Thanks, guyz.

I'm tidying it up while I'm waiting for the camera battery to charge up.

Before I start I must show you a gizmo I found in an old scenery magazine.

It's for putting dry grass clumps into scenery.

First punch a hole in the styrene . . .



Then get your home made putter inner and place each leg over the grass - about in the middle.



Fill the hole with PVA and insert the device into the hole, pushing down until the clump ends come together.

Easily made with a large pin, with a second one bent over and soldered on to the end.

Anyway, I digress.

The sun was dropping fast, so I took the stage out on to the front lawn for a few quick shots . . .









Like I say, the sun was very low; but I'm not unhappy with the result.

What I am noticing is that Editing takes away some of the detail.  What I thought was out of focus is actually loss of clarity.

I expect that once I start working with the RAW images, things should improve.

I think the modelling is coming along great Max but in all honesty I don't think the background on the outdoor pictures does your model any favours.

   I had literally ten minutes before the sun went down, Bob.

I ran out on to the front lawn and fired of some quickies.

Over the weekend I hope to move down to the reserve to get some shots with a background further away.

Like this old one I did a few weeks ago . . .

Ah, now that's much more like it Max. Great picture.

Thanks, Bob.

I've been through the process many times this afternoon and I have found that the cropper on MS Picture Editor is the cause of the loss of detail.

At Sol's suggestion, I downloaded AVS Photo Editor from http://www.fastone.org (admittedly the name was a bit of a worry).  :shock:

Once I started to use it, the results were like chalk and cheese.



becomes . . .



Much better.  :thumbs

Yes.  I saw that there was a wheel off when I finished.  :oops:

You can be proud of your stage Max - it looks great. :thumbs

Interesting comments about the editor.  I'd have thought "digital" remained "digital" and therefore, there would be no loss in quality whichever tool you used.  Afterall, it's only numbers ……………

I might have a look at Sol's "Fastone" myself. …………:hmm   Is it easy to use ?

Thanks, Peter.  Every time you edit a shot, it causes losses.

AVS is excellent, but not free.  A$59.00, but very easy to use - and I'm finding more stuff as I go along.

Peter,  FastStone Image Viewer - Powerful and Intuitive Photo Viewer, Editor and Batch Converter  is what I use - free
Max used www.fastone.org  - spelt differently.

Well, I guess I'm wrong AGAIN!

The Faststone viewer has been a recommended piece of software in our Photography Software section since 2008 and it has got better every year.

Following along from your idea Max I may have thought of something I could manage. A 3' x 2'6" board divided down the middle with an 8" high background board with a rural scene on one side and industrial on the other. That would give plenty of scope for modelling even if it finished up without a train in sight. Each side could even be in two different scales. Just a thought.

It's an excellent thought, Bob.  :thumbs

Are you a photography tragic?

That's a good idea Bob.  It will keep your hand in, and be easy to pick up and put down whenever you feel like doing something.

Good idea, Bob.
Will it have a mountain?

[user=269]MaxSouthOz[/user] wrote:

It's an excellent thought, Bob.  :thumbs

Are you a photography tragic?

Is 'tragic' a typo Max or is it an Aussie thing with regard to photography, or am I just getting old.

Our past Prime Minister, John Howard is a cricket tragic, I'm a Loksound  tragic.  I guess we are all rail tragics.

I think a tragic must be someone who is passionate and dedicated to the study of something.

No offence meant, Bob.  It's a typical Ozzie backhanded compliment.

[user=269]MaxSouthOz[/user] wrote: 

  It's a typical Ozzie backhanded compliment.

Are you sure thats not a furphie Max ?