A Few Words about Wordless Wednesday #348 - Colorizers

Long time readers of this blog will no doubt recall my persistent road block (pun not intended) when it comes to running foreground roads straight into the backdrop. I have no less than 3 such roads in my Wethersfield scene - and, thus, I have avoided doing the backdrop in Wethersfield for years. Literally.

So, instead, I've been focusing my efforts on completing the Dividend section of the layout. But I inevitably eventually had to confront the Backdrop Problem. Fortunately, no need for roads going straight into the backdrop here. Unfortunately, I needed to try and relearn PhotoShop Elements in order to even start a photo backdrop. Thankfully Bill was willing to help walk me through some of the basic tools and along the way I happened to mention the old Hartford postcard another friend had colorized for me to create a "Hartford" backdrop at the north end of the Wethersfield scene. Then he casually mentioned that he'd been playing with some online colorizers.

Whaaaaat?? There's such a thing? I had no idea.

Before he had a chance to send me a link to the one he was using, I worked the Google on the Internet Machine and came up with a few to try out. I'll go through them here to give you a sense of what's possible - and I suspect you're going to be just as excited as I am to discover such wonderful technology.

The four I tried out were:

• Algorithmia
• DeepAI
• PlaybackFM
• MyHeritage

Here's the image I started with:

As you can see, this would be a perfect image for a road-going-into-the-backdrop on a layout set in 1948, like mine. In fact, MANY photos that would provide great backdrop fodder for older-era layouts would be wonderful - but for the fact that almost all of them are in black & white.

That's where colorization comes in - and you don't have to do it yourself manually in Photoshop.

Here's the same image uploaded and processed by Algorithmia:

Same image uploaded and processed by DeepAI:

Same image uploaded and processed by PlaybackFM:

As you can see, each site processes the image a bit differently, with different colors, saturation, etc. And, while they're all free (at least to try), they accept different image sizes. For those reasons, IMO, one site came out on top. For direct comparison, here's the original photo again:

And here's the same image uploaded and processed by MyHeritage:

It just looks right to me and noticeably better than the others. The trees & grass are a nice shade of green, the road a brownish gray, and even the Woody is rendered much more accurately than the others. Overall, the colors all appear much more saturated. And because MyHeritage also accepts much larger (read: higher resolution) images than the other services, you have a much wider range of freedom on how to size the image for your particular situation.

Now, lest you think these free (and fast! each image only took a few seconds to process) are perfect, remember YMMV (your mileage may vary). While the above image was my first attempt, I realized it was also a bit of beginner's luck. Here's the next image I tried:

The original size of this photo is over 8 megs, so to use it on three of the sites, I had to resize it much smaller (under a meg) in order to get it to process. Here are the results:

Algorithmia

DeepAI

PlaybackFM

As you can see, it barely looks like any colorization happened at all on the first three - and the MyHeritage one (which is the best, IMO) is a bit muddy and dark.

But for backdrop use, it's still a lot more suitable than the original B&W image. And I should be able to take this image into PhotoShop Elements and play a bit with the lightness/darkness, etc.

Heh - and I'm back full circle to having to deal with PSE(!) But now that I can (relatively) easily convert late 1940s images to suitable backdrop photos, I have a much stronger incentive to master PSE and finally get that Wethersfield backdrop done!

For those of you that model the "black & white" era, don't despair for finding suitable images for your photo backdrops. Sure, you can do what I and others have done (and will likely continue to have to do) and take current-day photos of scenes that "look like" the scenes you need for your backdrops. But for in-town photos, or - as in my case - road photos, you can't beat finding shots that have lots of vintage autos and architecture already there for you. And now that we can colorize these image so easily, a whole new world of photo backdrop possibilities opens up for us.

If you've found a colorizer that you like - or if you have any additional tips or suggestions on how to create photos backdrops for pre-color eras - I hope you'll share them here!

