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Some shots in the dark.


Dave John

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It was gloomy yesterday so I turned the layout lights on and tried running a few trains in the dark. Daft, but oddly fun.

 

Anyway, a few random pics of variable quality. The station in general, I need to lightproof the roof more next time it is off.

 

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This is a lucky pic. I cant really see the from of the station building so its just done by point the camera at the mirror on the end of the layout and hoping. The resultant image is then reversed in preview.

 

 

 

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Through a window. Atmospheric, a bit.... 

 

 

 

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Edited by Dave John
pics replaced

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Definitely very atmospheric!  I’ve found that Aluminium kitchen foil is really good at masking out light leakage:)

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Good idea Wenlock. I have some of the self adhesive sort for vent systems, I will have a go at some point.

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Great photos Dave, very evocative. I especially like the last shot. They clearly kept their desks orderly on the CR!

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Leerie, leerie, licht the lamps,

lang legged and crooked shanks!

 

The Glasgow that I used to ken.

 

Well, not quite but the Glasgow I would like to have kent.

 

 

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Really outstanding. But, rather than (or in addition to) light-proofing the roof, do you think that toning down the brightness (and a warmer light) might be more effective? I don't know whether gaslight would've given way to electric at this point, but either way it would be dimmer and more yellow.

 

Just a thought, not a criticism.

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Fair point Truffy. I can dim all the lighting by area, here is a pic of the lighting control panel for the left hand side of the layout. ( with the classic error of the photographers reflection ) It would be mainly gas lit, with some electricity coming in for difficult to get at areas.

 

The problem is that if I dim it all down so that it does go yellow to the eye then the camera just doesn’t want to take a photo with the aperture set small for depth of field. I continue to mess about with the camera though I suspect it needs a different lens and someone far more skilled than I am.

 

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It has always vaguely surprised me that given the popularity of railway modelling in Japan that one of the camera manufacturers has not come up with a camera tailored for close long depth of field use. Perhaps they have and I have missed it ?

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Just catching up on "followed" threads here as I have been preoccupied elsewhere for a few weeks!

I must say it's lovely to see how this is progressing and the lighting project is an absolute delight!

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On 17/08/2019 at 12:37, Dave John said:

Fair point Truffy. I can dim all the lighting by area, here is a pic of the lighting control panel for the left hand side of the layout. ( with the classic error of the photographers reflection ) It would be mainly gas lit, with some electricity coming in for difficult to get at areas.

 

The problem is that if I dim it all down so that it does go yellow to the eye then the camera just doesn’t want to take a photo with the aperture set small for depth of field. I continue to mess about with the camera though I suspect it needs a different lens and someone far more skilled than I am.

 

2082160617_ltgcontrol1.JPG.9c3fe2c81bdab5dc7ade5df895ad8c72.JPG

 

 

 

It has always vaguely surprised me that given the popularity of railway modelling in Japan that one of the camera manufacturers has not come up with a camera tailored for close long depth of field use. Perhaps they have and I have missed it ?

 

When providing images for a magazine we photographed Alloa with among other things a low angle lens with a min aperture  of f43.

This was used for close ups but also allowed good depth of field but actually worked too well at times with the very long exposures giving clarity to a bus win an over bridge 30 feet away making the picture look unrealistic!

Cameras were Nikon bodies and all lenses Nikon but Canon Fuji or any of the other big names will all do similar lenses.

We were fortunate in that we had access to the camera bodies and hired the special lense needed which cost wise was surprisingly reasonable.

However..a decent camera phone will often give you exactly what you want without any of the expense and it can be slotted into areas where a dslr wont fit.  

 

Nikon D90 and stock short zoom f22 @ 0.5 sec showing reasonable dof.

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Again Nikon body but at f29 @ 6.5 secs. Layout is 34ft long and far end in pic close to 30feet.

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Finally a pic using the iphone and not even my later iphone X with the better camera but a 5S.

The ability to get the phone into places where the big cameras can't go is a huge advantage as is its ability to auto compensate for low light and gives decent dof as long as you hold it steady.

 

IMG_0533-1.jpg.743982d3bbbf7dfffbae3eda21bdd7d5.jpg

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The first and third photos are astounding. In the middle photo, the foreshortening destroys the illusion of reality for me - but is that just a consequence of the high viewpoint?

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1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

The first and third photos are astounding. In the middle photo, the foreshortening destroys the illusion of reality for me - but is that just a consequence of the high viewpoint?

 

 No its the use of a 45mm lens with a very small aperture..up to f43..and a long time exposure in this case 6 seconds.

All this is designed to give good depth of field which was the original post enquiry but I agree it can offer too much and in doing so has the effect of foreshortening the image.

Somewhere in between is my preference.

Thanks for your nice comments.

 

Dave.

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Very Impressive photos of an excellent layout Vitalspark. 

 

I have a Nikon camera, a D3400 with the standard lens it came with. I am slowly learning how to use it and I have a good level of light in the railway room so I can try and get ISO down and f numbers up. I have a bit of an issue with focus; my eyesight is not sharp and I tend to have to use the screen not the viewfinder. I know its supposed to be automatic but it never seems to focus on the bit I want it to, more study needed I guess. Annoyingly I find that it can't be used in tethered mode or I would connect it to a monitor. 

 

Slowly I am getting the hang of video a bit. Seeing what I'm doing and focussing is again my main issue. 

 

The down side is of course that if I get better at photography I will see even more of my mistakes and have to fix all sorts of things. 

 

 

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My eyesight is likely not that great either but with digital you can take several shots on manual focus and vary each.

I use a by now quite elderly D90 body but I love the camera and it gives good results.

I have the advantage that my daughter and her partner are pro photographers and they also use Nikon equipment several D4S bodies last time I looked so I can 'borrow' lenses or specialised flashguns if I need something to experiment with.

 

The D3400 is a decent bit of kit and unless I'm mistaken can meter down to 30secs so well up to very low light with good depth of field photography.

Trtust you are using a tripod and only advice I would offer is slowest iso probably 100 and smallest aperture probably f22 and let the meter do the rest.

And don't forget to post the results.

 

Kelvinbank is evocative and I see a mix of the elevated stations in Scotstoun with the tenement backdrop and the street level booking offices so typical of the Caley.

Quite superb and well done.

 

Dave. 

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On 28/07/2019 at 18:54, westernviscount said:

Very atmospheric. Excellent!!

 

I know I'm coming to this late but where did you source the Victorian people from??

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Just found the thread Dave. Great lighting effects! How did you do your backscene in photo two? Is there a sheet available which gives you tenement buildings? If so, I could do with one or two. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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