CSX Out of the Tunnel

This morning I was looking to play with On One's photo stacking process.  I started by watching a few videos.  Looked easy.  Fortunately disk space is cheap and I have plenty if files to try with.
I loaded up my first 21 images and, pppfffttt.  Nothing.  Wait, huh?   Well, this wasn't right.  After about ten minutes of trying to figure out what the problem was, it appears that there is a limit to how many files can be loaded.  And the limit was south of my 25 files.  Looks like the limit is 14 files for On One.  Well, that won't do.   At least half of my work at the DMRRC is over that number.  I have a submitted a question to On One support to confirm my observation.
I also looked at On One's HDR process.  I haven't tried it yet, but looks like work.  Looks like it is very workable to a finished product - but again unless you are doing it a lot, work.  Eats into the five minute limit.  But I'll give it a try at some point.  Going to be a long winter.
Back to the train.  This stack turned out really well.  (Actually all turned out well this year.)  What really catches my eye here is the detail on the front of the engine.  The engine number, 953, is very clear.  That was a problem in a lot of my earlier efforts.  If the numbers are not clear, the rest doesn't really matter.  Continuing on, the chain just under the CSX front center is a great detail item.

ISO 100, f/6.3, 0.6 sec, 75 mm

NIKON D7200 Ver.1.04/50.0 mm f/1.8

Focus Stack - 21 Images (Helicon Focus)

The issue I always have is the scenery is an equal player to the trains.  Tough to crop it just to focus on the train and leave out the great work done by the DMRRC.

Through the Cut

One of the curses I find about returning to a location to photograph subjects, is I have a number of shots already lined up in my head.  And I will get that photograph at any cost.  And this is one set-up that I had in mind.
I wanted to get the length of a train measured by some landscape.  And that was all I saw.
Too bad.
I didn't notice any of the imperfections until I finished the stack process.  Most of the source photos are out of focus to begin with and I didn't see this coming.

In case it doesn't show up. but the right quarter of the image has some green thing that is too close to the lens and is out of focus.  Badly.  There are a few other 'imperfections' that need some tending to as well.  Most notably, there are what look to be green colored bag ties on the left and right trying to blend into the trees.  Easy fixes, but the green focus mess on the right is a problem.
I tried to delete the trees, clone over the trees and even replace the trees.  Note for next time, just make sure the shot is clear of this sort of thing.  Probably would have been a lot easier and less time consuming.
But like the bull headed idea to get this shot, I will do something reasonable with it to save it.
The first thing to do was figure out how much of the right I could save.  There is a slight out of focus area that if cleaned up would get some breathing room.  Some creative cropping may do the rest.

ISO 100, f/6.3, 1.6 sec, 50 mm

14 shot focus stack

But the story can't end here.  While this might be an OK shot, it still isn't doing it for me.  The club will go back to the DMRRC in a few months and I'll come up with something else.  What I did learn this year, is a prime lens is a must.  I have to keep on that track.  One of the issues is that minimum focus is a foot.  Doesn't sound like much. but when working in tight quarters, every inch counts.  Enough about next time.
Still trying to save this one.
I'd like to do something sketchy.  I came up with this, and just a hint of color.

The 6187 in the keystone had to stay sharp, after that everything else was negotiable.  Looks more sketchy as a screen saver on my monitors.

Across the Yard

As mentioned in previous posts, this year's photo shoot at the Detroit Model Railroad Club, for me, was successful.  Many of the shots turned out like this one, that is the photo is sharp and the likability of the subject is up to the viewer.
This year, I was trying for different areas on the layout.  I have some older shots of this area, but not with this setup of trains.  In the original shot, the background wall didn't do me any favors.  The focus stacking played some odd tricks with the flat blue color.  Lately I've been getting a bit more aggressive with cropping, and that allowed me to do the same here.
This is the shot coming out of the stack process.

ISO 100, f/6.3, 1.6 sec, 50 mm

16 Shot Photo Stack

All that stuff in the upper right looks bad.  That boys and girls is what a dirty sensor photo looks like.  In this case, it is not.
At first, I tried to clone it out to keep some originality.  And in the end, it looked worse.
Next I tried sky replacement.  I spent quite a bit of time erasing the background, more time than I like on any photograph.  I wound up erasing more and more of the background.  With what I think the format that the club likes, this is what I finished up with.

