Vibe

I'm thinking a lot about model photographs these days, and why some strike more of a chord with me than others. For lack of a better term I just refer to photos that click with me as having a vibe. For the longest while it's been the late Michael Paul Smith's photos that have vibe. Many model railroad photos leave me cold. I'm sure one thing it has to do with is light. Model railroad photos are mainly taken indoors with outdoor lighting simulated, but Mr. Smith's daytime scenes were shot outdoors in natural light. 

That bank photo I posted a couple days ago was my attempt a few months ago to photograph a finished model using an LED light that claimed to simulate daylight. It seems to be heading in the right direction, but it's not there yet. The funny thing about that photo is what caught my eye when I saw it again was the curb at the street corner looked about right as did the tone of the sidewalk. Yeah, the sidewalk, not the building :-)

Anyway, I need to do a lot of tests shooting pictures outside to see if I can find the vibe I'm looking for. Over there is a test I tried with my rather old International Harvester Scout II build-up. I picked it simply because it was on the top of my shelf and was easy to take down :-) Natural light does indeed show up every flaw and compromise, but I feel I'm on the way to something.