abufletcher

The photography is good, the WWI models...not so much.

Idigbo

I don't know, you don't look in for a day or two and there is another page posted! I'm with Spuetz on that Nieuport, to my eye it is a very accurate model but the setting just looks too big!

Ian.

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

Great images Dwhart24!

abufletcher

What we probably have is a "digitally enhanced" version of a much subtler color original. Looking around I found this other smaller version. But, guys, really, the clumps of vegetation don't really mean anything. You see this all the time in nature. I just photographed similar clumps Saturday in Japan. And remember, most aerodromes were just converted farm fields, not golf courses.

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

Could this be the most scale in-flight crashing photo yet? Just a couple seconds before touching the ground as it weaved back and forth missing most of the trees on the way down. Note the branches caught in the flying wires, the branch and leaf debris flying through the air. Too bad about the cars in the background.....

abufletcher

...

abufletcher

Your photos were great, as always. Maybe that's the problem. They are ALWAYS great...and there's a limited number of ways to say great, again and again. In this case, I'd seen these images before...I think. Or maybe very similar ones.

john534

Ziroli 92" Jug, ready for ignition....

rcphotog

Is it REAL or.... is it a MODEL?

It's a model
A plans-built ( Nick Ziroli design ) PT-17 at 87" wingspan by Brad Osborne aka ( Homepylon )

Ken.

Spuetz

B R I L L I A N T!

I guess we shouldn't speak in superlatives all the time, but that Stearman shot ist just waaaaaaaaaay out there!One of the best shots yet!.
The interesting question is: "why ist it so good?". Its not the coarsenes of the grass - as a matter of a fact one could say that it looks a bit too big. But somehow it has to do with the lens - with the way the two wings are angled. can't put my finger on it. Don, can you? It just really looks like the big old Stearman! I've seen them -lots of them - that's what they look like. A bit bigger than you thought. You think: Ah, just a little old biplane and then you approach it and you think: wow, that is a big old biplane. that's what that picture tells me!

Spuetz

Guys, I need some creative help:

My wife (of all people ..;-) ) just had a brilliant idea.

the thing is: I am turning fifty on Friday. I am having a huge party. It is a Karneval-Party (here in Cologne) where everyone comes dressed up. The motto is "like in flight..." .
I wanted to have a slide show running as an item of decoration. Now here comes my wife's idea: I just showed some of the latest pictures on this thread to her who normally gets bored to tears by my passion - and she said: why don't you show these on your party?

Is that brilliant, or what? Immagine a slide show with a big, powerful projector (got that organized...) on a white wall in a big party hall showing the best pictures of this thread. Now what I would need is time to go through 200 pages and download all the pictures - don't have that
or
have you send them to me.
or
what's your idea?
Is there anyone out there who has, may-be, already downloaded all the best pictures of this thread and stored them on their computer? In that case, please drop me a pm and we can use a file sharing service to have them sent to my computer. that would be brilliant!!!!!

all ideas welcome.

cheers, martin

avionette

Ok these pictures with real roundels and some custom work? In Italy we say.. hard horns work

sebo

Dem's weely bigautomobiles.........say what you want 'bout the weeds........I tink day is big tooo.

abufletcher

One thing that springs to mind about the lens choice is the "natural perspective." Many photographers claim that a 50mm lens (on old film cameras or full-frame DSLRs) produces a very neutral, and therefore pleasing, view that very closely approximates what we "think we see" when we look at things in the world. Wide angles and telephotos, in contrast, create perspective effects that are often quite noticeable, and that often create very striking photos, but that also lose that sense of "truth" of the 50mm lens. Personally, I always thought a 35mm was more "neutral" than a 50mm but that's sort of a matter of choice.

So Ken, what focal length did you use for this shot?

abufletcher

And, yeah, that really is an outstanding photo of an outstanding model. I keep seeing great example of really exception scale models of the later-day biplanes and WWII warbirds...and maybe that's why I find myself with less and less patience for the multitudes of "sport scale" WWI models out there. Where are the great WWI models???

rcphotog

Thank you Martin and Don!

I'm very pleased with the response to my photo. I enjoy this "part" of the hobby very much, ( scale models with photography ) and this thread gives me a way of creatively expressing myself
I know that I tend to take the "spirit" of this thread to the extreme at times, but it's fun and challenging.
It's been a lot of FUN over the years ( and at times, frustrating)

Ken.
ps; I'll say this, that my approach to scale-model photography is like shooting glamour "Portraits" ( with a capitol 'P' ) of movie stars. I spend alot of time (before hand) with the model even before picking up the camera, to really "see" the model. What I mean is, TAKE YOUR TIME and really study the model looking at all its good points and bad. Then decide on it's "best" side (subjective decission) and - 'think of the model as a person with a good side and a non-flattering side' - then choose the "best" angle (another subjective decission) and begin the "process" of camera-blocking. This means looking through the lens (camera in one spot - maybe on a tripod) and 'seeing' if there are any distracting elements - like very large weeds that you can pull, trash you can remove, unattractive backround objects which may require re-locating the model or simply moving your position.