To me there's not enough to distract, but if I was to re-edit I'd lighten the blue a bit.  Other than that, the photo is OK.  Just OK.
But, since I've been cropping to a size that is more monitor friendly I might be able to get that mess totally out of there.

Actually, this looks so much better to me.  No background, all subject scenery.
I'm not sure why I'm not totally happy with this shot.  On my screen saver, it is sharp.  All the numbers are clearly readable.  All the tracks are in focus.  Still not happy.  I think, it is because it looks indoors?  The light ain't right.
I could play with the light levels, or......  I like what B&W or monochrome effects did for the F15 shot.  (Here)  After all, this is a railroad shot.  Looks way too clean.
This is what I finished with.

Now this looks a little more like a railroad yard shot to me, or what I think it would look like.  I need to expand my horizons more.

B&O Across the River

I am fortunate to still be able to more around somewhat 'nimbly' when taking photos of the model trains at the DMRRC.  That is to say, I can walk hunched over, carrying camera, tripod and tablet for a very short distance.  That ain't easy trying to navigate through a four foot high 'walk' way.  But as it is, the effort is worth it.  I can take photos from angles that generally aren't available to the public.
This is one of them.
In past years, I have used a bean bag at ground level to steady the camera in order to get closer to 'eye' level of the trains.  This year I wanted to get some height off the tracks.  That would help with minimum focus issues and give me a slightly different view.  With the tripod I used which is fairly flat, the battery pack and the camera, I was about 5 inches off the track.  That was OK, but not what I really was looking for.  Next year I'll lose the battery pack and get an inch closer.  That might get the look I'm after for some of these shots.
In this shot, all that doesn't matter.  Ha.  This is shooting if not level, only slightly downward.  While the top of the train is in view, it isn't the focus of the scene.  Although the train appears to be slightly banking inward, I'm OK with it.
There is a lot of 'clean-up' from the original that is required.  I'm finding on many of the pictures from the DMRRC, the ceiling lights are casting 'ghosts' that I don't like on some surfaces.  You may not notice it until it is pointed out - but now the lights are pointed out.  There are also some loose electrical wires under the bridge that clearly needed to be removed.
This is the original with the touch up area noted:

I used clone and content aware fill tools to remove the wires and at least dull the ceiling light reflections.  Both issues will show up when the image is cropped and some color/sharpening are added in.
The final image:

ISO 100, f/6.3, 1.6 sec, 50 mm

Focus Stack - 9 Images

I like the B&O colors of these trains, so I'm a bit partial when I say this is one of the better shots of the night.

Northwestern on Trestle

One of the fascinating features, to me, at the DMRRC are the trestle bridges.  The detail involved is amazing to me.  I'd like to think the trestles were hand built - and if they're not, please don't confuse me with the facts.  All that is missing for me is the noise of the metal and wood when the trains are moving.  Takes me back to riding roller-coasters on wood frames.
I like the looks of the Northwestern Engine.   The frontal view can be seen here.  The detail lines of the Engine are so unique.  And for the most part, from what I can tell, this engine is not weathered.
I never know if everyone 'likes' my take on photographs.  This is the photograph that is available to the DMRRC club - if they like straight photographs.

ISO 100, f/6.3, 4 sec, 50 mm

Manual, 11 shot focus stack

The house and train are too clean and shiny.
To me, this scene cries out for some high contrast to bring out the rock features, the house definition and whatever I can find in the trestle.  We need to age the scene a little.
I tried Photomatix and that adventure was like Goldilocks and the Bears.  Just couldn't find the right mix to get the rocks and the train right.  There were some interesting combinations of highlight and shadow lights and I might have used one or a mix if I wanted to do a dawn or dusk scene.  I wanted to keep this light relatively even and daylight.  In my head, there is a lot of detail.
I tried my On One sharpening and color fixers, and again - just couldn't find the right mix.
As a last resort, I hit it with my favorite NIK filter - and it hit.

