Make your images count
"A picture is worth a thousand words", however if your subject is lost in the image , those thousand words become meaningless. Here are a few hints to help make sure your fellow forum members can enjoy your photos.
- Crop your photos. Unless you trying show off all the items on your layout, get close to your subject with your camera. Sure you can crop it on your computer afterwards, but you can only stretch those pixels so far. If you want a clearer sharper image do it in the camera.
- Light 'em up. Unless you are trying to show how dark your train room is at night, make sure to use a flash or some extra off camera lighting so everyone can see the detail of in your photos. Off camera lighting looks a lot better than your on camera flash, but both look better than the one bulb in the middle of your room lighting the layout.
- Go Manual. Break out the owners manual for your camera and see how to use the manual settings for your camera. If you cannot go full manual, use aperture priority
- Go Small. Depth of field is controlled by your camera aperture, the smaller it is the more of your subject will be in focus.
- Go Faster. Modern digital cameras allow for very high ISO settings. Unlike film cameras, they take very nice images at ISO 800 or even higher. Check your owners manual and see what your camera is capable of. As a rule I never shoot at the highest speed, I use i stop slower. So if my max ISO is 1600 I shoot at ISO 800.
- RAW is better for you. If your camera supports a RAW format, use it. RAW allows you to manipulate the color balance and the exposure a lot more than JPG once you have transferred the image to your computer. Just remember you will need to reduce the file size and convert it to JPG before you post the photo online.
- Support your local camera. Small aperture is great for getting more of your image in focus, but the smaller the aperture, the longer your exposure will be. You cannot really handhold speed slower than 1/30th of a second. It’s even more difficult to handhold a camera when you are stretched out across the layout trying to get a picture of that far corner.
Do yourself a favor, get a tripod or a small beanbag to hold your camera steady for those long exposures. Also you can use a wireless remote, cable shutter release or the self timer to trigger the shutter so you do not shake the camera while pressing the shutter button.
- Balance is everything. Back in the film days you had 3 basic types of film that you had to try match to the type of lighting conditions you were shooting under. If you couldn't match the light you had to rely on filters and hope your printer knew what he was doing.
With today's digital camera you have a feature called White Balance which allows you to set your camera to any lighting condition you might encounter. Check your manual and learn about the presets as well as creating a custom white balance. Your colors will thank you.
- Finally check out O Gauge Railroading magazine Run 232, December 2008 for some more hints from Jim Policastro about taking great photographs of your layout.