Thank you so much for your e-mail. I am touched and honored that you wrote.

My personal philosophy in life is to share everything I know with everyone. And for free!

Just so you know, I tend to give far more information than asked for, so bear with me
if I ramble on a bit.

-In your first question, you wanted to know if I decide the project first then go look for a location? Or do I create a scene specifically for the project?

Actually, it is a little of both, BUT let me explain that by using examples.

For my most recent post on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N ... otostream/

I knew I wanted to create a scene using a weathered caboose. And specifically a caboose that was built in the 1920s or older so there would be a contrast with the vehicles I was considering, which were from the mid to late 1950's. These cars were colorful, huge and chrome ladened. At that point, I wasn't sure what the background would be, though. The contrast between the old caboose and new cars was the main intent.

On my kitchen table I did a test setup of how the two would work together. It was all fine and dandy, but a bigger question came to mind: What was the story I was trying to tell? Thoughts, such as; why were these new cars hanging out near an abandoned caboose? Who owned these cars? Was the caboose used for a meeting point or was something going on inside?

These questions made me rethink the story. What if the scene took place in the 1930's with the economic Depression in full swing? What if the caboose was used to make booze or print money? If that were the case, what type of cars would these people drive? Surely, seeing a flashy 1930's automobile
parked in the bad side of town would certainly draw attention. So I decided to have the vehicles from a lower middle class strata.

And so on and so forth.....

Once that was settled, I had to find a background that said "other side of town". Railroads tend to follow rivers and lakes with views of neighborhoods on the far shore and there is a lake near where I live, with just such a view.

Along with all of the above, there are times when I will see a view that will instantly inspire me to create a scene around it. When that happens, I will look through my collection of model cars and buildings that will best show off that view. Because I limit myself to the eras of the 1920s through 1966, the view must have
appropriate visual cues from those eras.

In this photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/8664328191/

I knew the stone bridge was built in the 1920s and because it was in good condition, I thought I would feature it as a fairly new structure from that time period. I have a lot of nice diecast models from that era but the question was; What would give off a romantic feel and at the same time quietly show the thrill of owning an automobile, because the general population at that time didn't own cars. They were expensive by the days standards and owning one was a form of prestige.
The 1932 Ford convertible model had just enough dash and class to compliment the newly built highway bridge!

-To answer your second question about tips for creating a realistic image....


A huge factor involved in all of this is the weather and the lighting [ time of day ]. I've found that late afternoon sunlight is very conducive to realistic photography with models. The shadows are long and the sun is not overpowering.

For myself, with model cars that are shiny; early morning or noon time sun is too bright. Believe it or not, the reflections off of the chrome is out of scale. You get "bursts" of brightness that obscure the details of the models.

If you do want a very bright photo, try to find some dappled sunlight filtering through the trees. These shadows add another layer of realism and "fool the eye".

You'll notice in the caboose photo, the sun is fairly low, the clouds have some color to them and the background has some bright spots to add contrast.

Now in the same breath, a completely over cast day creates an interesting effect. In this photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/11594728873/

There are no shadows at all, most of the photo is monochromatic, yet the overcast light makes the red of the truck POP. It automatically makes your eye go to it.

To add to all of the above, one of the things that I have learned over the years is to try an not have a true focus point in any given image. The goal is have everything work together and be part of the whole scene. Even though the red and white oil truck is seen first, the placement of the vehicles makes your eye travel around the photograph. For myself, that is important to the "look" of my work. To have it almost appear to be a snapshot.

I do a lot of research looking at old photographs. Especially candid shots where the photographer wasn't paying attention to what was going on in the background. There is a certain unbalanced feel to the image, yet it is 100% natural.

Another tip, and I learned this in bits an pieces, was to get things slightly dirty and not treat the models with total reverence. Granted, each model car costs about $150 each, and you can see in my earlier work, everything was just a bit too clean and neat.

I started off slow, by adding dirt and dampness to the streets and gutters. But when I experimented with "snow" [baking soda] there was no way to not get the models covered with the stuff. It was just a matter of time before I was sifting dirt onto the vehicles and throwing caution to the wind.

Here is a point that is most important to photographing miniatures. Everything MUST be in scale. Even down to the dirt and water. Yes, water can look out of scale if it beads up on a model or puddles on the road surface and not spread out.

Your eye will pick that little detail up although you might not know exactly what is wrong.

When I want a rainy scene, I wet just the road and the sidewalk but not the vehicles. I just polish up the cars so they look wet.

The dirt I use is from my vacuum cleaner, which I sift with two strainers so as to get the big lumps out. A big lump is anything larger than a head of a pin when working at 1/24th scale.