What's involved with 'processing' an image for the magazine?

[Adrian]

I've just had a quick squint at the manual and you can partially depress the shutter button and Auto Focus on a spot and then compose the shot; this would obviously mean moving the camera between shots to re-focus so it would be tough for Photoshop to do the requisite alignment necessary to do the stacking. 

 

Could you use a grey card in front of the camera to set the focus point whilst partially depressing the shutter, then remove the grey card before taking the shot? So you could move the focussing point without moving the camera between shots. I presume the exposure is set on the partial depress hence the suggestion of grey card rather than white.

[robmcg]

I do what Andy suggests by half depressing the shutter and then moving the camera a bit, and aligning the several pics with their different focus settings, I find quite easy and relaxing, even if joins are not perfect I can re-size and even change distance and proportions so the joins are more-or-less invisible.

 

Each to his/her own.

[tender]

That's the tough bit; focussing without moving the camera - it's OK if you're using a tripod of course but I do like to get the camera low down and into the layout. I mainly use a Canon G12 but have Canon Hack Developers Kit scripts on the SD card so I can pre-set the focussing intervals and using a remote to start the range of shots off. It's a PITA to set up so I'd recommend first trying the multiple shots and stacking using a tripod or other form of secure positioning to allow for re-focussing.

Managed to get the Canon Hack Developers Kit installed in my Canon SX230HS, like you say its a bit of a faf setting it up, but now I've got my head around it i can shoot off 10 shots with 30mm focus shift between shots using the custom delay timer.

 

I only have a demo version of adobe Elements 12 and can't see a way of doing the focus stacking with this, the online help seems next to useless. Any ideas?

 

Ray

Edited April 7, 2014 by tender

[tender]

AndyY hope you don't mind me posting my attempt from your tutorial, only got as far as stacking and dropping in a background but it's already starting to look better than any of the 'point and shoot' snaps I usually post.



I didn't get anywhere with the adobe Elements demo so resorted to CombineZP for the stacking and then used Serif PhotoPlus x5 for the background using the same techniques as described with the magic wand and polygons. The background is a bit plain but it was the only background I had to hand that had an uninterrupted horizon. But it certainly looks better than the join running down the backscene and eggshell emulsion paint.
The camera (Canon SX230) was set to shoot 10 shots with 30mm focus shift between each shot, as you can see in the stacked picture the focus is starting to fall off at the right edge of the coach which was about 500mm from the camera.

For comparison, here's the mid photo used for the stack.



Ray.

Edited April 8, 2014 by tender

[Andy Y]

Sorry I missed last night's question Ray; if it's not in Elements it would be a case of resort to Combine ZP.

 

Good work on the technical aspects. It may be worth seeing if you can change the highlights/shadows from the Image > Adjustments menu and pull some detail out of the shadows. The sky's very vivid; it may be worth lightening it up and desaturating that layer a little in the Image> Adjustments>Hue/Saturation option if they're in your version of Photoshop.

 

Well done on that lattice-post signal!

 

[JeremyC]

These videos are very useful guides, perhaps they should be pinned to keep them readily accessible.

 

Jeremy

[tender]

Sorry I missed last night's question Ray; if it's not in Elements it would be a case of resort to Combine ZP.

 

Good work on the technical aspects. It may be worth seeing if you can change the highlights/shadows from the Image > Adjustments menu and pull some detail out of the shadows. The sky's very vivid; it may be worth lightening it up and desaturating that layer a little in the Image> Adjustments>Hue/Saturation option if they're in your version of Photoshop.

 

Well done on that lattice-post signal!

 

ray1.jpg

Thanks for the suggestions Andy. Here's my attempt using Photoshop Elements 12 demo with a bit of added smoke.

 

 

Ray.

[Anotheran]

Really useful videos Andy. I'm now looking forward to playing with photos of my modelling as much as the modelling itself!

 

Please ignore my "funny" remark... the peril of using a touch screen with the funny button right next to "informative"!

