What's the dead giveaway the scene in photo not real?

[Dbcxyz123]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Dbcxyz123

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[banghead]I'm Bored..................................................................................................................

[Anonymous]

The thing that tells me it's a model is when half the people in the scene are waving to someone.

Wayne

(Sorry if we're boring you, Dbcxyz123. Feel free to skip to other threads.)

[robengland]

As mentioned:
- lighting
- depth of field
- massive weird curving steel bars sticking out the front of locos and rolling stock below thumping great couplers
- rails that could move a Saturn rocket (especially in N and Z scales)
- monochrome textures: a hundred lumps of lichen in three colours always looks like 100 lumps of lichen. Even forests with one species have young trees, old trees, tall trees, short trees, trees in dry spots, trees in wet spots, diseased trees, dead trees, fallen trees, epiphytes... Long grass has a dozen different sorts of weeds in it. Heck, my LAWN has a dozen sorts of weeds in it [:)]

I'd add a couple more:

1) weight: people, cars, buildings don't float 1" above the ground, but models do because they don't cru***he surface texture they are standing on (or on their underside). The realistic modellers have made an effort to set things in the ground (eg good building foundations) or solidly on the ground (push people in, file flats on car tyres etc)

2) size of texture: for some reason my eye always picks this up on diesel locos, but it is everywhere. Real surfaces are reflecting at you from a billion flat surfaces all less tham a millimetre across. Many models are reflecting from millions of surfaces, a scale inch or two across. It just looks different to the eye without exactly knowing why. The great models are the ones with finely textured matt paint that doesn't look too smooth and shiny but also doesn't look too lumpy or grainy.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know of a screensaver which utilizes an "underway" locomotive from different angles ???

[Anonymous]

Bob - GREAT picture. Beautiful modeling.

The way I knew it was a model was the aforementioned hand tools.

Also, I happen to own a kit of that hand car (Still partially finished from, I think, 1992) and I recognized it.

Really, really nice.

I aspire to be that good someday.

Rob

[jacon12]

And conversely, taking the real railroad workers and making it not so real...

Jarrell

[hminky]

Usually it is photo style for the time period and whether the photo is color for a time period before color.



One cover for the Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette had Paul Scoles's HOn3 layout, a late nineteenth century railroad, you would swear it was real except that it was in color.

Just a thought
Harold

[Anonymous]

Two of the problems I see, figures and ground foam. WS and Prieser have nice figures, but they are "flat", meaning there is no shadow detail. To get the detail, you have to paint your own. Try http://www.2guyzandsumtrains.com/index.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=3 or google Bryan Fayle. For good ground foam, you need to mix colors. WS makes lovely colors, and at $$$/qt. you might not want to buy enough to do the trick. What to do? Make yer own! Fred tells you how: http://www.2guyzandsumtrains.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=118

jon knudsen

[Anonymous]

Yeah nice job Bob. You should start a model photography clinic thread.

[canazar]

I think lighting is usually it, or something is off in perspective. Weeds too tall, no wires in the telehphone poles.... Of course, I have no room to talk.. [8)]

In my pictures the dead give away is usually some thing like this...

"Well, either this picture is real and the Bud Light beer bottle in the background is 120 feet tall, or you took a another shot of your layout and forgot to move the stupid bottle." [banghead]


Hehehe

[tutaenui]

To me track and particularly turnouts are the biggest clue. On the model turnout the gap between the switch rail and the stock rail is about double scale size.

YZ XY

[sparkingbolt]

I'm Far from being a photographer, but I agree with most or all the observations above. I'll add my 2 cents worth: 2 or 3 lights reflecting off the nose of an F-7 or other rounded item, What!? Are there 3 suns today? That kills it for me.

But what else can they do if you can't take it outside, and only one light will produce sharp black shadows...and-and-and....Dan