CLINIC ON MODEL RAILROAD PHOTOGRAPHY

Wow! I just now came across this thread. Very good advice here. I have been a fairly active photography hobbyist and had my own darkroom where I did B&W and color processing, but since going digital, I have dismantled the darkroom. I wi***here would be a digital SLR that would take Pentax screw mount lenses, but I think that thought will forever be in fantasyland.

Just one piece of advice to add, when you go out in the field, take some new unused regular alkaline batteries. Even though you may start out with fully charged batteries in the camera. it never fails that at the crital moment (this has happened to me more than once) you a get low battery indaction and the camera shuts down.

back to the top...

note to Bergie ... please sticky this !

I wanted to bring the photography section back up, as I am really getting some enjoyment out of taking shots of the layout and weather work I am ATTEMPTING [;)]

A couple of questions on getting depth of field, I seem to be struggling on this, I am leaving macro off, I have my F-stop at 8.0 that's as low as it will go, or am I backwords on that? I set the shutter speed at 1.6 or up to 2 depending on the amount of light the camera is getting. But I still seem to get blur. It's a basic Canon Powershot 95A which has some decent control on manual settings, but not in the SLR line. Any recommendations on a better DOF? Or am I trying to achieve something that isn't possible? Would using more light and lowering the shutter time help? I let it auto focus as the little focus window is pretty tough to judge the perfect focus.

Also on close ups, say for showing weather or other details, should a person always use macro, or would a natural, ie not digital zoom be better.

Also what are tips to keep better track of how I am shooting, such as note taking? Is that something you guys that get the "mag quality shots" do?

Thanks

QUOTE: Originally posted by dthurman I wanted to bring the photography section back up, as I am really getting some enjoyment out of taking shots of the layout and weather work I am ATTEMPTING [;)] A couple of questions on getting depth of field, I seem to be struggling on this, I am leaving macro off, I have my F-stop at 8.0 that's as low as it will go, or am I backwords on that? I set the shutter speed at 1.6 or up to 2 depending on the amount of light the camera is getting. But I still seem to get blur. It's a basic Canon Powershot 95A which has some decent control on manual settings, but not in the SLR line. Any recommendations on a better DOF? Or am I trying to achieve something that isn't possible? Would using more light and lowering the shutter time help? I let it auto focus as the little focus window is pretty tough to judge the perfect focus. Also on close ups, say for showing weather or other details, should a person always use macro, or would a natural, ie not digital zoom be better. Also what are tips to keep better track of how I am shooting, such as note taking? Is that something you guys that get the "mag quality shots" do?

The macro off and f/8 is the best you can do with most point and shoot cameras, so you are doing the settings right.

Could you post a photo as an example of the blur you are experiencing? You do not mention if you are using a tripod or not. If not, the shutter speeds that you are using will cause the blur due to camera movement during the exposure.

More light and lowering the shutter speed would only make a dark photo brighter. I had fairly decent results with my first digital cameras, which were basic point and shoot models, not as fancy as the one you are using. I could not set anything other than macro on or off. It could be that you are not within the focus range of the camera.

To find out where my camera would focus, I placed a yardstick next to the lens, pointing away from the camera. I took a photo and took note at what inch mark was in focus. I did this for the macro and non macro settings, and with my add-on closeup lenses. I kept a record of the focus points and used measurements to ensure my photos would be in the best focus.

As I noted in the clinic, the macro setting is best used for extreme closeups of weathereing, details, etc. The camera should indicate when it is in focus.

Depending upon which software program you are using to view your digital photos, you may be able to acces the "EXIF" data that is built into the image file. This tells you the lens opening, shutter speed, and a whole lot of other information that you may or may not need. Each program accesses this data different , so I cannot tell you how. Really with digital cameras, you can see the results almost immediately, so just shoot until you get what you want.

Good luck!

Bob Boudreau

Bob

Most of my pictures are posted at the sites in my signature. I like the yard stick idea and will try that. I use a regular tripod and also the little tripod listed above and just plain set it on the layout depending. I use the timer so that I can get the focus and then click and walk away so as not to create any movement. Your how-to on your site was a great wealth of information and I think I am getting it.

