Photographic Backdrops Printing your own Background Buildings
CRAFTSMAN/Jon Fruth, photographs by the author Instant
City Here are the finished building flats of Busi- ness Block “A” on left and Block “B” on the right. The original photos of the buildings were brightened by 30 percent and printed with scale size reduced by 15 per- cent to make the back- ground flats appear as if in the distance.
Shooting Position the camera at the centerline of the building. To achieve square edges, keep the plane of the back of the camera parallel with the front face of the struc- ture. Use your camera’s optional grid as an align- ment aid. The lower one- half of the photo’s frame will be foreground. Later, this will be cropped away.
I had installed the full array of suitable two-dimensional flat background buildings along the perimeter of my model railroad. Yet, open spaces remained. Imme- diate options were to either let the gaps remain as wide-open blue horizons or to repeat the artwork and have trains roll through déjà vu countryside. Both choices were less than appealing. I needed an original solution.
An exploratory venture into nearby neighborhoods literally filled in the blanks. A mother lode of unique factories, offices, and storefronts was waiting. The value of these architectural gems as a collection of ideal candidates for scenic backgrounds was immedi- ately apparent.
A digital camera and a home computer with printer became the essentials for this mini-project. I used only the most basic digital photo editing. (I actually used a
72 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
word processing program to do my photo editing.) However, the three-step image processing re- mains the same, no matter what the software.
Fieldwork
The degree of success for a building to make the virtual trip from foundation to layout begins with the click of the camera’s
shutter. If traversing private prop- erty for photo work, take heed to comply with any posted “No Tres- passing” and security notices. Timing is important. Consider a Sunday for fieldwork. Oppor- tunities for a clean shot are best when traffic is light and parking lots are empty. A cloudless sky is ideal. Sunlight should impinge on the front of the building. Avoid
PHOTOGRAPHIC BACKDROPS
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