems to work best.….”

 

 

I wonder is there some way of imitating that process with an ordinary mobile phone?

Edited February 12, 2022 by jhb171achill

[KMCE]

Some good comments here.

One thing also to try is to move the camera back and zoom in - it helps with the bending or distorting you mentioned - it also helps with that front and rear focusing you mentioned.

I does take a steady hand, or a tripod as others have mentioned.  I learned this from taking photos of furniture in the past - way back & zoom in!!

Ken

[Mayner]

I used to use a Canon entry level SLR usually on a tripod for model railway photos, but now use an iPhone for rolling stock photos.

The SLR comes into its own when you need an increased depth of field for taking photos of complete trains or along a layout.

Using a tripod I set the SLR on aperture priority (Av) mode selecting a small aperture F11>22 the camera automatically sets the exposure speed .

My Irish narrow gauge layout has a lighting pelmet and self adhesive LED strip lighting which works out well. My workshop has neutral natural lighting with south facing windows (Southern Hemisphere!) and LED room lighting, but will install lighting pelmets and LED strip lighting if I ever get round/live long enough to build a layout.

Keadue LED strip lighting I Phone approx 600mm depth of field.

 

North Wharf depth of field test Canon EOS1200D Av setting on Tripod room lighting. most of train if focus

iPhone photo E421 same lighting wagons in background out of focus.

[Sean]

anything i post onto here is done using the phone and cropped to hell,possibly filtered 

have an old slr that i was gonna sell but have decided to hold onto it since getting back into fish and railways, i know i will only regret it,

only like 8 megapixels but so much choice given it takes canon lenses.

 

[jhb171achill]

Interesting thoughts, gentlemen, thanks. I will get a tripod out and do a few more shots in the next few days from a distance of maybe 2ft (the "2-ft rule" might have another use?), and see what comes of it.

[Sean]

Interestingly relevant I have been working on converting this IRM flat for push pull operation as a camera dolly to give the "drivers experience" in the bits that i shoot, of course its gonna have the same issues of cropping and ill need to pan it to avoid staring out into the abyss when the train is moving in certain directions, but it should be cool for building little video narratives of the movements.

 

one thing ive been trying to do with all my latest layout pictures is to get the camera lens down to eye level and attempt to shoot as if im a little 1/76 person holding a big camcorder, im hoping practice now should pay off with really atmospheric shots once the layout develops a bit more. im noticing its a little tricky at times given the size of modern phones!

Edited February 13, 2022 by Sean

[Noel]

30 minutes ago, Sean said:

Interestingly relevant I have been working on converting this IRM flat for push pull operation as a camera dolly to give the "drivers experience" in the bits that i shoot, of course its gonna have the same issues of cropping and ill need to pan it to avoid staring out into the abyss when the train is moving in certain directions, but it should be cool for building little video narratives of the movements.

Interesting did similar in the past with a Bachmann conflat wagon

 

pushing it with GoPro was fun for some cab ride videos

 

 

[Sean]

off to shapeways i go........

[Noel]

Brighter lighting may help a smartphone camera have a wider DOF (depth of focus field), but brighter lighting can reduce atmosphere so as others said in lower light a tripod is needed with reduced manual control of aperature (ie smaller hole in lens higher F number such as F12 or F16). 

[David Holman]

At a show a few years ago, someone asked if they could leave one of those little cube video cameras on my layout. It was placed at the end of the platform and filmed several trains over about 15 minutes.

 As for cameras, the ones in mobile phones seem to get ever  more clever. However, though the processor can make up for a multitude of sins, ultimately, a piece of glass (ie the lens) is crucial. Would have thought a proper camera, even a cheap one, will have a better lens than most phones. My Nikon Coolpix cost me £50, while mobile phones with decent cameras cost ten or twenty times that and can't help thinking that choosing a dedicated tool for the job will always bring better results.

[jhb171achill]

Tried this today - same hand-held iphone, to start with, but taken from a distance of about 3-4ft and zoomed in. Already a distinct improvement, and this is BEFORE I get a tripod out.

I need to get proper backscenes secured to the wall!

Edited February 13, 2022 by jhb171achill

[Sean]

with this talk of backscenes i cant help but think about a layout with no backscene, or one that is simply solid green!

 

going to experiment with just that on my N layout.  a green screen backscene would be very interesting indeed for photography purposes!

[StevieB]

The backscene is very convincing.

Stephen

[David Holman]

Not bad at all, JB! However...

Below are two of my three cameras. The Coolpix is what I use for general 'proof reading' photos of models and for this forum, where minimising the megapixels makes for easier uploading. Equally, with a 6x zoom and 16megapixels, it dwarfs my first digital camera for little cost. Pretty much automatic though, so for more detail work [and holiday snaps], I use the Panasonic Lumix. 20x zoom and 15 megapixels, it still fits in the palm of your hand - unlike my beloved Canon SLR 'film' camera which sadly lies unused in the drawer. Note the magic word 'Leica' on the Lumix though - a proper piece of glass for the lens. Do mobile phones have such things?

 The third picture is of the control on the Lumix - a dial which allows you to stick with the all too good automatic settings, or be more creative by varying aperture and speed settings. An SLR it ain't, but am almost ashamed to say it will nevertheless do pretty much all I ask of it, though it did cost me £200.

 One more thought - given that a one megapixel photo will still look ok blown up to A4, you have to wonder about the other 15 million AND how on earth do they fit them all [and hundreds more] on a memory card little bigger than a postage stamp?

Amazing....

[gm171 kk]

One thing that all of the magazines do is superimpose a background or sky. It makes a massive difference to photos. 

[David Holman]

True, though a back scene should work just as well, if you have the space.

[Adrian]

One thing I found really useful is a videographer / YouTubers lightbox source. I got it free from work and almost got rid of it but then realised I could use it for modelling. Comes with a telescopic tripod which is really handy for lighting the whole layout or close in work, and also bend upwards so can be used when working under the baseboard

 

Also the light tone can be made warmer or colder - super handy!

[Kevin Sweeney]

On 13/2/2022 at 3:56 AM, Noel said:

Interesting did similar in the past with a Bachmann conflat wagon

pushing it with GoPro was fun for some cab ride videos

I love that cab ride video, it's cool. You can nearly smell the diesel fumes.

[Steveb]

I love your photos and the cab ride is brilliant!

Have you tried using daylight bulbs in your lamps? They're generally bluish and can be got from B&Q or similar. 

Steve