I use iPhoto for farting around, but have Photoshop CS ver 1 which I remember loading the EXIF plugin, I will need to read up on using that or how it interacts, I did notice I can do .raw, but if the image isn't in it's original import I am not sure I am winning anything by converting to .raw, which does show a lot of info. I don't have a card reader so I import via iPhoto or the Canon software. I have yet to find a twain utility for Photoshop to impoert directly into the computer via Photoshop.

Thanks and I will dig deeper. If you get a chance to look at some of the images, feel free to comment or email me direct, I think you have my email address when I had exchanged with you before.

Thanks again.

Practice, practice,practice.
I still don't know much about my cameras,but shot and shot and reshot again.
my old camera has about 8,000 shots and the new one has almost 7,000
Once you capture and get what your after, you want to keep reaching greater goals.
be sure to have fun at it.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Marty Cozad Practice, practice,practice. I still don't know much about my cameras,but shot and shot and reshot again. my old camera has about 8,000 shots and the new one has almost 7,000 Once you capture and get what your after, you want to keep reaching greater goals. be sure to have fun at it.

Ah, you are actually railfanning [:p][:D]

David
Railfanning is really what ts all about.
How many of us lay our faces down and try to feel the wind and hear the steel wheels on the rail as our trains roll by?
(model trains that is)
Or creat a scene that captures the memory of days gone by?
We tell our story with our creations.
I love this hobby!!!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by Marty Cozad David Railfanning is really what ts all about. How many of us lay our faces down and try to feel the wind and hear the steel wheels on the rail as our trains roll by? (model trains that is) Or creat a scene that captures the memory of days gone by? We tell our story with our creations. I love this hobby!!!!

Not to take away anything from others here, but your GR really shows that. Thanks for sharing a rather inspiring round of pictures [tup]

Up again.

Interesting thread. I am surprised with all the talk on depth of field that no mention has been made about software that enhances the depth of field in digital photographs. I know of two such programs Helicon focus ($120) and CombineZ5 (free). Both are down loadable from the Web (Just Google for them). Both programs are equal in performance. These programs work by creating one completely focused image from several partially focused images by combining the focused area of each photograph. Using CombineZ5 I produced a picture, using 14 individual photos each focused at a different point, which was in perfect focus from 1 inch to 18 feet from the camera lens. Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch and these programs tend to accentuate the natural artifacts that is inherent to digital photography, however these can be minimised by choosing a slightly different viewpoint or removed with a photo editor.

Texas Zepher wrote:

QUOTE: Originally posted by TBat55 Great list! You didn't miss anything. I never thought about using the shutter timer to avoid movement. Yeah, that is the one thing I have found I don't like about my Canon Rebel it doesn't have a socket for a remote shutter release cable. I think the next camera I buy I'll require it to have an infrared wireless shutter release.

I suppose I should update this bit of missinformation.  The Canon Rebel (and its desendants) DOES have a wireless shutter release.  I had just never purchased the unit to take advantage of it.  I have purchased one since I made this post and it is really great.  I highly recommend getting this unit.  It was $25 from Adorama in NY. The only down side I have found is that it must be used from in front of the camera.

Thanks for these great tips! I've bookmarked all of them for future reference.

Bob grech wrote:

Thanks for these great tips! I've bookmarked all of them for future reference.

As noted previously, this thread was started in 2002 on the previous MR Forum.  Since then I've placed my clinic with more info on its own website.  Check it out in my sginature.

 

A preset (ie T-mount) 35mm lens with a spider aperture behind the rear element inserted works well.  The rear element screws out since these are manual lenses.

A vivitar 2x macro teleconverter available on ebay in Nikon, Canon, and a 3rd mount  works very well.  The 2x moves you twice as far from your subject and depth of field increases the farther away that you are.  This inredibly neat 2x macro will go 1:1 with any lens.

This thread was started nearly 19 years ago and ended 17 years ago.

Wouldn't it make more sense to start a new thread?

Rich