boB,
Well now that Uncle Ed has pooped on your scene... I will offer you,
two free hours at the Bob Werre School of Fine Art Railroad Photography
school. Hope that makes you feel better! Actually I like the ability
of actually seeing the lighting element in the headlights, which you
show rather well. You can't do that with most LED's so you get one
thumb up on that one!
When it comes to ballast, way back in the day...I used Jack Troxell's
layout's engine facility for a shot for the Dispatch. Jack's homesote
had a white top surface, so making a night scene other than a snow scene
didn't work, so I dumped a bag or two of black ballast in the area.
Jack was a little upset that I messed up and covered all his great
track-work. He, however, finally agreed that ground isn't white and the
trackage in most areas is now ballasted.
Actually, I will be giving a clinic on doing model RR photography at the
upcoming NMRA's Lone Star Region convention coming up in June. As
usual, no charge for all the, stuff I can send home with you. The usual
disclaimer is that, since all this is free, it's probably worth what you
paid! Although I really do hope some of you have benefited. So boB,
if you get lost on some Southbound freeway and show up in Texas in June
we can talk photography all day.
Several times, I've been asked to judge the photo submissions at various
RR events. I think most of the functions forbid pros from entering the
contest if a certain portion of one's income is from paid photography.
Actually this has inherent problems in some ways. For instance a pro
wedding guy, and even a photo journalist might not have any more ability
to photograph a layout any better than the common guy who has read a
couple of articles. Besides it's the only way I ever get awards--just
kidding!
During the judging of submissions, I noticed a former local pro
photographer had entered his own layout in the contest. Due to many
quality and artistic problems, he received one of the lowest scores in
the contest--(he really had just entered some faded slides from twenty
years ago). The next time, we met he mentioned that "some judge" had
given him a very dismal score and he was a pro and should have been
given a much higher score. I told him, that I had judged the contest
and that his stuff really didn't measure up to today's standards. I'm
sure I'll be told the same thing eventually when techniques and times
change.
Bob Werre
PhotoTraxx
On 5/9/12 2:47 PM, Ed wrote:
> Comments, criticism, ideas for improvement, and brickbats all welcome.
> Bob Nicholson
Idea #1 : Track needs ballast or dirt -- depending.
Comment #1: Moonlit night scene looks cool!
Criticism #1: Lights should be more yellowish.
Brickbat #1: Scenery needs help. Lights can wait.
Idea #2: Sure you want more?
"S"miles....Ed L.