This camera-blocking is criticle and necessary and can be time consuming, but in the end will pay off. Select the foreground and backround carefully.

Focal length and depth of field:
I prefer using a slightly wide angle lens (around 28 to 40mm) for most static shots. This allows the 'viewer' to expierence a 'feeling' of actually being there by putting you closer to the model.
Most static shots of models (I think) should be taken with the greatest depth-of-field possible. This means you'll need to shoot at an apperature of greater than f11 (35mm lens optics) so that most of the foreground and all the backround should be in sharp focus using a medium wide angle lens like a 35mm. Unless you are attempting to replicate a very old (pre-1920s) photo which (like early Hollywood portraits) had a very shallow depth-of-field, then I suggest using the smallest apperatue =largest f. number possible.
This one thing alone will help you create more realistic static shots.

There's alot to learn and at times can be frustrating, but if you want to pay "tribute" and honor great craftsmanship in scale-aviation, then you owe it to yourself and to the builder to make the most beautiful and dynamic "portraits" possible. Afterall, why spend years and thousands of dollars building a scale airplane to just have someone "snap a few pics".
These museum-scale models deserve our best (as photographers). Take as much pride in your photography as they do in building.

US185Damiani

Now that sir is a masterful Illusioni Nicely done

abufletcher

First of all, Happy Big 5 - Oh!

Second, I've always wished there were a "slideshow" feature for threads, so we could just sort of kick back, grab a beer, and enjoy. Alternatively, it would be cool if there were some sort of "scrubber" app that could trawl through a thread and extract all the photos. Sadly, I'm not aware of any such app.

Anyway, welcome to the 50s, man!

rcphotog

Hey Don,
There IS a slideshow feature....just go back to the main forum page for this forum and on the right side were there is the "stats", you'll see the symbols for "who is subscribed" and (if you're logged in) YOUR "face" and .....(drumroll) ...wait for it ..........a slideshow graphic-symbol ( looks like a stack of photos )
Click on that and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait ......and wait some more until all the photos have loaded. (on a slow network, it could take a loooong time )
I tried that feature a couple years ago, and it does work if you have the paitence to wait and wait and wait and wait......you get the point.
Ken.

rcphotog

Hey thanks!
I worked on it for a long time and then "shelved it", thinking it wasn't good enough. That was last year. I'm thinking I will redo it again because I've learned more "tricks" / techniques.
The model is really the star!
It's truely a work of art and deserves all the attention it receives. I couldn't have created much of anything if it were not for the amount of detail and accuracy built into it.
Recently, I awarded it the 'MODEL of the YEAR' award amongst the incredible scale models here in Southern California.
The builder, Brad, has me look over his projects as he is working on them in order to give him an extra pair of eyes. I have this "gift" / curse of seeing details that many don't see.
I'm a bit of a perfectionist ....and that's the curse. I'm never satified with my own creations and can't bring myself to call something - finished.

Thanks again.
Ken.

abufletcher

This falls into the "neutral wide" range (in terms of 35mm equivalents) that I mentioned above. Wider and it becomes noticeable. Longer and it becomes noticeable. But these neutral wides give the feeling of "being there." In other words, the viewer doesn't see the photograph, the viewer sees the subject.

I agree. Our subjective experience of the world we live in is that everything is in focus. Of course, it's not, but our brains manage to fool us into thinking it is. Using small apertures for greater depth-of-field replicates this subjective experience.

abufletcher

Well, there you go! I think I may have tried this as some time in the past with one of the bigger threads and just couldn't wait so had figured it was "busted." Anyway, I just tried on my small EIII thread and it works like a charm!

Thanks, Ken! And well done RCU, well done!

wojtek

My Feedback: (73)

how about one from the inside ... and some more helis



www.voy-tech.com

















~V~

Spuetz

Hey Wojtek, guys,

Am I mistaken or is this the first scale cockpit shot of this thread? I think it is amazing! those screens! the perspective! Very believable!
Also, the first picture (the last one that you posted) that shows the (presumably) RC-pilot - but it is scale: It could be a spectator at an air show.
Great shots!

SDCrashmaster

Nice work Woj! How's the mini glass instrument biz going? Well I hope, as they are very cool.