Man... I am the worlds worst photographer... good thing I don't have to make a living at this. :embarrassed: I have a 6M Panasonic Lumix DMC-Fx3 camara and even after reading the directions can't seem to get decent pictures. Even in auto mode... the flash washes out the picture... turn off flash... pictures too dark. Change F-stop... ISO setting etc... blurred pictures... out of focus... or combination of everything above :angry: I've seen some fantastic photos done on Rail Images and while I'm not sure what equipment was being used... It probably has more to do with technique than equipment. I could use some pointers. I have Macro capability with this camara and image stabilization 'OIS', so I really can't figure out why all the problems.
Jose: First get a tripod. Then turn off your flash and operate the camera in manual mode. You can't get decent photo's of your layout if your camera doesn't have a tripod. Stay cool and run steam.....
Hi Bob Actually... I have a tripod. I've held the camara firmly on the layout to take 'eye-level' shots and pressed the button gently (no movement) and still got bad pictures... although... in those cases it had more to do with the flash 'washing-out' the details or without flash pictures were too dark. I reset the ISO to 400 and slowed the shutter speed to get as much light as possible to get a good picture without flash... but it would still come out of focus and blurry.
Joe, from dpreview.com's specs on your camera, it looks as if you have a timer that can be set for either 2 or 10 seconds. Use that, first at 2, then 10 if 2 does not work. Hope that helps. Good luck. It takes practice.
What's the lighting like around your layout? You want to have the layout really well lit and don't use a flash. If your light is too harsh and the camera isn't picking up details well, you can probably use something like a piece of printer paper to slightly redirect the light so it's not so intense on your models. At the club I belong to and on my home layout we use a mixture of high fluorescent shoplights and closer directional/spot lights. That combo requires no extra lighting technique and I'm just using a regular Canon sd400 point and shoot digi-cam.
Yes, what Anthony said. More light, more light, more light. I sometimes get my wife to hold a flourescent 3-footer just out-of-frame for a second while I snap a photo!
Hi, Calzephyr, By a lot of trial and error, here's what I wrote down a couple years ago about what worked for me. Had a *ton* of help from the forum here, and just kept experimenting and observing others. - - - - - - - Bottom line: * use time exposure to get good color on indoor lighting, thus use tripod/auto-timer * use small aperature to get good depth of field * use the color balance features on digital camera to compensate for indoor lighting - - - - - My basic procedure is something like: a) Set the camera to 'aperature' mode (i.e. not the 'auto' mode) b) Set the aperature as high as it will go (F8, F11, whatever it will go to) c) If necessary for the closeup shot, select 'macro' mode for any closeup shots (otherwise not needed) d) Disarm the flash (this tells the digital camera to automatically select the shutter speed) e) Use a tripod (the shutter speed is likely going to be long) f) Use the auto timer to initiate the shot (so the camera doesn't shake from pressing the shutter ) g) Use the digital camera's color balancing features to adjust for the type of lighting you're using (halogen, tungsten, flourescent) until you get a natural color. h) Don't be afraid to try slight over-exposures to get more detail (especially with black or dark models). i) Play with the composition, angle, lighting location, brightness. Use ground-level angles or even 'shooting up at the trains' where possible. Try setting the camera right on the scenery. Shoot from inside a tunnel, looking down a street, from an overpass, from the end of a train simulating the caboose crew's view. Try imagining where an N scale sized railfan would stand taking pictures. Have fun, takes lots of shots playing with the composition and angles, knowing you'll discard many/most of them. Over time you'll get better quickly. j) Touch up the photo in a photo editor after taking it works wonders. (MS Office comes with a simple MicroSoft Photo Editor (that's what I use); there are other inexpensive ones / freewares as well as powerful ones like Adobe Photoshop. Basic brightness/contrast adjustments, color re-balancing, cropping does magic to a photo. k) Study other folk's photos, and ask yourself "why does that picture look good" and even "why does that photo look bad"? For what it's worth, you can decide for yourself if any of my pictures fit either of these categories! : http://www.railimages.com/gallery/johnsing Feel free to ask more about what/how to use the features on your digital camera. We all benefit from reading the answers. - - - - - - This is just my experience and others I'm sure can add to this. (smile) Keep experimenting with the above and we all want to see and share in what happens.
