| For the fourth year in a row one of my photos was selected for the NMRA calendar. This shot will appear for the month of June, 2008. The picture also won "1st Place - Color Model Photo " at the Thousand Lakes Region Convention in 2006 |
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| Thankfully there's a 20-minute stop in the little town of Glen Oaks for the Bona Vista's morning passenger run -- the delay means folks won't have to board the uncomfortable, old drovers' caboose just yet, and can enjoy the summer day a few minutes longer. |
This shot was taken with my Konica Minolta A-200 8-megapixel digital camera (an "almost an SLR" camera) and was lit with a single 75-watt bulb. It was a long exposure (probably 10 to 15 seconds). The camera is literally resting on the layout. For this shot I used a software program named "Helicon Focus," so this picture is actually a compilation of 10 different, but identical shots, each taken with the manual focus set at a different spot. The result is unlimited focus. The depot was scratchbuilt from plans in the April, 1979 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. The drovers' caboose was scratchbuilt as one of the eight cars I needed to build to receive both my Master Model Railroader certificate, and my Master Builder-Cars certificate. Yes, those are cattails in the foreground. The chain link fence is made from bridal veil ("tulle"). To give you a sense of scale, the side wall of the depot is about 2"x2" in real life. |