However, with this filter something very odd happened.  On the red roof of the house, there was a 'spot' that really didn't look natural, and unfortunately it was an eye catcher.  That spot needed to be eliminated.  Roof work can be a bit tricky to keep the look right.  I used the clone tool.  The trick is to line up the clone so the roof tile shapes stay the same.  And since there is a bit of an angle, even with the clone target directly below, the tile size didn't match exactly, but around 90%.  And if you are looking that close.......
The other interesting item is I've started sizing to 1920x1080 pixels to better fit most monitors.  For this image, that doesn't work.  There's stuff going on high, low, left and right.  I had to revert to the 5x7 format to get all the subjects in the image.
So the final image that I have, that I like, is this:

This version looks more 'real' to me.  The house has some wear, the cars on the street don't look so shiny.  And the train looks like it has been used.  A little more realistic in my view, I might see this in Johnstown, PA.

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.

Rio Grande Trestle

Good afternoon to work on a photo or two.  Single digit Temps, negative temp wind chills.  Perfect day to work on a photo or two.
One of the shots I have from last year's trip to the Detroit Model Railroad Club is of an older model train on a trestle.
This shot was staged for me, as the train was positioned where I wanted it.

This is focus stacked from five shots.  And, as will be shown from one of the originals, some of the background was 'replaced'.
The details: Manual Mode, 32mm, 1 Sec, f/8 and 200 ISO.

Here is the middle shot:

I used Helicon Focus (Pyramid Method) to merge the five shots.  I was pleased with the outcome.

I used On One to remove the office wall.  

I had a photograph from a trip to New York a number of years ago taken on a hike to a waterfall.  The background matched up pretty well.  The sky had a little color and the trees in the background came close to matching.

I used Google's Nik HDR effects to top it off.

Good project for the day.

DMRRC 2017 Visit Prep

My photo club field trip to the DMRRC is this week.  Time to get ready.

Last year I had new camera, and a new strategy.  This year if something goes wrong, I don't have those excuses.

This year I am using new software for my remote tethering.  I've been working with it for a few months so that can't be too much of an excuse.

There could be a new and unexpected twist.  I'm comfortable with the D7200 and the Helicon Remote software.  I haven't worked that much with the D90 and the software, so was down in the dungeon putting that configuration through its paces.

The D90 is not wi-fi capable, so had to use USB cable.  Not a big issue.  What I did discover is that in some configurations the Remote software will not save to the camera.  The table I'm using has about 6 GB of space available - I need to save to the camera or at the very least save to the tablet's external card.  If I changed the my thoughts and had all the images sent to the tablet, either USB or wi-fi, that adds a lot of time to the shooting process.  I do like the idea of sending a image tot he tablet, only for verification.  But i want the RAW image to stay on the camera, both for speed considerations and file size.

Fortunately there is a setting on the Remote software as to what to do with the image(s).  This setting will send the JPG image to the tablet and will save the RAW image to the camera.  I tested on both the D90 and the D7200 and it worked well.  Cuts the stacking process by more than 50%.  Huge.

The next change will be I will start off using the 85 mm lens (AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR

85mm f/3.5G ED VR).  The lens I used last year, my go to 18-200 did are real nice job.  I thought i would use it again.  But as i was int he dungeon for a few hours, I decided to see if there was a difference in the lens with respect to clarity.  yea, I know.  With a prime lens I should always get better clarity.  I just didn't know how much.  And now I know.

The subject is the underside of a PC disk drive, the circuit board.  This looks like a really good subject for focus stacking.

Both shots are 30 shot stacks.  For the display, the area that is shown is at 100% magnification.  i tried to get as many environmental settings as close as possible.  The camera and the subject were not intentionally moved.  Both shots were with the D7200.  ISO is 100.

The first shot is with the 18-200 lens.  The focal length turned out to be 150mm.  This is f/6.3 at 1/25 second.

Reality is, this isn't all that bad.  (Or so I thought.)  I accept the challenges of small sensors and some what limited lenses.  Unless I'm going to enlarge this to a wall sized photo, this will look good.

Until.

This is the 85mm prime lens.  Same speed and f/stop.  Same number of photos in the stack.

Based on this information, I will start with the 85mm lens - until it doesn't work.

I will do more prep this week.

Hole Drill

Nikon is running a sale on two lenses - theoretically for close up work.  Both are prime.  One is a 35mm and the other is a 85mm Micro.  Nikon is calling its macro a micro lens.  Whatever, as long as it works.  

Yep, bought them this weekend.