Portals into the Past: Railfanning the Batten Kill RR

What do you think about when you think about October?

The smell of wood smoke? The crisp nip in the air? The brilliant fall foliage? The shushing sounds your shoes make through the leaves after they've fallen to the ground?

What about ghosts? Sure, there's Halloween, but what about the ghosts of the past?

I've always thought of the month of October as the perfect time to see some ghosts. As the leaves reveal their true colors, right before they fall from the trees, and things begin to slow down a bit, we can start to recall - or sometimes we have to imagine - what life used to be like, before all the craziness of modern life.

And if you find yourself in just the right spot during the month of October, you might just think you've fallen through a portal into the past - and if you're truly lucky, you might just see some ghosts of 1950s railroading in upstate New York.

That's what happened to me on a recent Autumn day, exploring the Rod Serling countryside along the Batten Kill River. Follow along as I share some of the memories with you . . .

Evoking the old D&H, switching the feed mill near Greenwich Jct., NY

The main ghost, spotted - Former D&H RS-3, near the end of its life and fading, like so much of the foliage surrounding it, but still serving the same stretch of railroad it's run on for years - shot through the Rexleigh Covered Bridge.

And just off to the right, you can make out the ghost of an old mill along the river....

Southbound through Shushan, NY - only the modern vehicles spoil the specter of a mid-20th century meet between two freight trains in small-town America.

Two ghosts, divided by 100 years - Station built c. 1852, Locomotive built 1952

21st century digital zoom softens the colors and captures an echo of railroading from almost 70 years ago.

Our fading pumpkin of a locomotive makes its way over the railroad's namesake river and past a fading farm.

A little paint, a little polish, and a lot of elbow grease, and this ghost of a car might just live to chase another train on another day . . .

Grab shot tension

New meets Old

The gathering clouds and fading foliage provide the perfect metaphor for a farm which has seen better days.

Heading back north from Eagle Bridge, NY

Ghosts sometimes do cast a reflection...

Cornfield, barn, trees, engine - all fading, evocative, beautiful.

Only another unfortunately parked vehicle spoils the illusion of 1950s railroading, including one of the last (if not THE last) crossing sign of this type in the country.

Nature's Reclamation

Mirrored Streaks of Weathering - Heading back to the Junction, and finishing up for the day.

I hope you've enjoyed this little portal into the past - and that it's inspired you to keep your eyes open, especially during this time of year. You may find a few happy hauntings of your own. And if you do, I hope you'll share them here . . . I'm always looking for new opportunities for a little time travel . . .

* * * * *

Given the ephemeral nature of the BKRR, you really can never just "find yourself in 'just the right spot" when trying to capture it. You need a guide - someone who knows the place as well as the member of the family that it's become. My guide for this once-in-a-lifetime trip was Ken Karlewicz, who went out of his way - literally and figuratively - not only to give me the heads up that the BK was running the RS-3, but to make sure I was in every good location at every right moment all throughout the day. While "finding oneself in just the right spot" works well as a foil for telling a story of ghosts, the reality is that it doesn't actually happen that way, and never by accident. Thank you, Ken, for an amazing day and especially for sharing your love of the BKRR.

Technical Info: All original, unretouched, unfiltered photos shot with iPhone SE

Tuesday Tips: Cab Addresses & Another "Tripod" for Smartphone Photography

Here's a treat - not just one, but two tips for this week's Tuesday Tip . . .

Cab Address List

While I have a wifi throttle server installed on my layout, I don't have enough physical throttles to handle all the trains I have nowadays. So, I ask folks to bring their own throttles if they're willing (and if they have NCE) and it's also nice to have backups in case a throttle dies during the session (as happened to me last year).

My most-recent ops session highlighted another need though: the need to know the addresses on each of my throttles (aka "cab addresses" or "Cab ID"). If a throttle has the same ID as another throttle, strange conflicts happen. So every throttle must have its own unique ID and if there's any duplication, as the ops session host you should change your throttle addresses to accommodate the folks who were kind enough to bring their throttles to supplement your stash (you can of course change them back after the session).

