A new view - a creative challenge

[TrainNut]

Lately, I've grown tired of photographing my layout the same way and wanted to experiment with something different. It seems that whenever I take a picture through a window, I go to great panes (pun intended) to leave any foreground interference out. As some of you may have seen in this weeks photo fun, I've done quite the opposite... with a twist.

The challenge -
The rules are few - Submit any RR associated picture you took or created that has obviously been taken through a window. I've come up with a ton of fun ideas and I know that you will probably come up with a ton more and I'd like to see your creativity! This is an unofficial, ongoing challenge and there will be no voting... kind of a spinoff of the weekly photo fun but with some focus!
Let's see what you've got!

Let me throw in some examples to get you thinking!
This first shot is something I've been thinking about for some time and finally got around to creating. I took a picture out the side window of my wifes car, used Photoshop to superimpose that over an appropriate picture of my layout and there you have it!


The next shot, I thought I'd get a little fancier and take it out the front window using the same process...


This last one, I actually put a lot of work into but I still used the same concept. The crane in the foreground is 1:1 again superimposed over a picture of my layout.


I used Photoshop for these but you don't have to. Do it however you like of whatever you like as long as it is through a window of any kind and is RR related! Proto or non proto, I don't care! Have at it!

[scubadude]

I can't even take a decent photo to submit, much less gettin' fancy ... I look forward to seeing what you all come up with

[Art Decko]

What a clever idea! The car interior really gives the photo "real world" context! Cool shots!

I do a lot of Photoshopping. May I offer a few ideas on how you can use Photoshop (or whatever graphics app) to heighten the illusion of distance? These are all very subjective effects, and vary a lot in nature, so try messing around with them. In the example below I pushed them a bit for effect.

Because of moisture and particulate matter in the air, as an object becomes increasingly distant, more of the light reflecting off it is lost on it's way to your eye. Think of how distant mountains or buildings look "greyed out".

You can simulate this in a graphics application by:

- reduce "saturation" (the "intensity" or "vividness" of colors). When a photo of a model looks "toyish", very often it's because the colors are too saturated, which tips off the eye that the object is in fact near. Dull down the colors by reducing saturation, and the objects will look more distant.

- in daylight, distant objects are usually somewhat lighter overall, and lower in contrast - so try lightening things a bit, and avoid really dark blacks. This is the idea behind the notion of "scale black" which I have seen MRRers mention.

- adding a bit of blur to distant objects, especially high-contrast edges, can increase the illusion of distance, especially in a case like this where the camera may be focused on the car interior.

Additionally, in this shot ...

- I lightened the color of the sky, the blue looked too dark for the faked "daylight" conditions. Keep in mind the sky is often more pale near the horizon.

- I used the "dodge" (brightening) tool to add some fake "glare" around the bottom and left edges of the windshield. If you are looking through a curved windshield on a sunny day, there will usually be some glare or reflections somewhere.

Hope to see more photos like this, very creative idea! Layout photos could also be "seen" through other fake vantage points, such as building or airplane windows. Carry on!

[TrainNut]

Originally Posted by Art Decko

Layout photos could also be "seen" through other fake vantage points, such as building or airplane windows. Carry on!

Now you're thinkin'!! Like I said, I started to think about how many different ways this could be done and came up with a ton. Thanks for the pointers on the photos. I'll have to experiment and play with those as I'm still somewhat of a novice with Photoshop.
On the other end of the spectrum, here is a picture with no photo manipulation whatsoever where the background is looking through a window. See, you don't have to even do anything really special. Easy stuff here.

[RonP]

That looks awesome.

I found this video today it is pretty kool

YouTube - Trainsimming 2009

[nachoman]

Trainnut - that last photo is pretty cool. If I remember, i have a few I took that I will post later.

Kevin

[Ralph]

This is great stuff! If I had the talent I'd try to create a locomotive cab's eye view....

Ralph

[eightyeightfan1]

Its not through a window, but how about a shot looking from my screen house towards the river behind my house.


That is actually an Athearn SD70M behind my Caravan.

By the way....Thats all thats behind my house....a river.

[TrainNut]

It kind of looks like you have two cars in the driveway! Does the license plate on your van say, "My other car is an SD70M."? By the way, how much did Coke pay you to sponsor their product?

Tonight, I'm going to try and hit the local car show so I can get some more "behind the wheel shots" of some vehicles that are a little more era correct for my layout than my wifes van. The two just don't mix very well.

[Chessie6459]

TrainNut those are some nice photo's.

[viperman]

Man, I used to have a LOT of railfan pics I took from inside cars, I'll see if I still have any that got stored away somewhere before my hd crashed.

EDIT: found one I took with my phone looking out the windsheild of my old work truck!