Reprise on model photography

I recently received an interesting question by email, asking about the model photographs I include in my blog posts and in my articles for the “Getting Real” column in Model Railroad Hobbyist. I replied to the questioner with links to some of my past blog posts on the subject, but thought it might be useful to add the same links and a few comments here.  

Back in 2015, I posted a series of short articles about model photography. My introduction was a general description about the problems of photographing anything that is small, emphasizing that it is essential to understand how your camera works. The basic principles are these: minimum lens aperture; solid (usually tripod) support for the camera; and good lighting. (To see that post, you can go to: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2015/02/photographing-railroad-models.html .) 

I continued with further comments of the same kind, including numerous recommendations of published books and articles that are helpful. Among these is a link to a still-available super on-line article, actually from the FineScale Modeler magazine. That post can be found here: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2015/02/photographing-railroad-models-part-2.html ). 

Part 3 was about what is called “table-top photography,” usually close-ups of individual models, parts,  or components (that post is at this link: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2015/03/photographing-railroad-models-part-3.html ). I showed my usual set-up at the time for photography of my own models in this mode. Using outdoor sunlight, one can get good results with a hand-held digital SLR. Ample light means high shutter speeds, which minimizes the need for a tripod.

Today, I still do much the same, but for support, often use a chair that’s handy instead of the portable table, shown above, that I originally used. And solid color art paper, available at any art store, helps to vary the background look of the individual photos. This is a case where the depth of field of the SLR is really valuable.

A little later, I added a Part 4, to show how I then did photography on my layout, using my digital SLR, tripod, and floodlights. It’s somewhat old-school, but certainly can give excellent results, once you learn the drill. Here’s a link to that post: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2016/04/photographing-railroad-models-part-4.html . I rarely do this any more, though the SLR does offer really excellent depth of field at minimum lens aperture. It’s still a good way to manage photography of scenes with appreciable depth.

Like most people, I find myself relying more and more on the camera in my cell phone for all kinds of photography. Because I had seen what excellent model photos others had taken with their phones, I set out to see what I could accomplish, and wrote a summary of it. (You can see that post at: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2021/03/layout-photography-with-cell-phone.html ). 

I later followed up with additional experiments of the same kind, as shown here: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2022/02/experiments-in-layout-photography.html . Today, I often use the cell phone for all kinds of layout photos, usually hand-held, but helping layout illumination with a 500-watt flood on a stand. That way, the location and direction of shadows can be controlled. The phone can be hand-held in nearly all cases.

[Some readers will note that I have not mentioned image-stacking software. I feel like that’s a separate subject, and will turn to it in a later post.]

So I continue to rely on my SLR for many photos, but don’t hesitate to use the cell phone where it can do the job. But the fundamental requirements (adequate and uniform illumination, as much depth of field as possible, careful composition) are as essential as ever.

Tony Thompson