I bought a 50mm last year - and it really wasn't doing the trick for me.  I was using it primarily for portrait work of which I don't do very much.  But I couldn't get the family picture right.  So - I'm going to a 35 mm.  As to the 85mm micro, I don't have anything to do real close up work.  With this lens, I can get close ups just under a foot away.  with my other lenses, I'm looking at another six inches away.  Doesn't sound like much, but.....

So today is play day.  My subject is a common hole cutting drill.  Truth be told, I had six different sets of shots.  Either the expose wasn't right, the tilt wasn't right or the lights didn't do the trick for me.  But stuck with it.

This is a 36 shot focus stack with the 85mm lens.  ISO 100, f/5.6, .3 Sec.  I shot this in RAW and the post work was in Photoshop.  The object is placed on a white poster-board.

As most of my efforts are HDR and somewhat 'soft', this is quite different.    

Toy RC Helicopter

This weekend's subject was photo stacking a smaller subject than the Walking Shoes projects.  I have a small, very small, RC helicopter I bought a few years ago to keep me occupied for a Christmas Day.  The Cats were not amused.
The toy has been sitting on the shelf since then.
Before I get into the toy, I thought a look into what I am now calling the dungeon.  I've set aside a corner in our basement for my photographic equipment.  I have two tables set up - one has the mat cutting equipment and the other is the table top studio.

So far, the single lighting source into the umbrella is doing the trick.  I have been very happy with the results.  That tip alone was well worth the gas money to Procam and back.
On to the helicopter.
The goal was to test the Helicon Remote (PC) and Focus programs with something other than the default settings.
Over the course of the day, I found out a few things that sound like I should have known them before today, but like most things I have learned I needed to see it for myself.
The first thing I figured out, is don't be so fast to jump to a RAW format.  As RAW files are larger, guess what?  Yep - they take longer to process.  That probably cost me a hour.  Lesson learned, unless there is a reason for RAW format or you are just testing go with a medium JPG format.
Another lesson, it appears that the smaller f/stop (larger opening) doesn't always mean a clearer product.  i found in the course of the shooting that for some reason, the tail section would never come out clear when I was shooting f/2.  Not sure if it was the complexity of the section, or the backdrop or a combination of the two.  I would see clear shots in the stack, but in the processing it never came out.  I'm sure there is a way to clean that up, but that is time I'd rather not take.  When I shot a stack at f/4.5 and f/8 the tail section came in very nicely.  Lesson learned, if you have the time take multiple sets with different aperture settings.  I believe it can make a difference.
Next lesson, complex subjects can be frustrating.  I'll define complex as having multiple points of focus that overlap.  In this case, I spent a lot of time moving the rotor blades so they didn't overlap the body.  The more independent each element, the better.  It took me a while to get this straight, and coupled with the RAW image lesson, there was a lot of time consumed.  Lesson learned, practice, practice, practice.  Note: I always go back to my first stacking adventure, the DMRRC shoot.  These were not so much complex shots, for the most part the scenery was uncomplicated.  There was depth, but none of it was overlapping.
And probably the last lesson for the day, when it comes to rendering the photos there is always room for improvement.  In this case, methods A and B worked best when the radius and smoothing values were set to 1.  And while that was fun trying to figure those settings - option C worked the best with no extra effort.  The Helicon vendor website said that most of the default settings would work most of the time.  Don't believe it - explore.
So on to the Helicopter, again.
Using two different DOF web calculators with the following:  Camera D7200 crop sensor, distance to subject of 24 inches with 50 mm lens set to f/8 gives me a DOF of just under 2 inches.  The helicopter is 7 inches long, plus maybe 2.5 inches for the front rotor blade.  Something isn't going to fit.
This is one of the mid-photos in the stack where the focus is just forward of the rotor.

The front looks OK, but from roughly half way back on the tail the sharpness is fading.

With a 16 shot photostack, this is the image:

And a close up of the tail section:

The tail section is sharp all the way through.

So that is the stack part - done in JPG.

And the Blog version:

As this project was done in JPG, I'm stuck with the coloring of the backdrop and soften the object shadow a bit.  Still in the learning process.

