photography

I've said it many times before in Modeler's Moments and in the podcast, but if you're thinking about going to photograph something, go get your photographs now because your subject won't be there as long as you think.  This credo was demonstrated to me again this past weekend when I went to watch SP 4449 work through southwest Wisconsin (I expect to have a little more about the history of the locomotive and Daylight trains in the next podcast episode).  I wanted to photograph 4449 as it passed the former Milwaukee Road depot in Sturtevant.  What do I see when I finally get there on Sunday, but the depot has been cut into sections and lifted onto steel beams so it could be moved away from its original location.  What I was able to see from the tracks is just the center section as shown in the photo here; the two wings of the depot wer

This tip could go just as easily under lighting as it could under model photography. Be aware of what kind of lighting you're using on your layout. In the same way that incandescent bulbs can cast a yellowish glow, most of the fluorescent bulbs will have a green tint to the light that they give off. When you're painting your models, paint them under the same lighting conditions as your layout. If you're photographing models, check your camera's manual on how to set a custom white balance to compensate for it.

Okay, so I've been busy and not getting anything posted here for quite a while. Well, a new toy arrived in the mail today. It's called "Lens in a Cap" and it gives me a near pinhole aperture on a very small lens. The entire lens is about the size of a body lens cap and it has a setting for f/64. While it's almost impossible to see through the lens to compose an image with the aperture so small, using that and the optional Lubot 10x loupe, I got some amazing macro shots of some models....

All of the models that I shot are N scale factory painted, unmodified models. The first model that I shot was an unlettered Atlas GP9 in Union Pacific style yellow and grey (Milwaukee Road used this paint scheme on their later passenger trains too).

I never noticed those T joints molded on the handrails until I saw this image on my computer screen. Way cool! Next, I grabbed a MicroTrains covered hopper...

Sometimes, inclement weather can work to your advantage when you're out railfanning. For one thing, you won't need your "other railfan filter" as much since there'll be fewer railfans out in the weather with you. Also, you'll be able to get those really dramatic shots that just don't happen on what I call "Kodak clouds" days. This photo of Wisconsin & Southern 4025 was taken during a rainstorm in 2005.