 

btw... nice shot of the Radford by the canal on your desktop... I came along the line in the picture from London to Stafford only this morning!

 

Regards, Neil

[Andy Y]

nice shot of the Radford by the canal on your desktop... I came along the line in the picture from London to Stafford only this morning!

Very well spotted! We live at the bottom right of the image.

[Anotheran]

Small world! My parents live top right near Baswich church while I am sadly not in the pic being off top left... in Doxey!

[Andy Y]

Small world! My parents live top right near Baswich church while I am sadly not in the pic being off top left... in Doxey!

 

If you like looking at aerial snaps of the area there's a multitude of untidy snaps from a hazy balloon trip from Shugborough up toward Hilderstone - http://andyy.smugmug.com/Balloon-5th-July-2014/n-qDcNW/ and a chopper from Alrewas to Wildwood and back with distant views of the town - http://andyy.smugmug.com/Helicopter-18-June-2013/n-bRbFS/

[Anotheran]

Seeing shots such as those really open up the challenge of model railways. As so many people point out, the railway is a relatively small thing that passes through the landscape, which is a hard effect to achieve in any but the smallest scales, or largest of layout rooms. But inspiring shots of some real landscapes (with the odd train here and there) nonetheless.

 

Thanks for those Andy.

[Wogga]

Fantastic tutorial Andy thank you for posting.

[Andrew P]

Hi Andy, I've just watched the 4 tutorials on photo shoping the images and now I see just what was involved in doing Trebudoc and Glen Roy, Thanks again for all your hard work and instruction on here. :locomotive: :locomotive: :locomotive:

 

Andy   

[Jaz]

I have only just seen this, having followed a link from AndyPs thread. I really like this. All 4 steps. To me painting and photography have a number of similar elements. And those that practise them often try to infer and even mislead the watcher. Throughout history many a painter has represented the daughter of his patron as much prettier than she is to a potential husband. Henry VIII I am sure was NOT amused. However, I personally like the ingenuity in both. It is nice if someone has played with an original to say so, to even show the original, but not essential. and having seen plenty of film of steam locos and even diesels they are not always producing steam / smoke, but I think adding the atmosphere takes skill and as such deserves admiration for the skill. Whether you like the result is of course a matter of taste. There are several very famous artists who are not my cup of tea, it does not diminish their talent.

 

So Andy Y thank you for sharing, very informative. I understand that you say this is not necessarily the definitive way but it is skilful, and I admire your results especially those with Bacup and Westreham Station which I follow here on RMweb, and there fore can have some chance of noticing the 'trickery' you administer when publishing. 

[AireValley1962]

This is great!  Now I can take reasonably good photos of my layout that get most of the field of view in focus . . . .

 

I find that especially useful when photographing small layouts so that viewers can actually see the whole thing, and not single detail gets lost.

 

William

[RedgateModels]

I too have been on an "Andy Y" photoshop course, can't recommend the vids enough

 

I started with this:

 

 

So I cropped it first to get a nice centred "widescreen" shot then used the Highlights and Shadows tool to lighten it and pick out the detail. Next I lost the background as in the videos and added a new sky layer that I downloaded from the internet. This layer was desaturated to fade it out a bit and the trees etc on the horizon blurred with the Blur tool to blend them in better with the model. Smoke was added again as the video and finally I removed a blue colour cast from the signal by using the Replace Color option in PSE.

 

 

Oh and the Spit is #1 son's first airfix kit that Andy photographed when he did the mag shoot for Summat Colliery - Thanks Andy for supplying this as a transparent .gif file. I blurred it out a bit so that it blended in better with the background.

