MR Readers - Follow up on Pics in MR

[Anonymous]

Explain in detail what you want and why.

[ClinchValleySD40]

I still would like to see a picture (at least one) of what I would see if I were standing next to the layout and not having my eyeball pressed against the scenery. Overall pic as it looks in person.

[Anonymous]

Keep it up... It seems that the results are meaningful, however slow in coming.

[Anonymous]

After readin & re-reading the newest issue I would have to agree with what's already been said. Yea I like the fact you can see weather the Grab Irons or straight or not but it would help me to determine scale with some backround shots. I know it's supposed to look like a real train is going through a real landscape but it would help me as a modeler to see the bigger picture.

[StillGrande]

I agree. A longer shot mixed in with the close-ups is really nice. I love it when there is a photo of an area which shows a lot more than one subject. It helps to see how it all really flows together and compares to the design plan.

I also don't mind if the shot shows that some of the layout is still under construction or unscenicked. It makes me feel better about my progress and shows me how great a layout can be even partly "finished".

[Anonymous]

The details shots are great, but I too would love to see more overview shots. if the layout is still under construction all the better.

I would aslo like to see more of the layouts. I have noticed that sometimes all the pics seem to be from one area on the layout, just different angles.

[ShaunCN]

I too would like to see some overview shots of layouts. that way modelers can see how different areas of a lyout come together. How to pics with article would help as well because, I am always looking for something to build for my layout.

ShaunCN

[orsonroy]

MR still has the best photography and photo reproduction in the hobby press (only some UK wargaming magazines approach their quality in ANY miniature/modeling magazine), which is the primary reason I still buy the magazine. But as with anything else, they have room for improvement. Not in the quality of their shots, but in the type of shots they choose to reproduce:

More detail pics: this especially needs to be expanded, especially with any how to article. MR generally needs to add one page to every DIY article, mostly for more, and more descriptive, pics.

More layout construction pictures: Most model RR's are built in various traditional methods. How about some new articles highlighting all the new ways modelers are coming up with to build layouts? Construction pics are worth 1000 words.

More pictures of scenery: MR features some of the most beautifully sceniced layouts ever built. How about more articles on sceenry construction, especially if they use nonstandard products?

More layout room & obstavle pictures: This is where MR really falls down, and it's competition (like RMJ) really shine. My layout is being built in a pretty odd 12x34 room in my basement, and it took me weeks of brain bashing before I came up with a footprint that would give me a decent layout. Yes, this is probably a good article for MR Planning, but they haven't done that sort of article either (except for rare cases). At least showing a couple smaller, B&W shots of aisles and stairways will give future model RR planners an idea of how to overcome oddball layout areas.

More archive pictures: What's the logic in publishing ANY prototype-based DIY article without showing at least one photo of the real thing? MR does it all the time. Kalmbach has access to tens of thousands of RR photos. Break out a few once in awhile and use them!

More featured layouts: Seven photos of the new Utah Belt? Please.....

[Big_Boy_4005]

Please read this

If you have responded to this poll and have not read the original topic please do, and note my response and that of MR Editor Terry Thompson.

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10482

I have been reading MR for over 30 years now, and have watched it change and grow a lot in that amount of time. Most readers are totally unaware of what it takes to bring them the high quality finished product that they read each month. I am very much afraid that if they published more of the things that are being asked for in this poll, you would not like the way the finished product looked.

There is only a limited amount of space available in each issue, and the lead time to publication is a minimum of six months and sometimes over a year. When my layout appeared in MR back in October 1993, *** Christianson and staff photoghapher Keith Thompson visited in late February of that year. The project was considered a rush at that time, because of the high profile nature and location of the display. Unfortunatly, for reasons that go beyond simple economics, I was forced to close the display just as the magazine reached the market.

The photo session began very early in the morning so that it would be completed before the 10 AM opening of the display to the public. Most of the photos that appear in magazines in general, not just MR, are not just snapshots. They require lighting and posing the subject to yield a publication quality result. I forget how many rolls of film were consumed to capture the few photos that accompanied the article, but it was a bunch.

It is the editing process that reduces the quantity to only the best quality, and most eye catching of all, to be printed in the available space.

When all is said and done, there are really only three catagories of material that go into modern magazines (again, not just MR). They are product reviews, how to articles, and features (advertising doesn't count). The question becomes, which one of these do the pictures that are being sought in this poll fall into?

If they can be captured at all, due to the way we build layouts, they usually fall victim to the editing process.

Maybe the answer is the internet!!!!