Walking Shoes II

Had a really good photo related day on Saturday.  I started with a few hours at ProCam in Livonia for their Demo Days event.  I had a few subjects to address while I was there - and all were taken care of.
First, I had the sensors cleaned on the D90 and D7200.  Pretty reasonable price and they did it while I was there.
Next I wanted to see what the Nikon 200-500 lens really looked and felt like.  I did.  Yea, I could have bugged the store people about it at any other time, but on Saturday I could bug the Nikon Rep.  It's bigger and heavier than I thought.  What I found out is I need to include in that purchase price a mono-pod.  The lens is coming in at around 5 pounds, its not a real mobile thing.  Good information.  Still in the running.
I'll get to the walking shoes.
I also needed to chat with someone about lighting for the downstairs studio, aka Grandpa's (Munster) laboratory or dungeon.  In the first effort with the walking shoes (Walking Shoes) I thought the subject was OK, but the environment was not.  I was mostly concerned with correcting the shadows cast on the backdrop.  The first thing I could correct was moving the backdrop back a bit, and that's easy to do.  But that might not be enough, I needed to get to the light source.  So I needed to chat with someone about the dungeon lighting.
Seriously, I'll get to the walking shoes.
I found a sales rep for Westcott, a seller of studio lighting materials.  Condensing the story, he said I had everything pretty much all wrong.  (I take things like this well, as I hear it a lot.)  I had used two table lamps on the previous walking shoes photo.  The light was OK - but I did get unwanted shadows.
The sales rep's suggestion was to use the modeling light on one of my White Lightnings into an umbrella to expand the light source and see what that does.  Go down to one light?  Less is better, right?
I was all for that - I already have the stuff.  No extra $$$s necessary.
Now to the walking shoes.
I set up the environment so the backdrop was more relaxed and back off the subject.  I used one overhead light with the full power of the modeling light into an umbrella.
I used a nine shot photostack.  I changed the defaults on the Helicon program to take two shots per focus step instead of one.  More is better, right?
And one other teenie weenie change, I returned to processing RAW files.  (I was playing with JPGs earlier because in the stacking learning curve, I didn't want to confuse any issues.)
On the previous project, the light temperature from the table top lamps came out pretty close to what I would want.  In this new set up, not even close.

Looks like a bizarre autumn warming filter was used.  There's some heavy tungsten temps.  Maybe some white reflection from the umbrella as well.  For reference, the backdrop is black.  Seriously.
Maybe I've lived under a rock for most my photographic journey, but I've never really had to play with white balance before.  I remember trying to find a neutral spot on photographs and identifying it to Lightroom in hopes of making a difference I couldn't see.  But in this case, I need to do something.  So in PS raw editor, moved the WB from AS SHOT to AUTO.  Bingo!  I was in the ball park.  It was that easy.
After I hit it with the WB change, I applied a custom color profile file I created for the studio.
So, here are the vitals:  I used the D90 with a 50mm prime lens.  ISO was set to 200, Aperture was f/2.8, speed was 1/6 second.  I used Helicon Remote to calculate and manage the shots.  I used Helicon Focus to merge the nine shots.  

I hit it with a bit of NIK's HDR filters and Glow.  (Hey, it's still me.)  On the original file, you can increases to 100% and it is tack sharp everywhere, even in the color transition areas.  I attribute that improvement over the previous version of Walking Shoes to doubling the number of shots per focus step in Helicon Remote.
The walking shoes set up was a fun learning experience.  This project is closed.  Time to move on.

Walking Shoes

I've been working with Helicon Remote and Focus.  These programs are primarily used for focus stacking.
The Remote product serves two purposes.  I wanted a better tethering application than the base Nikon product.  The Remote product works on both my Samsung Tablet and my W10 laptop.  That is HUGE.  The product will control everything except a zoom function.
When I have the table attached to my camera, via WiFi, I can place the camera in places that are hard for me to use the live view and control the focus points plus all other elements.  I've configured the application to save the files on the camera which has more space than on the tablet.  I can use this when working on a location.
When I have the laptop attached to the camera via USB, I have the same control but I have the images sent to the laptop.  From there I can run the Focus program to verify the image is as I want it.
The entire package is a bit on the pricey side, that is north of $100.  After a few days of testing, for me it is worth it.
So this is my first public effort with the new package.  The goal is to be ultra sharp through the entire subject (running shoes).  The bonus is that even with a HDR effect, still very sharp.
The vitals:  f/1.8, 1/40th second, ISO 400.  The lens is a Nikon nifty 50.

First effort - not bad.