Details!

Preparing for a Photo Shoot

Bob Boudreau spent most of this morning taking photos of several scenes along the Carleton Railway. Preparing for the photo shoot was a reminder of the importance of details. For example, the Newbridge Drug Store had no interior, just big frosted windows, which made it look abandoned in photos. The photos below (obviously taken by me, not by Bob) show the result of adding some simple interior details to the storefront. The billiard parlour already had an interior. The top photo shows the importance of having the traffic signal turned on for a realistic photo (compare the dead signal in the top photo with the ooperating traffic signal in the lower photo).

The problem with the scene along the Little Presqu'Isle stream was that the "water" had been cleaned so many times that the surface had become noticeably scratched, and needed a new thin coat of WS "Realistic Water" to look good in the photos.

I also had to clean up stray ballast along the right-of-way and REALLY dust and vacuum the layout. Once Bob lit his 600-watt spot lights, every piece of dust or tiny cobweb showed clearly in the photos!

Thanks Bob for your time, effort, and skill--I'm looking forward to seeing the results. The photo shoot not only produced photos of far better quality than these ones that I have taken, but it improved the detail and the cleanliness of the layout in the process!