I am not sure if you have tried to reduce the exposure of the camera or even if you have this feature/setting. But my digital has a feature where you can adjust the exposure down. The setting I use is set at (-2 exposure, macro, manual, ISO 400). The only other advice that I can give is try several different settings on the camera and adjust the ambient lighting in the room. Note each one as you go that way you can see what improves the photo and what does not. I started off having too little light in the room and kept raising the light. When you adjust the exposure down it not only takes most of the Halo effects out but it also darkens the photos. My pictures are no where close to perfect, but with trial and error they are improving. Mr X
Thank you all for the information. :thumbs_up: It seems like I'll have to tinker with the settings some more. Perhaps I was using settings that were not complimentary to the conditions. One problem I presently have is the lighting. I have an ongoing project involving a valance to direct lighting over the layout, but, its still a project in the works. The present lighting is compact fluorescents and they are in the middle of the room. Unfortunately, the layout is along the wall...ergo... long shadows are cast upon the model when being photographed on the layout. I didn't use a tripod for many of the pictures because I was placing the camera on the surface of the layout and gently pressing the button. I figured that any minor movement would be taken care of by the OIS (optical image stabilizer). Perhaps OIS doesn't work on macro mode??? I will use the 2 or 10 second timer in the future... as well as the tripod. I may just have to photograph the model outdoors in natural light... with a tripod... and using the timer. Still I need to get 'up-to-speed' with the camara settings and better understand combinations of f-stop, film speed etc for more complicated shots indoors on the layout. If you have any other comments for optimum settings please share and explain why they work (or are necessary). Thanks again in advance!
Halogen Lamps? My understanding is that Halogen lamps are the closest we can get to "natural sunlight". Will that help? John Sing - I was just thinking of how much I would pay for your advice - Then I decided it must be time to make another contribution to Trainboard. Thanks!
There are fluorescent tubes that emulate natural sunlight by providing a full range of the spectrum. Ons such light is VitaLite by Durotest. I used it for many years in my office in all fluorescent overhead fixtures and in my train room. Stay cool and run steam....
Halogens are not at all close to daylight. Mine came in at 2800 K. Daylight is considered 5000-6000 K. Daylight fluorescents are are at about 5500 K. Photofloods are at about 3200 K. I used to shoot with 1750 watts of halogens on tracks, and 2000 watts of halogens on worklight stands. I hated the results, Now I shoot with 320 watts of daylight fluorescents on the celing and three 30-watt compact fluorescents in cheap reflectors. I love the results. I think the reflectors are still about $10 at Walmart. Mine are 30 years old. I've had good luck just holding one above a scene and shooting.
No, that title belongs to me. :cry2eh: But I'm not apologizing. Photography is not an interest. I have played around lately with my wife's under-$150 Kodak digital. With a few more dollars here or there I might give it a little more attention. But hang in there. You will get there before I do. Ben
Keep at it! I considered myself a pretty good photographer until I tried my hand at shooting my model railroad. It took about four years, and lots of experiments and notes before I got any good at it. Most of my learning had to do with what the camera would do and how to control it. The biggest boost on my learning curve was using daylight fluorescents for lighting, rather than halogens. I think halogens would have worked quite well with a film camera but, with the switch to digital, fluorescents have been my savior. Many professional photographers have switched to fluorescents because of the softer light they produce, with much less heat.
Ok, got it. thanks! for filling in the blanks. I feel my compositions for balence / framing etc... are pretty darn good but yes - That is my weak point though mostly because the text is soooo small it is hard for me to read it. Thanks!
Grey One, you're very kind, any advice here on Trainboard is free and meant for sharing. I'm glad the ideas have been helpful .... I've had so many others here be helpful to me by their sharing as well. An small additional contribution to Trainboard I'm sure would be welcomed by all!
Steve, I have to use my 4x magnifier to read the Nikon manuals. I think the digitals brought out a feature, Auto White Balance, that has revolutionized photography. We no longer have to worry about the greenish tint of fluoresecents, or the orange tint of incadescents. If something is off-color, it's pretty easy to correct in post-processing.
