Westlake Publishing Forums

There's no substitute for a good lens and large format.

Good depth of field on small subjects generally means small apertures, which in themselves can degrade the image due to diffraction.

For what it's worth my typical set up is:

• A full frame sensor in my Pentax.  Its a full 35mm size rather than the standard APS format of 24mm (I think). ie a lot more pixels.
• A reasonable macro lens
• A photo stack of images taken at F8-F11 (which is where the lens will perform best) processed with Affinity software

My images are reduced to 25% before posting here.  That set up is way more than required to produce reasonable images for the forum. I take the view that you can discard extra resolution that you don't need, but you cannot create it if you don't have it. It also means that significant crops are still useful. 

An alternative approach is to increase the distance to the subject and then crop the photo.  DOF will be better, but you have to have enough resolution to be able to discard a significant portion of the image.

As your posted pics are not super close up, the macro lens is not essential, nor the full frame sensor. A lens you can close right down to a high F number might be OK, but the photo stack is probably cheaper and more versatile for high DOF. The software is relatively inexpensive, free to try, the basic workflow is easy and processing time is short.

Nice shot, Kim, with pretty good depth of field. If you want any lighting tips when everything is finished send me an e-mail. But, judging from your expertise with the camera, you probably already know that stuff. -- Russ

Hi Lawrence and Russ.
There are some really good photographers here on this site,my hat off to them.
Russ you have always been super helpful and with lighting I have found that you don't need much,just a warm room and one good bulb.I have been following a series on U Tube called Studio Binder,more to do with the motion picture industry but some great idears.I resize about 50 percent sometimes crop but really I don't have time for much more.I want to learn  and with the move to mirror less DSlR there is a lot of cheap older equipment coming onto the market .As always looking forward to the posts.

The guy who taught me about lighting was a professional photographer named Steve Crise. "One good bulb" is definitely the primary trick, but that applies to the key (main) light, representing the sun (or whatever).

It often is helpful to soften shadows and/or create ambient light with reflectors or another light or two of the same color temperature as the key.

Kim is an artist so he already knows most of the tricks. I mention the techniques above to help those unfamiliar with lighting for model photography.

Russ

Quote from: finescalerr on June 24, 2023, 12:28:40 PMThe guy who taught me about lighting was a professional photographer named Steve Crise. "One good bulb" is definitely the primary trick, but that applies to the key (main) light, representing the sun (or whatever).

It's well known (or should be) that light is everything in photography. 

In model photography DOF can be the downfall as it doesn't scale.  Shallow DOF can let down good modelling as the image appears unnatural.  Unlimited DOF achieved by focus stacking is a lot better, but that isn't desirable for everything either.  For 'technical' model pics unlimited DOF is great as you can examine the whole model.  For scenes it would be more effective to replicate the DOF of a real image with a softer background and foreground. It's one of the things I want to get around to playing with as the layout advances. 

Hi all.
One thing that I noticed with my last picture was the perspective running up the railway line had become distorted and unnatural.
I believe that is the result of the lens and is a common occurrence with telephoto lenses
I really don't want to get into Photoshop much, even though it is becoming the industry norm, but am thinking more about composition and how sight lines affect camera lenses. That is trying to avoid strong lines of perspective.
Russ, I remember Steve Crise he did some really great shots for your magazines, he was great at the big shot if I remember.

And the very interesting question of model making at a high standard and the Art world.
What is the golden ingredient that makes our work appealing to A larger market so we can ride off with the feeling that your ideas are worth us making a living from them or self-validation?
I don't know.
A lot of modelling especially Railway related subjects are very regulated and once you go off that path you are usually classified as an artist. The only trouble is that the art world does not see it that way.
Really I am proud of my credentials but trying to explain to the art world is very hard, and when paintings that get millions in the contemporary art world of today are like "You have to be kidding" is just frustrating.
I could go on but I think you all know what I am talking about.
cheers

Kim, There are a few art galleries, an art museum and a summer art festival here that caters a lot to the tourists. One gallery had "art" consisting of an HO scale Preiser figure painted in black, white and gray and posed in front of a b&w photo backdrop of a bridge that was cut out in multiple layers something like a piece in a kid's pop-up book... The price listed would probably by my layout several times over...
Don't worry about trying to justify your credentials to the art world if your goal is to sell stuff...