But to do all that, you first need to know what your cab addresses are - for NCE, that's a simple matter of plugging in the throttle and noting the CabID (that pops up and disappears quickly) on the screen. And then, if your memory is at all like mine, you should place a listing of said IDs in a prominent place. Thus: 

Cab Address List for my four throttles, mounted right at the A/O's desk.

While you're at it, you may want to put an address label on the back of each throttle - that way, you know the ID for when you take it to another's layout...

 *******

Smartphone Camera Holder

As you can probably tell from recent posts, I've poked my head down the rabbit hole of layout/model photography. And while I built a great tripod for holding my P&S digital camera - and it'll even hold my iPhone securely - it still doesn't allow me to take those true "eye level" photos.

But as luck would have it, the model railroad press has published not one, but TWO great articles on smartphone layout photography this month. Lance Mindheim did an extensive article in Model Railroad Hobbyist, and Pelle Soeborg has an article in Model Railroader. While Lance's article goes into great detail about focus stacking (which I'm really looking forward to trying), Pelle's article has a great tip for how to secure your smartphone to make it easier to take such photos:

He used pieces of styrene strip, 1/8" square tube, and halves of 3/8" tube to make a holder for his phone. Using his idea - and modifying it somewhat to use what supplies I had on-hand - I built one of my own:

It was a really fun evening project that went together really quickly with raw styrene and Tenax. The most difficult part of the process was figuring out how best to hold/clamp pieces while I applied the solvent (oh, and trying to cut 3/8" tube in half - lengthwise - was no picnic). It's always enjoyable to spend time at the workbench - especially when you can produce something as quick as it is useful:

I'm really looking forward to using this holder whenever I use my phone for photos (as opposed to my larger/better camera) - bonus: the styrene doesn't short out the rails. In fact, this is the setup I used to take the videos I took over the weekend back in October, 1948.

*******

Hope you enjoyed this week's tips! If you did - and especially if you made a list or holder of your own - I hope you'll let me know in the comments!

Wordless Wednesday #192

Test shots enhanced/improved by John Wallace:

Tuesday Test Shots

Went down to Saybrook to try out the homemade tripod some more . . .

Shot with my iPhone 6 - no regard to settings; Nikon Coolpix P4 on the tripod.

Unless otherwise noted:
 no flash, layout lights only, auto white balance
macro setting, auto focus
ISO 50 f7.6 @ 1/8th sec (self-timer)
8 megapixel 2448x3264 @300dpi
Exposure Bias -1 step

Exposure Bias -0.7 step

1/6th sec, Exposure Bias -0.7

1/7th sec, Exposure Bias -0.3

1/20th sec, Exposure Bias -0.3

I'm really pleased with how these came out - except for the last one, which came out too dark. I bracketed all my exposures starting at -0.3 (underexposed) and going darker by 1/3 EV (exposure value) down to -1. Doing so gave me at least one shot of each lot that I liked. Unfortunately, the best shot of the last image was the one I shot first - at -0.3. A normal exposure at 0.0 would have been better for that shot.

As I continue to learn I continue to covet your constructive criticism and guidance, as well as any tips you have to share. Of course, if you have any kudos/compliments to share that'd be encouraging as well!

Homemade Tripod

As you may have guessed from my Wordless Wednesday post last week, I'm starting to try out some layout/model photography. I used to be an amateur photographer of sorts back in '80s/early '90s but didn't keep up with it. And when I got the urge to dip my toe in again, I realized that the New Digital Age had totally blown past me. My equipment - state of the art back when I got it - was now obsolete. Besides, who "needs" all that stuff when you have a great camera right on your phone?