 

Looking to get a G12 soon so that I can try image stacking

Edited January 12, 2015 by RedgateModels

[N15class]

I too have been on an "Andy Y" photoshop course, can't recommend the vids enough

 

I started with this:

 

P1010441.JPG

 

So I cropped it first to get a nice centred "widescreen" shot then used the Highlights and Shadows tool to lighten it and pick out the detail. Next I lost the background as in the videos and added a new sky layer that I downloaded from the internet. This layer was desaturated to fade it out a bit and the trees etc on the horizon blurred with the Blur tool to blend them in better with the model. Smoke was added again as the video and finally I removed a blue colour cast from the signal by using the Replace Color option in PSE.

 

P1010441_sky_smoke_spit.jpg

 

Oh and the Spit is #1 son's first airfix kit that Andy photographed when he did the mag shoot for Summat Colliery - Thanks Andy for supplying this as a transparent .gif file. I blurred it out a bit so that it blended in better with the background.

 

Looking to get a G12 soon so that I can try image stacking

I like the way you have repositioned your photo. I do though dislike the removal of the shadow contrast from picture. To me they look unreal, in the world away from magazines there are invisible thinks in the darkness of shadows.

I buy very few magazines these days as the pictures seem unreal to my eyes.

On some layouts that I have seen and have thought to be very good, seem to look more toy like and artificial when rendered in print.

[RedgateModels]

Having trouble finding how to do the image stacking in PSE 7 (if it is even possible) also the link to Combine Zp does not work ....

 

EDIT:

 

this link works

 

http://www.hadleyweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

Edited February 1, 2015 by RedgateModels

[RedgateModels]

Now sorted, I've got the full fat Photoshop CS6

[tender]

Looking to get a G12 soon so that I can try image stacking

Are you saying the G12 does the focus shifting 'out of the box', on my Cannon sx230 i had to load 'hacked' software to do this.

Couldn't see this feature in the advertising blurb.

Ray.

Edited February 5, 2015 by tender

[RedgateModels]

The G12 does "bracketed focusing" which basically takes 3 shots with slightly different focal points. However even on it's widest setting the difference in focus is not great. I intend getting CHDK soon so that I can do the job properly

[RedgateModels]

Took a few test shots at the BRM Show yesterday, here's one from my layout Summat Colliery, 3 shots taken with the bracketed focus option and stacked in CombineZP

 

 

Not bad from the stock camera (Aperture Priority F8, ISO80, tripod and remote shutter release)

Edited February 10, 2015 by RedgateModels

[RedgateModels]

Here's a better go with the same 3 shots, this time with Photoshop CS6, stacked, shadows and highlights applied and sharpened. Also edge of the baseboard covered over by using the clone tool to add some more grass

 

[Ross34]

  I'm afraid I see photography as taking an image of what is actually there. I do not see it as an art form inventing and misleading the viewer.

 

So prettying up a fault in the photography or its surroundings by retouching (electronically) is fine. These are all techniques that could be at the disposal of the photographer by using a better studio/backdrop, or in the focus by using a different lend/camera/setting/lighting, or by removing blemishes as in retouching/masking.

 

But adding smoke/clouds/atmosphere or making other additions that are essentially lies within the image just are not photography and are misleading.

 

I also believe that they do nothing to add to the image and only detract from the quality of the model.

 

 

Photography isn't art .. couldn't disagree with more on that score.

 

Camera, pencil, paint brush etc etc... they're just tools to create an image, are they not?

 

And throughout history artists of all media have been manipulating the final image be it paint or pixels. Colin Gifford images are extensively dodged and burned.

 

The skill to compose a good photograph is the same in as any other visual art ... photography; "painting with light" ... in fact photography would be a pretty dull pastime if the only images produced were "record shots"

 

We would then be robbed of stuff like this....(especially considering this guy first picked up a camera in 2009)

 

http://www.aaronyeomanphotography.co.uk/robin-and-taliesin-coombes-photography/

 

 

However, when it comes to the latest "fad" of adding smoke to model railway pictures I'm with you all the way - its just so naff it makes me cringe. Which isn't to say I don't like creative model railway photography but this looks like what it is - a white smudge.