Perhaps MR would be willing to devote some web space to posting some of the photos that didn't make the editors final cut. It would be a great tease and promo for future articles, or provide more background and interest in the articles if posted after the magazine came out.

Another idea is to create a place for readers and forum users to upload some of their own, though this may be a service that they might have to charge for.

[Anonymous]

Excellent idea Big_Boy

In fact, I would pay a minor montly subscription over my mag script, to have complete and total access to the magazine and extended options if they could be web based as well. That would allow VOLUMES of information to be available. Research would be a breeze, and I think MR would be able to charge a fee for the website. It was a shock to me that MR released info about the February mag, and as a subscriber, I couldn't access very much online. (In fact, I have yet to receive my hardcopy.)

However, I do a lot of work with magazines every month (I advertise my business routinely.) I don't think that people are asking for the "perfect shot" of the remainder of the layout, etc... just more shots. Sure, there is a great deal of cost in producing a mag, but if people are getting what they want, they will sell more copies. Or better yet, pay more for the subscription.

[Anonymous]

Keep it up, we are getting good feeback here.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Since I posted the response above, I took a look at the layout tour here on the MR section of Trains.com, and thought of a couple of things.

I noticed a few photos where it was kind of obvious that a portable chunk of sky was used to block the stuff in the background of the shot.

A lot of the articles that we see in MR are written and photographed by their authors. In those cases, when the material is submitted there aren't any of the kind of pictures like are being asked for here. Think about it, as a modeler, wouldn't you only want people to see your best work. That work is on top of the layout, and the detail is small. Those are the "money shots". What you are asking to do is sort of like looking in their closet. People have to want to share that kind of material, and most don't.

That brings me to my second point. Publishing a magazine is a business, and in that business there are only two major sources of revenue, sales (subscription or "newsstand") and advertising. Those two things determine what the editor gets to work with as far as space, which makes it difficult to publi***hat type of picture. Would you subscribe to "Benchwork Monthly"?[:P]

Please don't get the idea that I'm not interesed in seeing those kind of things too. I'm just trying to explain why it is almost impossible to publi***hose shots, at least in print, the internet is a whole different story!!![8D]

P.S. I bet we hear from Terry again by Friday. Any takers?[swg]

[NevinW]

I would personally like to see pictures showing how the layout fits into the room. Especially the double decker layouts. - Nevin

[Anonymous]

Big_Boy-4005

I completely understand, however I think what most folks are truely asking for is just a view that feels more like your publicly standing there.

The majority of votes seem to be surrounding layout and obstacles, like how the thing looks "in the room." I think that just a shot or so of the layout from the aisle, without zooming in on the layout like a little person. I don't want to remove the other shots, but to have it look like that view when you visit a club, or a private layout and step into the room.

Again, I think most folks get the cost and profit, but want to find a way of making the magazine more visually helpful for our hobby.

It get's a little old looking at the "diorama" pictures, because that's all they are, a short close shot of these beautiful "layouts." I have had a ton of questions that if I could turn to the website for more detailed photos, that would be another good solution.

Good ideas Big_Boy. Keep it up.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Here are a couple of fresh pics of my construction zone.

Below is the latest photo of the helix. The decking has reached 990 degrees, and the track has just passed 720. This helix is 10 feet in diameter, and double track up to 810 degrees, and single track will continue up to 2160.



Here you can see the levels that will be connected by the helix. The hidden yard 24"off the floor, the main level 42" off the floor, and the upper level 72" off the floor. The walkway is raised 12".




If you people like to see this kind of progress, almost on a daily basis, I could start a topic for you and post new pics and answer questions sort of like a column. Who knows, maybe Bergie will want to start something new.

[Anonymous]

I am definately game for keeping track of your progress. Believe it or not, you just made me re think the very basis of my layout. If I had included a helix, or if I decide to include a helix, I could have two to three times the layout I have now!

I don't know what I was thinking! That is terrific. (I know it sounds stupid, because I could have read about this... but I didn't ever really "picture" it.)

COOL!

PS - Your layout looks a little "too neat" and tidy for a construction zone. I am hiding this from my wife...

[Big_Boy_4005]

Glad I could help.[:)]

I don't remember too many photos of helixes ever appearing in the magazines over the years, though there have been some.

As for the mess, its there, just not usually in frame. The stuff on the upper deck is just being stored there for now. As the benchwork spreads out throught the room, the mess will get smaller and smaller.

I try to work on the layout every day, but I don't always work on one project. There are so many things to do, that I tend to jump around a lot. Right now my goal is to get the track extended out from the helix and around the first of 3 peninsulas, so that I can have a long test loop.

By the way, the space is 38'x46'.