Well, looks like I do. The iPhone photos I take for this blog - while nice enough - don't really cut it when it comes to trying to get a photo published. Go figure %^)

Soooo..... I've gotten back into things a bit by doing some research and trying to catch up. I'd purchased a second-hand Nikon Coolpix P4 a few years back, but having a "camera" in my pocket, I wasn't motivated to learn much about it. But during my research, I heard about an old article by Brooks Stover in the 2011 issue of Great Model Railroads where there was supposedly a sidebar about taking layout photos with a point and shoot digital camera. Thankfully, one of my friends had that issue and let me see the sidebar (thanks again Pieter!)

What a find! Turns out, Mr. Stover used a Nikon Coolpix P4 to shoot all the photos that were published in the article - AND his sidebar described a cool, homemade tripod he fashioned to get the camera in close to his models and still hold it level and steady.

Allofasudden, I had all the motivation I needed to learn how to get the same results from my P4. But first, I decided to make the tripod.

• One 1/4" piece of masonite, cut to 2.5" x 5.5" (or whatever size will accommodate your camera)
• Three 6" long 1/4"x20 carriage bolts (you can get by with shorter if your terrain is flat-ish)
• Three pieces of 1/4" heat shrink tubing, cut to 3/4" long

• Three 1/4" tall T-nuts, threaded for 1/4"x20
• One 1/4"x20 thumscrew, 1/4" long
• One 1/4" washer

Construction is pretty straightforward:

1. Cut the masonite to size
2. Center your camera on the masonite
3. Eyeball where to locate the 3 carriage bolts. Mark & drill 5/16" holes
4. With the camera centered, lift it up slightly at the front and mark where you see the tripod mount hole; do the same from the side, to give you the location for the tripod mount hole. Mark & drill a 5/16" hole
5. Use a file/rasp to round all the edges/corners of the masonite and clean up the holes
6. Press the T-nuts into the holes, place the masonite on top of a scrap piece of wood and hammer them in (I made the mistake of putting the masonite right on the concrete basement floor "for a good, solid backing" and promptly trashed the threads when they got banged into the floor)
7. Thread the carriage bolts through the T-nuts; "screw on" the heat shrink tubing for "grips" (it'll thread on - no need to heat it)
8. Add the washer to the thumbscrew, push it through the tripod hole and screw it into the camera to attach it to the masonite (the washer is necessary to keep the thumscrew from bottoming out in the camera's tripod mount hole)

It took almost as long to type all that out as it did to actually built the tripod. When you're done, you'll be able to use your camera like this:

Many of us have placed our camera phones and small P&S cameras right on the layout to get unique and more-realistic shots - that's the main advantage they have over full-size DSLR cameras. But in order to keep the camera perfectly still while taking those shots, you need to use the self-timer on your camera (or a Bluetooth/wireless shutter release), and if your camera has to rest on uneven terrain, you have to use a tripod - and this particular design is fully adjustable and not much larger than the camera itself.

Now that I've figured out the "stability" part of taking a good shot, I still need to work on lighting & white balance. I have LOTS of light on the layout - but they're all "daylight" fluorescents. Great for seeing car numbers, not so great for photography.

And they're all up above the layout, of course, which can create aggravating shadows. But using a "bounce fill card" (aka a sheet of white paper) brightens up some of the shadows, at least.

I've got a lot to learn and a long way to go, but after lots (and lots) of trial and error, I finally got what I think is a pretty decent shot of the Goff Brook Farmhouse. Of course, the background (wall, door) will have to be Photoshopped out, but the foreground looks pretty good. What do you think? Any and all constructive criticism wanted and welcome!

Shot Particulars:

• Nikon Coolpix P4
• Aperture Priority, stopped down to the smallest available, f7.6
• 1/9th sec
• ISO 50, 8 megapixel, "Fine" setting (highest quality options available)
• Macro setting, auto focused
• 3264x2448 pixels; 300dpi
• Auto White Balance (layout lights only, no flash)
• Exposure Bias -0.3 step