B&O and the Small Shack

Last night the photo club to which I am a member made what is turning out to be an annual trek to the Detroit Model Rail Road Club in Holly.  The club runs O scale.  This was our third year for this little adventure.  Previous posts can be seen by clicking the DMRRC link on the right.  This year, the DMRRC members really outdid themselves.  When we arrived, a number of trains were out and ready to be photographed.  The members there were more than helpful to move trains around and help set up some great scenes.  I took 28 scenes out of which around 20 are 'club' worthy.
This year I went with using a 50 mm lens.  No telephoto.  Looking back, I probably should have stuffed a 35 mm lens in my pocket for use.  I found that the 50 was a bit much for tight quarters.  During these outings, we have run of the rail road set and can get wonderful shots that the general public doesn't have access.  And some of the these areas are tighter than I thought for a 50 mm.  Lesson learned.
But the really great thing is that the images are so much sharper with the prime lenses.  I hear that all the time.
This is also my yearly dive into focus stacking.
So between the prime lens and a focus stack software upgrade my night was pretty successful, if only technically.  The aesthetic part is always open to interpretation.

ISO 100, f/6.3, 0.6 sec, 50 mm

Manual Mode, 8 shot focus stack

D7200/50 mm

In previous years, I had a number of focus mistakes by setting up too close to the subject.  This year I 'focused' on not violating the minimum distance that the lens could handle.  Much better results, but again, probably should have used the 35 mm on most shots.