Basic Photography Tricks
Many of the photos taken on our layout look very realistic. This allows the West Central Railroad’s history to come alive in a more convincing way. There are several tricks to taking more realistic photos on a model railroad and some easy digital editing techniques to further the illusion. New photo editing software is extremely easy to use, so it is easy to experiment and get great results quickly. All of the edited images on our site were done by Dennis Hamilton.
Successful digital editing starts with a good photo; the less editing you do, the less likely someone will notice the alterations. Start by getting close to the model (most railfanning photos are taken trackside or from a bridge, not from an airplane or skyscraper).
By getting low and close with the camera this photo looks like it was taken trackside.
This photo is a bit further away, but by keeping the camera off to the side, we can imagine a railfan perched on a mountain using zoom lenses.
This photo is a simple pan photo. By moving the camera with the locomotive, the locomotive remains in focus while the background blurs to indicate motion.
The edge of the photo and layout features, like this tunnel, can be used to help create effects. It is easy to imagine this ore train looping back on itself during a mountain climb, although it only has 10 carefully arranged cars.
This photo is not great as a color picture, but as a black and white photo it is a decent ‘historical’ picture.
The picture on the left is a fair layout photo. The photo on the right had the ‘Exit’ blimp and ceiling tiles removed from the upper left corner and smoke and steam added to make it a more convincing railside picture.
We can even take the photo from above and make it black and white like on the left. On the right, the same photo was converted to ‘night time’ using digital editing.
The real trick to all of these great photos is taking numerous shots and experimenting with digital editing. Making a few ‘historical’ photos of your layout can be fun and allow you to bring your model railroad to life.