Need the perfect photo for backdrop

[Chris333]

Since this is just a background and I want to move on with it I think I'll go with these 2 shots.

Left street:


I'll cut out the banner in the sky and put a "real" parked car on the right to hide the print car.

Right street:


I'll cut out the big dome and the tower to the right. Maybe straighten out that car in the foreground.

Is there anything that can be done to these 2 photos to brighten them up or fix the colors before I have them printed?

[DKS]

Here are the images with the gamma bumped up to pull the buildings out of the shadows a bit.





The church looks a bit odd with the steeple lopped off, so I shopped a version with a truncated steeple. Still looks a bit odd, just slightly less odd.

[pwnj]

I think what's missing on the top of that church is the cross, so I snagged the statue from the removed dome, sharpened it up a bit and adjusted the shading to make it look more like a cross, then added it to the top of the steeple roof.  I also shortened the upper sections a little bit more.  I think this is heading in a great direction! Can't wait to see how it finally comes out.

[timwatson]

[Chris333]

Sorry guys I have been busy all day. When David posted his photos I ran down to Kinkos and had them printed.

I split each photo into 2 pieces so I could slightly rotate each side to make the buildings straight up and down.

Its all glued down now and I added a little bit of white spray paint in the distance at each street.




Adding the cross looks better, but I doubt it would have survived the "knife"

And Tim that road looks better without cars. If I can't hide what I have with a truck I will end up re-doing that one.

I notice the 3D building shadows kind of get in the way, but oh well. I think it looks better than those I started with. I'm happy and this is the "background" after all. Hopefully I can get some work done on the layout now 

[kelticsylk]

Awesome idea. Just what I need for the city portions of my layout. Thanks!

Now I'll have to start surfing for other images.

[pnolan48]

Great thread, folks! It has started up that rusty factory inside my skull as I prepare to rebuild.

[Kisatchie]

Wow, the final results are fantastic.


Hmm... I have to agree...

[fifer]

Yep Chris , I think you have it there. Looks great !!!

Mike

[JoeD]

Nice Chris...that last image works!  I had to deal with forced perspective backdrops when I worked on Dioramas at the  MouseHouse and it's a real science I never got comfortable with. Working with period pieces like this are doubly difficult, you can't just go out and snap a picture.  Anyway, looking forward to seeing the progress here.

Oh, I did some photo dios to shoot some pictures of my freight awhile back.    I did a search for Panorama shots and came up with a wealth of really huge wide pictures I could download and print at the local graphic shop.  Didn't look for city shots but they must be out there.

Joe

[wm3798]

Can you take a shot from a normal viewing angle?  The problem I have with photo backdrops is they look good for the camera only from certain angles, and from a viewer's perspective, they look way off.  Either that or its vice versa.

I think the layers and clutter you've achieved there will help, but it's always going to look a little screwy depending on the viewing angle.

F'rinstance:


I extended the facade of this building using a photo gleaned from the kit box.  From ground level, looks pretty good...


From a normal view from the aisle, though, it looks like dog dookie.

I decided to kill the 2D image altogether and mask the gap with some 3-D trickery.


Try some shots from a number of angles, and see if you're still happy with the results.

Lee

[Chris333]

If forget the exact inches off the ground, but the rail height is about 6" below my eyeballs. So these are either at normal viewing angles or I held the camera up against the ceiling, pointed down to get an overall view. This is normal:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/NewLayoutSpace#5866543127231059138


BTW I changed the one photo, used the one Tim shopped out:

[glakedylan]

the use of image with such perspective is awesome
it really gives the sense of much depth and continuation into the background
I will have to try to do something like this
it is a very creative way of extending brackdrop beyond flat images!

thanks for sharing
Gary

[arbomambo]

GREAT thread!!!!
a fantastic solution...!
Bruce

[Dave Schneider]

As I posted over in Chris's other thread, these types of backdrop scenes don't seem to be offered by any of the manufacturers and would be really valuable to many modelers. They are of modest size in N, maybe 6 inches wide at most. I have been playing around with this in Sketchup, but there are too many other things to do and I haven't made much progress. Their 3D building library offers a number of resources but you have to wade through quite a number of files.

Best wishes, Dave