Kim,
I share your frustrations with the "art world". I have tried for years to get small dioramas into galleries. First, if it doesn't hang on a wall, they don't want it. It would take up "floor space", and they have no plinth to put it on. Second, they have the "nice little toy" response, or "how long did it take to make", implying that anyone could do it given time. Finally, they see it as a "cute craft", not as ART. I could go on....

I just enjoy what I'm doing in my retirement, and showing stuff on the internet to people who appreciate it.
Good Luck,  Carlo

The art world is all about who and what is the latest and greatest, seen through the eyes of pretentious fools who think they can see the "king's new clothes". Their utter lack of perception has infected not only painting and sculpture but also photography, music, and far too many other pursuits. They have created an exclusive little culture for nincompoops lacking taste.

On the other hand when I say Kim, or anyone else, is an artist, I mean that in the most complimentary sense; someone whose creative efforts transcend competence.

Next time I'll try to be less politically correct and say what I really think.

Russ

Hi Bill, Carlo and Russ.
Please just say what is on your mind, that is something I have trouble with
Are the art world and the promises?
Art to me is about emotions or marking a period of time whether it is abstract or represented, this applies to about 1 per cent of what is produced.
Once emotions are introduced into model making it will break the stereotype reaction that Carlo talks about.
I am multi-skilled and use my imagination, and am very proud of it, most of the members here are the same. I was lucky enough to have earned a living in a profession where those skills were in demand.
So how can we use art to our advantage?
Learn from the masters , in composition, balance, lighting, techniques and subject.
With the recent discussion about photography the masters have had it covered, Renassiuence painters and 20th-century photographers have been a great influence on Hollywood Ai loves them.
So who wants to start the conversation about AI ,me I really could not care less but all the key board warriors banging on about AI and art ,please give me a break.

Hi Kim in "my eyes and even in my head " You are doing great!!!! inspiration and character you have them both your modelling inspires me and "many" others
And as for the "Arty type" especially the so called modern artist along with the wine connoisseurs (Oxford dictionary meaning - a person with special knowledge  of the arts -food or drink) Should be renamed "Kind of Sewers" who are they trying to kid - I can't really put into words what I really think of them !!or the people who are conned into buying there so - called art or drink
Just keep up what you are doing it inspires
Just one thing to remember a recent visit to a model rail show to start with in my opinion  the venue the most depressing Victorian building I have been in
the layouts and demonstrations no idea of decent presentation and no improvement In running / operation over the past 40 years !!
But the Thing to remember "THEY ARE HAPPY"
Barney
Gone to sleep

This is not a definition of art that I came up with, but, I think it hits the nail on the head.

"There are as many ways to define art as there are people in the universe, and each definition is influenced by the unique perspective of that person, as well as by their own personality and character." 

Or to say it in another way, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Quote from: Carlo on June 25, 2023, 05:52:58 AMKim,
I share your frustrations with the "art world". I have tried for years to get small dioramas into galleries. First, if it doesn't hang on a wall, they don't want it. It would take up "floor space", and they have no plinth to put it on. Second, they have the "nice little toy" response, or "how long did it take to make", implying that anyone could do it given time. Finally, they see it as a "cute craft", not as ART. I could go on....

I just enjoy what I'm doing in my retirement, and showing stuff on the internet to people who appreciate it.
Good Luck,  Carlo

In France there is a film that was released in 1998. In the film the main actor was building Eiffel towers out of matches and was spotted by people who were supposed to invite him to a dinner to make fun of him. Fortunately the film ends well and the person we wanted to invite and who seems a bit stupid in the fim realizes the wickedness of others and guesses that the purpose of this dinner was to mock its Eiffel towers out of matches. The lead actor makes it look like the others are idiots.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_D%C3%AEner_de_cons

Since some French people have fun asking us if we are free for a dinner when we try to promote model making by publishing our productions on social networks.
Some of my French compatriots are really stupid. 

Hi everybody as usual wishing you all the ver best and many thanks for your interest.
How many versions of Sandy Hollow are there?
There are two.
One- Is my macro display in a carry-on suitcase, using a 9 mm track gauge? It has been rebuilt 6 times and at the moment in the workshop getting an update.It is a stand-alone display with its own range of stuff.
Two-Is this an L-shaped shunting display,3 sections using a track gauge of 16.5 mm my current build, there 3 sections. Lots of stuff.
But you know this,
So onto this picture, it is my build of a river trader, parrel paddle steamer in real life 9 meters or 30 feet long. In the drawing, there are two boats I will let you work out which one it is.
One of my better efforts at wood inlay on a cardboard frame.
cheers